Original Thoughts?

Wow! Has it really been almost a month and a half since I last blogged? I apologize to the three or four people who really look forward to reading what I write. I guess I haven’t written lately because I have been working so much that I haven’t had time to have an original thought. Most of my thoughts aren’t original anyway but, as NBC used to say about their re-runs, “It’s new to you.”

Speaking of original thoughts, I want to write a little bit about something going around that proves the lack thereof. It seems an age old lie is making the rounds again stronger than ever. People are buying into it thinking that it is an original thought but it is as old as sin (literally). It is the lie that says “if it feels good, do it.” It also goes around in wiser sounding wrapping like, “I can only do what I feel is right” or “I have to be me…” All of it is an excuse for doing what we feel like doing and praying there are no consequences. It is driving me crazy to watch another generation buy into these lies. But it seems they are not just buying into it, the are enthralled by it. They act as if this is the deepest, newest wisdom ever.

The problem is that it is not new or original. It goes back to the book of Genesis. Sin is defined as doing what we think is right instead of what God says is right. I am particularly frustrated to see the ’60s version of this lie re-circulating. What they do not realize is that the philosophers of the ’60s who taught this stuff either overdosed or became responsible, people who do not just follow their feelings or “who they are.” They realized that who they are needed to change because it doesn’t work to go through life completely self absorbed. The hippies became the yuppies and now their kids are saying, “you don’t understand…” We understand. We ALREADY tried and rejected it. We know it does not work.

At the core that is exactly what this philosophy is, selfishness. The world is all about what I feel like, or who I am… Here is a good way to measure your philosophy, does it work for everyone? If your philosophy only works for you, it can’t be true. Here is what I mean: what if EVERYONE did what they felt like or what they thought was right? Suddenly they would be trampling your right to do what you feel like. Then who decides who is right? If it feels good to me to steal your money, who are you to tell me not to steal it. If it seems like hitting you is the right thing to do, who are you to tell me not to hit you? If “who I am” is a selfish jerk who treats you like garbage, who are you to tell me not to do so? What if I want to take the rent money and gamble it away? What if I want to abandon my wife and children? Society would fall apart and the world would be even worse than it is today. This philosophy cannot work for everyone at the same time and therefore is illogical, false, and must be rejected.

Another really funny thing about this kind of thinking is that it only “works” when you are surrounded by people who reject the philosophy who will support you. Who FEELS like going to work everyday to support their family? Those who FEEL like doing nothing, resist that feeling and go to work to support those who do what they feel like… Those who just follow their feelings are extremely grateful for the police, who do their duty instead of what they FEEL like, when someone else feels like ripping them off! The world would fall apart if everyone just accepted who they were instead of working to improve themselves.

Ok, I am not just ranting out of frustration. Anyone can criticize. You must have a better idea if you want to criticize. I do have a better idea and it isn’t original either, just not as popular. As a matter of fact, it is as old as the other philosophy… Submit yourself and your feelings to God and let HIM tell you what is right. He knows how we were made and what fulfills us. We must trust HIM. Usually the right thing to do is the opposite of what we feel like doing. Jesus also gave us a pretty good philosophy that works for everyone at the same time. He said DO to others what you would have them do to you. Imagine if we all did that. All the problems on this planet would be solved. I guess that makes it a true philosophy.

Angry at the Wrong People

A couple nights ago I was working at the hotel and I met a lady from Florida. She was out in the courtyard smoking a cigarette and had had a little too much to drink. She began asking me about Savannah and we were having a nice conversation until I mentioned that I was a pastor when I wasn’t securing hotels in the middle of the night. She began apologizing and put out her cigarette. Our conversation came to a screeching halt. The more I thought about it, the more it grieved my spirit that mentioning being a Jesus follower made her so uncomfortable. Why is it like this? Why are so many people who do not follow Jesus so uncomfortable with those of us who do (and we around them)?

I think the answer is found in Matthew 23. In this chapter we see the only time that Jesus got angry and “judgmental” with people. And who are the people He yelled at? The religious leaders of His day! The only people Jesus got upset with were people who claimed to follow God but didn’t show love for other people. Specifically, they did not show love for “sinners.” Jesus loved “sinners” and yelled at religious hypocrites. The church (myself included) seems to coddle hypocrites and yell at “sinners.” Why do we act the opposite of our Lord? Do we think we know better than He does? We need to turn this thing around. Love the “sinners” and those outside our fellowship and confront the judgmental amongst ourselves.

