It's Been A Long Time Coming

A week ago I announced to my church family that God has called my wife and I to become church planters. In the near future we will sell some of our belongings and pack up the rest to move to the St. Louis, Missouri area to plant a new church. It's been a long time coming.

It's been awhile since my first day of school. Where we lived there was no kindergarten, so I started when I began first grade. One major event that year stands out in my life, and it was the beginning of my love for missions.

During that time the Southern Baptist Convention was in the midst of the 30,000 Movement, which was an attempt to start 30,000 new churches in America. My father was called by God to plant a new church on the west side of Rockford, Illinois. So, we loaded everything we owned into a cleaned out cattle truck and moved. I was six years old, but I remember the move and much of the next five and a half years that Dad served there.

We met in people's homes on Wednesdays and Sunday evenings. Sunday morning Sunday School and worship were held at the Odd Fellows Hall. I remember that because we always had to go early on Sundays to clean up after their Saturday night parties. I also have fond memories of the experience because a year later I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. The church moved from meeting in the Odd Fellows Hall. to a house the church built. Worship was in the basement and the main floor was used for class rooms. A couple of years later the church built a new, more traditional, church building and we moved into what became the parsonage. It was my first exposure to missions.

Through the years I have had other experiences that prepared me for my call to become a church planter. There were those trips to Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina. There, as a child and young teenager I heard missionaries tell of their call to missions and of the places they served. There were summer missionaries who stayed in our home. Later, when I surrendered to the Gospel Ministry. I was involved in short term mission trips to New York, Bulgaria, Louisiana, and several other places. God was at work in my life, preparing me for His call to become a church planter,. but I didn't see it coming.

Watch for my next post: "My Call To Church Planting."

Wild Strawberries and 7-11 Songs

As you look back on your life it’s funny the things you remember. And it’s strange how your mind pairs them together. Recently, two things from my childhood came together at the same time—wild strawberries and a “7-11 song.”

I pretty much grew up attending church services and meetings. Dad was a pastor. The first church I can remember was the Mt. Zion Southern Baptist Church in Kilbourne, Illinois. Well, more precisely, Mt. Zion was out in the country near Kilbourne. It was the traditional country church building, I think. It even had a cemetery close by. As summer is just around the corner I was recently reminded of the wild strawberries behind the church. (I wonder if they still grow there?)

In the mid-50’s parents weren’t so concerned about the safety of their children. After the worship service I could run free outside the church building. And, when they were producing, my first stop would be the wild strawberry patch. I’m sure they were not as sweet as the home grown or store variety. But for a five year old boy the thing about those strawberries was that I could eat as many as I wanted. Since Dad was the pastor we were usually the last to leave, and that gave me a lot of time in the strawberry patch.

There were other “sweet” things about my preschool experiences in church. Sunday School classes for the children were in the basement. We had wires stretched across the basement with curtains that slid along those wires to make the classrooms. If you didn’t like what was going on in your classroom you could always listen to what was happening in the one on the other side of the curtain.

So what do I remember about preschool Sunday School? Uh, not a lot. But I do remember feeling loved and I remember “Do Lord.” Oh how I loved to sing “Do Lord.” When I thought about it the other day I burst out in song. And it dawned on me. “Do Lord” was a “7-11 song.”

For you who don’t know what a “7-11 song” is, it refers to songs where you sing the same phrase over and over again—like seven words eleven times.” I’m not going to attach an audio file with me singing it. You don’t need that pain. But, when I was five years-old I loved singing that chorus and had no idea that Johnny Cash recorded it. I just liked the song and knew I wanted to go to “glory land” one day.

Wild strawberries and a “7-11 song.” Those were sweet days for a five year-old boy. You know what? It would be a pretty sweet day for this old guy today. Oh, and here are the lyrics for “Do Lord.”

"Do Lord"

Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Way beyond the blue.

I've got a home in glory land that out-shines the sun.
I've got a home in glory land that out-shines the sun.
I've got a home in glory land that out-shines the sun.
Way beyond the blue.

Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Way beyond the blue.

I took Jesus as my Savior, You take Him too.
I took Jesus as my Savior, You take Him too.
I took Jesus as my Savior, You take Him too.
Way beyond the blue.

Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Way beyond the blue.

