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Peace in the Middle East

May 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Rare is the article these days that objectively treats the Israeli-Palestinian dilemma with a biblical worldview. It seems that the info that the press picks up is either in down the right field line or the left field line in terms of political view.

Thus, as a consequence there is a lack of a biblical perspective because of the highly political bent, but only a leveraging of scripture carefully chosen to back the one side or the other depending on authorship. One of the latest was published by the UMC Board of Church and Society in the march 29, 2001 newsletter by the Rev. John Calhoun. True to form those playing left of centerfield have the ear of the GBCS largely because of the personal views of Jim Winkler which are not surprisingly like minded and pro-palestenian. I could not find an article looking back in the same newsletter that championed a pro-Israel sentiment though there may be one somewhere. Great liberty is taken in Rev. Calhoun’s article about some of our UMC Resolutions passed in 2000 and 2008 concerning the subject and I commend the fact that the words, “emphasis added” were included in the interpretation. Lots of emphasis added is the norm.
My point is that the way forward in the Middle East is not pro-Israeli and anti-Palestianian; nor is the way forward pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli. The way forward is God’s way which is peace and provision for all of God’s people and Abraham’s offspr. Can’t we be pro-both? Isn’t that faithful to the scriptural intent and promises we hold to be primary? Just thinking….

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A Time to Respond

May 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment


There is a time and a season for everything under the sun. So says Solomon in all of his Godly wisdom in Ecclesiastes 3.  After seeing Ringgold, Ga today the time for us is now.

Thanks to all who gave generously and brought supplies on Sunday to help the good folks who are hurting in Tuscaloosa. Kimberly Hamrick and Megan Fishburne parlayed the resources we gave with some resourced and people through the greek system at the Univ of Alabama and thousands have been fed and helped in the name of Christ. Well done Church!
Now back to our brothers and sisters in Ringgold. The Days Inn that you see in the photo is destroyed. The Ruby Tuesday and Waffle House Restaurants are collapsed. And the number of homes that have been rendered uninhabitable is mind boggling. Injury and loss of life is widespread. Pray for these hurting people. Give generously through UMCOR or your church to help them through. And thank God for the opportunity to join God where God is moving with the really good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ where people have been beaten down with the bad news now for a week. The Lord has blessed us to be a blessing!

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The New Normal of Christianity

April 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Can you remember back long enough to recall Detroit being king of industry, or Pittsburgh being the home of steel? Things change, don’t they? A year or so ago Dr. Gary Maxey, a member of Mount Pisgah UMC here in Atlanta, shared with me a study he was working on in terms of the impending global shift of Christianity.

Dr. Maxey, founder and then President of West Africa Theological Seminary, shared telling research that revealed that the migration of the heart of Christianity was en route to new central hubs, China and West Africa.

Christian Europe, once the bastion of the faith, was becoming increasingly more secular and North America was beginning to show signs along the same trend. According to a study just released referenced by Dr. Bill Bouknight in the latest Confessing Movement Happenings epage, (Research Corporation for Science Advancement shared at the American Physical Society Meeting in Dallas), this global shift in Christianity is gaining momentum and making Dr. Maxey an excellent prophet.

According to Bouknight’s article Christianity is dying in Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland. This past Sunday more Anglicans attended church in Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda than did Anglicans in all of Canada, Britain, and and Episcopalians in the United States combined. More Christians church attended worship in China (who had no churches in 1970) than in all of Christian Europe combined. And there were more Roman Catholics in worship in the Philippines that in any single Roman Catholic country in Europe including Italy or Spain. Wow!

So where is America in all this? Better yet where are we in all this? The move of God cannot be stopped and I praise God for His move in Africa and China, but at the same time I beseech God for a wake up call for America and Europe.

What can we do? Praise God that at Mount Pisgah we are on the upswing with God and are seeing great and marvelous transformation by the Holy Spirit. We can also simply live the Christian faith out in the family, workplace, and community we are in and be disciples of Jesus who are making disciples of Jesus. Bottom line, Christianity has always been a generational model and we need to live in that responsibility. God bless you today with joy in living out your faith in Christ in service and generosity!

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Unlearning

April 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

So it’s all cool, right? I’m up like super early, 5 am, and it is just me and God. Got a real desire to live the life God intends so I think today I am just gonna be quiet to God speaks. Before I pray, before I read the Bible, before I read Chan or Batterson, or whoever’s got the next hot topic. Just me and God. It was beautiful.