Prostitutes and sinners were comfortable hanging out with Jesus. They loved being around Him. Why do they hate being around us? Why am I so uncomfortable around people who smoke, drink, and curse? Could it simply be that I don’t want to be like Jesus badly enough to be uncomfortable? Are we so insecure in our beliefs that we fear being around “sinners” will ruin us?

I am again struck by how far we, who call ourselves followers of Jesus, have strayed from following Jesus. I know that is a very generalized, blanket statement but before you close this window, realize I am including myself in this group and admitting that many times I do the same thing. I am not pointing a finger at all of you from my perch of self righteousness. I am asking what is wrong with me and many of “us”?

I am challenging myself to spend more time with those who are not already following Jesus. I am not there yet. I admit I am uncomfortable. I think it is a good sign though that I am now more uncomfortable when someone feels uncomfortable around me. At least I am recognizing the problem. That’s the first step to recovery, right?

Keep Plowing

Last week I had the privelige of being invited to speak at a spiritual retreat at a school for troubled teens in the Dominican Republic. There are about 40 high school students there who have been sent by their parents to go through a Bible based, boot camp type school to deal with a wide variety of issues. For a week, they suspended classes and I was the speaker every morning and evening.

Most of these students are very much hardened to the world and to the Lord. It was a challenge to say the least. I was astonished when the two oldest boys, who had been in the program for years and were the leading “atheists” on campus each went to counselors after the service the first night and said, “I am tired of fighting God. It is too hard to not believe.” The next night one of them got up and read an essay he had written about stepping out to trust God. It sent shock waves through the students. By the end of the week, a third to half of the students had given their lives to the Lord. I ended up spending four days doing back to back counseling with students. There was no hype, it was just an awesome, spontaneous move of God!

One day I got to speak to just the staff. I stressed to them that, by no means was I under the illusion that what was going on had anything to do with me. I was just some guy passing through and getting to do some harvesting. None of it would have been possible if they had not been there day after day, month after month, year after year planting and watering the seeds of God’s word and love. Some of these people had gone round and round with these young men for up to four years, then suddenly, everything broke loose. I would describe myself as a migrant farm working coming through for the harvest season. The teachers, counselors, and house parents are the farmers. They have loved, prayed, and shed tears over the students. They have sacrificed by living in the Dominican Republic (a beautiful place but without the comforts of home like reliable electricity and water). They are the true heroes!

The problem is that there aren’t too many of us who want to be the planter or the waterers. It is great fun to be the harvester. It was an incredible experience. But it isn’t always so much fun being the one to love on kids who reject you and your Lord. I run a youth center and after school program that doesn’t always seem to be bearing fruit. But I am called to plow up the ground. I may never be the harvester in these kids’ lives. I may never even get to see the harvest. Am I still willing to plow and plant and water? Many times I get frustrated and want to quit. But there is no harvest without the guys doing the dirty work all year long. So keep plowing and thank God for the times you get to swoop in and harvest where someone else has been faithful to prepare the ground for you!

Go Out Among Them AND Be Ye Separate

There seems to be an eternal struggle among followers of Jesus. I know there are many disagreements and theological arguments but there is one big behavioral diving line. That line seems to be between those who feel we should “come out from among them (sinners) and be ye separate” and those who believe we should be “in the world but not of it.” Which of these verses resonate with us in the strongest way, determines how we live out our faith.

If the first verse resonates with our spirits, we want to be holy and so we pull away from everyone who does not follow Jesus (not to mention those who do not follow Jesus the way we do). We form Christian alteratives to everything and pretty soon don’t know anyone who is not already a follower. Evangelism becomes going out on the streets and telling the sinners what is wrong with them.

The problem is that the first verse is Old Testament. Of course it is still inspired scripture but Jesus came to fulfill the OT. That means all of the Old Testament must be filtered through His words. It was Jesus who prayed that we would be in the world but not of it. He did not want us to physically separate from those who do not yet follow Him. He wanted us to engage them. To work with them, befriend them, love them. Evangelism is doing life with people who don’t know Jesus and explaining to them why He makes a difference in our lives along the way. Of course we keep our hearts pure in the process. But remember holiness is being set aside for a purpose, not just being set apart. The purpose is to change the world. We can’t do that from the commune.