Christmas Grace

In just a few days we will celebrate the birth of Jesus. Though we celebrate His birth in December, the evidence is clear that He was not born in December. We have nativity sets that include three wise men and we have no idea how many wise men came to visit Jesus, and it most certainly wasn't at His birth. Though He was placed in a manger, there is not even good evidence that He was born in a stable.

The first two chapters of Matthew and the second chapter of Luke give us what has come to be known as “The Christmas Story.” Those chapters are used for countless Bible studies, sermons, and church Christmas productions this time of year. It’s great to know that, in the midst of Santa Claus, reindeer, and snowmen, the real meaning of Christmas still rings out from churches across America and around the world.

As I've contemplated this Christmas season I must confess that the passages from Matthew and Luke are not my favorites this year. Rather, I like the first chapter of John, in particular John 1:1-18.

¹  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
²  He was with God in the beginning.
³  All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.
⁴  Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men.
⁵  That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.
⁶  There was a man named John who was sent from God.
⁷  He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him.
⁸  He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.
⁹  The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
¹⁰  He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not recognize Him.
¹¹  He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.
¹²  But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name,
¹³  who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.
¹⁴  The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
¹⁵  (John testified concerning Him and exclaimed, “This was the One of whom I said, ‘The One coming after me has surpassed me, because He existed before me.’”)
¹⁶  Indeed, we have all received grace after grace from His fullness,
¹⁷  for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
¹⁸  No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son— the One who is at the Father’s side— He has revealed Him.
John 1:1-18 (HCSB)

Over 2000 years ago, when Jesus was born into the world, He was already older than time. The most amazing aspect is that He left His home in glory and took up residence among us. And now we receive “grace after grace” from His fullness.

This Christmas, as you exchange gifts with family and friends, and as you sit down to enjoy your Christmas dinner, take time to meditate upon the kind of love it took for Jesus to leave His home to dwell among us so that you and I can experience grace after grace.

It Doesn't Hurt

I grew up in a pastor’s home. For those of you who don’t know much about what that means, it first and foremost means I went to church before I was born. It became a lifelong habit. It didn’t hurt then and it doesn’t hurt now.

Admittedly, I don’t remember those first nine months of church when I was in the womb. Honestly, I don’t remember much about church the first three years of my life. What “memories” I have are those told to me by my parents. So, you won’t be surprised if I share with you one of those kinds of memories.

In the early days of my life it was customary for the pastor to sit on the platform during the music portion of worship. It was a small church and my mother was the piano player. We didn’t have children’s church in those days. My mother placed me on the second row and told me to sit there.

There was only one problem. His name was George. George was one of the men in the church who sat on the other side of the aisle. It seems that on most Sundays George would hold out one of those soft mints and I would scurry across the aisle for a mint. I stayed with George until my mother moved off of the piano bench.

Since those days I haven’t missed too many Sundays of worship. Today I serve as pastor of a village church. I’ve got to say, I love the church. All these years it’s been my family. I’ve been gone from my parents’ home a good many years, now. I have grown children. In fact, I have grandchildren. So I’ve been in church all my life.

Here’s my observation. I seem to have done okay without children’s church. I know it’s the fashion today. I’ve heard all the arguments for children’s church. But I don’t think it’s all that important. I grew up without it. My “church family” took care of me while my pastor father sat on the platform and my mother played the piano. Honestly, I think it was more important for me to be in the worship service with my parents than it was for me to be in children’s church.

I learned to value the worship experience because my parents valued it and thought it was important for me to be there, too. I learned how to first behave, and then to worship, because I sat in the “grown-up” service. I learned how to value the larger church family through the worship experience. And I learned that it wasn’t about me. It was about God.  I learned how to worship from my mother, father, and my church family.

Oh, by the way, my children didn’t make it to children’s church, either. And if I were raising my children again they’d still be in the worship service and not children’s church.

I Need A Vacation!

I need a vacation. I know because my wife told me so.

Now you may laugh about that, but she would know. You see, as of last Friday we celebrated our 39^th wedding anniversary. You don’t spend that many years with a person without getting to know them really well.

She has seen me at my worst and she has seen me at my best. She’s cared for me when I’ve been sick, mourned with me when my father died, and celebrated with me at the birth of our children. She’s been there through a lifetime of ministry, so she has seen me when I’ve come through the door after a contentious church committee meeting. She understands when I feel like I missed it completely in sharing God’s Word on Sunday morning.