In a few minutes God speaks right into my mind, “So, you think I am trying to teach you something?”. Eureka! Right to the heart of the matter. My non-verbal batter gushed forth from my mind to God’s ears, “Precisely, isn’t that what you are trying to do in all this? Aren’t you trying to teach me something?” (Long pregnant pause) “Nope”…God’s response is no, that is not it, and actually that is not at all it!

So what is the deal? “Actually, I am inviting you to unlearn the way you have learned how to navigate life without total dependence on me.”  Speechless is a good way to describe me at this point…God’s grace and love is so HUGE! To think the God of all creation and eternity has come to meet with me to share this pearl of great price early in the day in Johns Creek, GA!

The wheels of my mind are turning warp speed and then my gray matter offers, “you want me to unlearn?”   God responds, “Yep”. So, I guess I am back at mile marker 1 but never been more excited! My mind, will and emotions are now in touch with the spirit of God that is beckoning me to intimate obedience. It’s not a call to abandon my faith, it’s a call to abandon myself into the hands of Abba who loves Steve, forgives Steve, redeems Steve, empowers Steve, and wants far better for Steve than Steve can ever think or orchestrate. I love this journey! Join me. Christi is Risen, Christ is risen indeed!

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God’s Feeding Program

April 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I am inspired by Jesus post resurrection fishing expedition with Peter and the boys. A pretty good day as they loaded the boat with 153 fish. No definitive word on if they were St. Peter’s fish but it mattered not. It was a very good day! The encounter contained a final missional commandment that we would do well to embrace.
John 21:10-19
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”
11 Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” NIV

As I study this passage I am struck by the intentional redundancy of Jesus’ parting command to Peter. This was the sum total of Jesus investment in Peter including giving his life as a ransom for Peter, you, and me.

One command spoken three different ways is unique to Jesus’ teachings: Feed my lambs, take care of my sheep, and feed my sheep. Understanding before that Jesus had proclaimed that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God surely Peter got it. Give the little ones (lambs) the Word. Take care (serve, nurture, care for, protect) the flock and make sure they don’t suffer from God inspired nourishment. We also remember, though vaguely, about the Bible speaking to the peril of  sheep without a shepherd. These are the greatest days of our lives, let’s live them well, let’s live them in a specific purpose for God.

Oswald Chambers asked himself repeatedly, “have I totally surrendered my life to God to do with as He pleases?” I suspect this was the very message that Jesus was sending Peter. Never disowned by the Father though he did indeed deny Christ three times, Peter embodies the hope for us today. Live in the moment, live for God, and live out the purpose and command God has gifted you for in Christ Jesus.

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Surrender

March 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 It has been a painful thing to watch. What began as a tremor and turned into a tidal wave has washed terror and destruction over scores in Japan. It is one thing to watch the natural disasters unfold in real time; it has been another to watch a nation shaken and grieving. Where is God? The promise for the very last words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew state clearly, “and I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

So God is there (in fact God is here, there and everywhere) and well at work though we may not yet see the totality of the fruit born by His presence and spirit at work there. In the midst of the worst that fallenness and natural evil can bring there is yet no looting, nor violence, nor predators roaming the streets. God is at work in the humble and broken and this in a country where less than 1% professes to be Christians. In fact, it strikes me that there is much the Christian Community can learn from the teamwork and care that is being displayed by the Japanese people.

When and where will Jesus come into play? The Bible speaks to a promise that Christ is already at work and has been. I believe that to be true and so we must be in the seed planting stage rather than the harvesting stage. Who will go and help plant and water those seeds of faith? Maybe that will be someone like you or a family member. UMCOR is there and bringing much needed help and relief in the name of Christ from a central location in Tokyo. But what Jesus has in mind I believe is so much more, I believe that Jesus will sweep across that land inviting all to surrender unto Him their pain and hopes, and that millions will receive Christ in this generation as Lord. That Japan would become the next spiritual tsunami of the great move of God like in China and West Africa; not a wave of destruction, but rather a wave of healing, hope, and redemption in Christ. Dear Lord, let it be! In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Impact and Influence

March 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Impact and Influence

1 Cor 3:5-9, 5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe — as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. NIV

I recently read the most amazing trail of a viral witness that teaches us much about how God can use our word and action testimony for Christ. A devotional carried by RBC in the Our Daily Bread for March 8 contained this amazing account:

“Edward Kimball, a Sunday school teacher in Boston, decided to visit a young man in his class to be sure he was a Christian. That day he led that man, Dwight L. Moody, to the Lord. Moody, the Billy Graham of the 19th century, had a major impact on Wilbur Chapman. Chapman, a prominent evangelist, recruited Billy Sunday to join his evangelistic crusades. In turn, Sunday launched a national ministry that had great results in cities like Charlotte, North Carolina. An organization that started as a result of Sunday’s revival invted evangelist Mordecai Ham to Charlotte. In one of those meetings, billy Graham received Christ as his Savior and later became the most prominent evangelist of our time.”

Living out our faith in Christ as authentic disciples really does make a difference! Who knows the generational impact we are having this side of heaven? Do not grow weary in living out your covenantal vow as a disciple of Jesus Christ!

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Where are you headed?

February 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Proverbs 29:18, “if people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble over themselves. But when they attend to what God reveals, they are most blessed.” It was nearly 17 years ago (1994) when Microsoft branded the felt need for life purpose and direction with the term, “Where do you want to go today?”.

That question still looms for most, and it is not just today, it is the question we ponder for the long haul. Stephen Covey’s advice to start with the end in mind (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) makes sense as we consider the end game.  I recently read that over the next 5 years the world’s population will grow by about the same number as those currently living in the U.S., 300 million. However the demand for water will increase 6 fold. Wow!

With changes like that and a desire to be the best church for the community how does one plan and plot for the future? How about by taking a major step to trust God. That would include living for a change with God’s purpose for us in mind which is detailed well in Jeremiah 29:11-13 and Matthew 28:19-20. The best part of those truths is at the end of the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus reminds us that he is with us ALWAYS!. If God be for us who can be against us?

It’s a great time to reload and rethink the future. For whom or what will we give our life for? There is no nobler purpose than that of living as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Be encouraged and Carpe Diem!

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A Biblical Worldview

February 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

1 Peter 1:13, Therefore with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming.

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur . We live in a day of inundation when it comes to information. Our children our bombarded with all kind of information, biblical, political, statistical, etc. The challenge is to cull the useless and inaccurate and integrate and retain the useful. Then, the real difference makers are able to process that information into behaviors that work towards a noble and focused life purpose. That is some challenge even for those of us who are approaching the long in the tooth stage!

God has given us a wonderful gift in the ability to develop our critical thinking. Not to be confused with condemnation or ridicule, our critical thinking is the ability to integrate reason, history, and empirical evidence to form foundations of truth and moral values that shape our worldview. Our Christian witness is both a training ground and a launching pad for those we serve well by keeping the mission before us of making disicples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. That mighty purpose allows our fellow travelers in Christ to go one better than just developing a worldview through critical thinking; they move forward on a trajectory set by a biblical worldview that will grow and be stretched for the remainder of their time here on earth as they prepare for eternity. Thanks be to God and bless you all in your witness for Jesus!

One more thing, the translation of the Latin Phrase, “Anything in Latin sounds profound.” J

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The Viral Gospel

February 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

We have together watched in amazement the cascading events unfolding in the Middle East over the past few weeks. People are no longer willing to accept the status quo when the status quo is in the words of our own President, “not sustainable.”

The images and video footage of the airport in Cairo are a reminder of how quickly things can change and how slippery perceived entitlement is. What we are seeing is viral.

I was just thinking that there were scores of people in that airport in Cairo who had confirmed reservations for a seemingly sure departure, but whose world was turned upside down.

In an instant Platinum, Gold, and Silver Medallion status was no status at all. Why? Because what they had grown accustomed to as a given was no longer certain in this time of uprising, and they were suddenly thrown into a standby world.

How valuable is the unchanging nature of our Father in heaven who loves us dearly?

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created. James 1:16-18 (NIV) Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

As we examine the change and uncertainty of the world around us we need not fear. God is our unchanging advocate and protector and we are afforded the certainty of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus our Messiah.

No one with a living faith in Christ Jesus as a disciple is living with uncertainty. In Christ there is no standby status, not knowing for sure if they will make their destination. When we are totally dependent on Him we can stand firm and be confident in the knowledge we have a confirmed reservation that is guaranteed not by humans, but by God Himself.

The real dilemma I think that we should be concerned about is where is the viral witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

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