This all jumped out at me recently when I was studying about Paul planting the church in Corinth. Corinth was the sin city of it’s day. It was THE commercial and business center of ancient Greek. It was the center of worship of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. They had a temple there with 1,000 temple prostitutes. Going to church consisted of sleeping with one of them (talk about a user friendly church). There was a saying at the time, “not every man can afford a trip to Corinth.” When Greeks did a play and wanted to bring in a character from Corinth, the actor always had to act drunk. It was the kind of city that made any God fearing person sick. But when Paul arrived, he did not run away. He stayed a year and a half. He wrote letters, he kept coming back. In other words, he engaged the culture. Instead of opening a church door and saying, “come in when you are ready to behave” he lived among the people and built relationships with them before they were ready to change.

If we avoid all the “sinners” out there, who will reach them? It won’t be the guy on the street. Overwhelmingly people start following Jesus because of other Jesus followers they know, not because of strangers.
They reason most people think Christians are judgmental gay bashers is that they don’t personally know any Christians. Who will change that perception? Who will go out among them AND be separate?

Community is God’s Plan to Change the World

A week ago I did a talk on how fellowship is spiritual. Many times, we don’t think that it is. We think that prayer, bible reading, witnessing, worship, etc… are spiritual but fellowship is a waste of time; or something that we do during our “off time” from God. This could not be further from the truth. This is a series of five blogs explaining five reason why I believe that fellowship is spiritual and vital to the follower of Jesus.

The last reason I want to talk about is that God’s whole plan to change this world is based in community. In John 13:35 Jesus said, “By this will all men know that you are My disciples, that you love one another…” In other words, our community is supposed to be our witness to the world. We have so many ways of trying to let people know we are followers of Jesus. We wear Christian Tshirts, put Christian bumper sticker on our cars, listen to Christian music, etc… Not that there is anything wrong with all of this but Jesus said they would know who we are by how we love each other. This world is crying out for true community and if they see it in us, they will come running.

My dad has been a biker for 20 plus years. The reason he is a biker is because they love one another. They fight for each other. They help each other. In other words, his biker gang is exactly what the church is supposed to be. The reason people keep going to bars is that they find community there. Maybe the church should be more like a bar… If we truly live in Godly community, we will not need huge evangelistic events. If we live out true community, we will not be able to handle all the people trying to get in our buildings.

Lord, help me show my commitment to You by being committed to Your people. Help me to see that my acts of love and service to someone who aggravates me is really an act of service to You. Help me be as concerned about living in community as I am about knowing how to explain the Romans road. After all, the Romans road is supposed to lead them to You and to Your community.

Video Talks

Hey everyone,

I just figured out how to connect video of the talks I do with our church. Check out “Tim’s Talks” in the right side bar. Each time I do a talk, it will get loaded there and I will try to let you know when there is a new one.

Community is the Definition of Church

Last Sunday I preached on the fact that fellowship is spiritual. Many times, we don’t think that it is. We think that prayer, bible reading, witnessing, worship, etc… are spiritual but fellowship is a waste of time; or something that we do during our “off time” from God. This could not be further from the truth. This is a series of five blogs explaining five reason why I believe that fellowship is spiritual and vital to the follower of Jesus.

The third reason that fellowship and community are spiritual is that the very idea of community is behind the word “church.” Jesus was the first one to use the word “church” in the Bible (surprise). But the word existed before He chose to use it. The thing is that the word always referred to a group of people. It was only after we started building buildings to meet in that the word “church” became a place. When Jesus picked that word it meant “group of people.” Today we go to churches to vote. In Greek cities, the “church” (group of voters) would get together to vote… This is the word Jesus chose to describe what His people were supposed to be.

So when Jesus says to Peter, “…on this rock I will build my church…” (Mt. 16:18), He is saying that He will build His group of people or community. Isn’t it interesting that when we decided to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus by personal confession (the rock), He places us into a group of people where relationships to others becomes important??? There is no such thing as a “lone ranger” Christian. By definition, it is impossible to be a Jesus follower alone. You can’t be part of the church without being part of a group of people.

The church was not man’s idea. It was Jesus’ idea. I know this because it makes no sense. From my experience, it seems foolish to throw a bunch of people together and expect them to get along much less to change the world. After all, if you put two people in a room, you usually have at least three opinions. This has to be God’s idea. Only He can make it work. After all, “the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of man…” He wants us to spend time with people who drive us crazy. A rock only becomes smooth by crashing together with other rocks and knocking the edges off each other. Without community, who smooths off your edges? You just become a crusty, grouchy, judgemental rock instead of getting polished.