She’s also been there to celebrate with me when the sermon went particularly well that morning and when someone has come to the front during the invitation to profess their faith in Christ. She is my soul-mate and helpmate.

As I think about this wonderful thing called marriage I am reminded that it’s also a reminder of a deeper spiritual truth. God has been there through it all. No matter what has gone on in my life, God has always been there for me. He’s seen be bent by discouragement and despair. He’s been there when my heart broke at the loss of my father. But He’s also been there at those joyous times of my life. And it began long before I even met the woman who became my wife.

On a January night fifty-four years ago I surrendered my heart to Jesus. I entered marriage not knowing that what I knew of love was just the starting point. I hadn’t arrived, but I had begun. When I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior I didn’t understand the depth of His love or the full significance of that new life.

Life my relationship with my wife, my relationship with my Lord is a growing one. I haven’t arrived as a husband and I haven’t arrived as a follower of Jesus. But I’m committed to growing in both relationships. I can’t wait to see what the next ten years holds.

Oh, and by the way. Tomorrow morning I start my vacation she’s been telling me I need. You know, she’s right. I’m looking forward to it.

 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. 1 John 4:15 (HCSB) 

A Culture of Violence

I haven't posted in quite some time, and have been considering "starting up" again. The recent event at Boston has been an impetus to write again.

There is no doubt that the bombing at the Boston Marathon is a tragedy. People killed. Others wounded. Lives changed forever. Such agony and despair.

What saddens me even more is that this will not be the last such event. The authorities may well catch the person(s) who did this. They may incarcerate them for the rest of their lives. But it won't stop something like this from happening again.

There is another tragedy that is not too far removed. All one has to do is say or write "Sandy Hook" and people all across our nation immediately know what you are talking about. Lives of young children, school administrators, and teachers, killed by a lone gunman who then took his own life.

As a result of the Sandy Hook shootings there was an outcry that has forced the issue of potential new gun laws that are being debated in our Senate. I have no idea if any of the laws will pass. I can't imagine what kind of laws, if any, might be suggested to try to prevent a tragedy like the bombing at the Boston Marathon.

I am sure of this, though. No amount of laws will prevent future similar tragedies. Why? Because you can't legislate morals. And the basic fact is that evil actions are the result of evil-thinking people. The old radio program, "The Shadow," began with the line, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" The answer was: The Shadow. Today, if there were a Shadow, I doubt even he would know.

The good news is that there is an answer. It's been the same answer for a couple of thousands years, now. The answer is Jesus Christ. Throughout history Jesus has changed the lives of men and women. He has turned hearts and minds bent on evil to hearts filled with love and minds dedicated to demonstrating Jesus' love to others.

We may have "In God we trust" on our currency, but the truth is our nation is a long way from trusting in God. Until our nation acknowledges that the only answer to evil hearts is a life-changing experience with a loving Lord we'll continue to see senseless killing.

 We love because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19 (HCSB) 

Was Paul the Worst Sinner?

I've been reading in 1 Timothy and every time I read 1 Timothy 1:15 I struggle with Paul's confession of being the worst of all sinners. I know he was hot after the believers and wanted to extinguish Christianity, but I still don't think he was the "chief" of sinners.

You see, I know myself inside and out. I know the sin in my life and I have to confess that maybe I'm the chief of sinners. Oh, I know I haven't tried to take the life of believers, but I have said some murderous things about some of them at times. There have been times when I was wounded by the actions and words of other believers and I would not have been disappointed if my Father would have called them home that day. Now here's the really hard part to admit. Paul committed his murderous acts before he became a follower. I've committed most of mine after I became a follower. And, as bad as I think that may be, my Father has reminded me over and over that all sins carry equal penalty. All sins lead to death.

So, I'm not sure that I would personally classify Paul as the worst sinner, and maybe Paul and I can talk about that one of these days. But I do know who the chief sacrifice is! Jesus died on the cross for Paul's sin and for mine. He paid the only price that would make things right with my Father. And Jesus has done the same for you.

You may think you are the worst sinner and that God can never forgive your sin. The truth is, we probably all feel that way at one time or another. The good news is that us "chief sinners" can have a restored relationship with the Father. Thanks be to God for His unfailing love!

1 Timothy 1:15 (HCSB)
¹⁵ This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them.