Lord, help me embrace Your idea of community. Help me stretch and prioritize relationships over tasks. Polish me.

Community Was Important to the Early Church

Last Sunday I preached on the fact that fellowship is spiritual. Many times, we don’t think that it is. We think that prayer, bible reading, witnessing, worship, etc… are spiritual but fellowship is a waste of time; or something that we do during our “off time” from God. This could not be further from the truth. This is a series of five blogs explaining five reason why I believe that fellowship is spiritual and vital to the follower of Jesus.

The second reason is that community and fellowship were very important to the early church. We always say we want to get back to the way the early church was. Well, immediately following the birth of the church in Acts 2 there is a verse that describes what the 3,000 new members did. It says, “they dedicated themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the fellowship, the Lord’s supper, and to prayer.” I doubt that anyone would argue that the teaching of the apostles (the Bible), prayer, and the Lord’s supper are important. But did you notice how “the fellowship” was listed along with those spiritual activities? It was one of the top four things the early church did! It was not a hand shake on the way out the door once a week. It was a priority. Maybe community should be a bigger priority to us also…

Many people dismiss these verses by saying that the early church was a commune and we don’t have to live that way. A careful reading of the first few chapters of Acts blows this theory out of the water. First of all, it says that whenever there was a need, the believers sold their possessions to meet the need. It does not say that they sold their stuff, lived communally, and met needs. When Annanias and Saphira sold their property and tried to make themselves look good by saying they were donating all the proceeds, Peter says, makes it clear that the property was theirs and they were free to sell it and do whatever they wanted with the money (except lie to the Holy Spirit). Doesn’t sound like a commune to me. Sounds like a community. They lived in their own homes and had their own property but they were so committed to each other that they met each other’s needs. This is how we should live.

Lord, help me be so committed to YOUR community that I would sacrifice to meet needs. Help me not be so isolated in my own little world. Help me get involved in living life with others.

We Are Created For Community

Last Sunday I preached on the fact that fellowship is spiritual. Many times, we don’t think that it is. We think that prayer, bible reading, witnessing, worship, etc… are spiritual but fellowship is a waste of time; or something that we do during our “off time” from God. This could not be further from the truth. This is a series of five blogs explaining five reason why I believe that fellowship is spiritual and vital to the follower of Jesus.

The first reason is that we are all created for fellowship. This true whether we are “people people” or not. Personally, I am not a people person. I have all kinds of reasons for not wanting to interact with people much. I am a guy and generally we are not the most social. I am an American and in general, we are not the most communally minded people on earth. After all, accomplishing tasks and checking them off our lists is way more important than people. I am from Los Angeles, so I grew up in a very rushed and busy culture. In LA we don’t talk to cashiers. They don’t want us to either. They want us to get our stuff and get out so they can help the next person and we are usually more than happy to oblige. When I moved to the south I had a very hard time getting used to cashiers and service individuals wanting to talk. OK, I am still uncomfortable with this… I am form a disfunctional home. I never learned simple, polite personal interactions. I struggle with things like manners and being polite to people. Lastly, my whole spiritual experience has been in the Pentecostal church. We Pentecostals look down on those denominations who fellowship a lot. Why spend our time in worship and at the altars! By the time we have started late, had extended worship, preached for an hour and had altar time, there is no time left for fellowship. We leave that for those churches that get out early. And we hope they eat quickly at the restaurants so they will be empty when we get there.

The problem is that these are all excuses for not being who God created me to be. He created me to be in relationship and to live in community with others. After all He created me in HIS image. According to Gen 1, God said, ” Let US create man in OUR image…” Even before God created the universe, He lived in community. The Trinity shows God as a communal being. He created us in His image so we must be made for community also.

Almost immediately after creating us, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone…” He knew we were created for community and fellowship. So when I isolate myself, “it is not good…” None of us can be all we were created to be in isolation. Shunning relationships falls short of God’s best for us. I believe that is the definition of sin…

Lord, help me today to overcome all my excuses and strive to build relationships. Help me become who YOU created me to be by living in community with those around me. Overcome my excuses and preferences with YOUR love and power.