Archives For Jesus

7 Reasons Why I Love Joy Prom

April 22, 2013 — Leave a comment

IMG_0240Think of the happiest, funnest, most memorable prom that you can remember. Multiply that by ten, and you have the Joy Prom. Last Saturday I attended the Joy Prom, an event I’ve had the privilege of being a part of for the past several years. The Joy Prom is where our high school students throw a prom for the special needs community in our area. The high school students serve as dates, we literally roll out the red carpet, and have a night we’ll always remember. (Watch last year’s recap video here.) Here’s seven reasons why I love the Joy Prom so much:

1. It’s all about the red carpet. When the Joy Prom couples walk down the red carpet with hundreds of people cheering them on, you should see their smiles. They feel like a million bucks, and you can tell. To see the smiles on the faces of the precious special needs students is absolutely priceless.

2. Blessing the caregivers. The caregivers of the special needs community are the unsung heroes of this whole thing. Their time, energy and continuous effort to serve others goes vastly under-appreciated. To bless them and validate their work by blessing those precious souls in their care, even if for one night, is worth the effort.

3. Providing the best prom for high schoolers. Over the years, the constant refrain I’ve heard from high schoolers is that the Joy Prom is the best prom they’ve ever been to. There’s no pretense, no image to upkeep, no social hierarchy. The students are able to come in, let loose, and truly be themselves.

4. Seeing Christians coming together to serve. Too often, Christians are separated by churches and denominational lines, allowing secondary things to separate them. The Joy Prom is one of the few times I’ve seen Christians from numerous churches come together. The purpose of serving the special needs community transcends religious territorialism. If only this could happen more often.

5. Breaking stereotypes and rocking the church. Yes, we have a dance at the church. And it’s rocking. You can hear the bass thumping before you walk in the doors. Every once in awhile, it’s good to shake things up a little. Christians can have fun too.

6. Experiencing pure, unadulterated joy. Attending the Joy Prom is like watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition for three hours. You’re going to love it, but you’re going to cry at some point. There’s an emotional experience when you see the pure joy radiating from the faces of the special needs students. It tugs at your emotional core, reminding you that such pure joy exists.

7. Knowing that we blessed more than just the special needs community. Jesus says, ”Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least ofthese brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). I think the Joy Prom honestly reflects the love of our Savior, who has a special place in his heart for those on the margins of society.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this year’s Joy Prom so special!

QUESTION: If you’ve been a part of a Joy Prom before, what’s you’re favorite aspect of it?

In Ministry in the Trenches, What I'm Living , , ,
permalink

12 Thoughts on Our Response to the Coming Reality of Gay Marriage (Part 2)

April 12, 2013 — Leave a comment

4.10.13In my last post, I began to share twelve thoughts on our response to the coming reality of gay marriage. By the sheer number of clicks on that post, it’s obvious that this is a topic that many are working through. So, for what it’s worth, here are six more thoughts on the subject. Would love your comments below.

7. Jesus showed grace to notorious “sinners.” If you look at Jesus and the woman at the well (John 4), Jesus and the woman caught in adultery (John 6), or Jesus calling Matthew (Matthew 9), you’ll quickly discover that even when “religious” people avoided notorious “sinners,” Jesus didn’t. He embraced them. What example does that set for us? As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. Matthew 9:9

8. James tells us to be quick to listen and slow to speak. This should knock out any angry Facebook rants on the subject. Here’s the reality: you can’t argue someone into the Kingdom. Even if you technically win on points, you’ll still only drive them further away. Was an argument was persuaded you to follow Christ? My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:19-20

9. Paul tells us to speak the truth in love. Speaking the truth in love requires a relationship. If you’re going to share something as foundational as biblical truth on sexuality, you need to build a relational bridge strong enough to support the gravity of that truth. So, before you flippantly condemn the entire homosexual community to Hell, how many homosexuals are you friends with? Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:15

10. One of the greatest evangelistic tools you’ll have is a strong God-honoring marriage. A strong, long-lasting biblical marriage of one man and one woman for life is getting rarer and rarer these days. It seems like most don’t make it. If you make your marriage work, you’re providing an incredible witness to the world. God’s design for marriage was to be a picture of his love for the world. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Ephesians 5:25

11. Don’t allow hatemongers to represent us or shame us. There will always be extremists on either side, pressuring us to come out unequivocally in support of gay marriage or to come out and violently condemn the entire homosexual community. Jesus didn’t allow hatemongers to put words in his mouth. Neither should we. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” John 8:3-5

12. This whole issue reminds us that this world is not our home. We look forward to a better place. There will be a day when we don’t have to deal with this issue, or any other dividing controversy. Remember, for believers, this world is not our home. We look forward to a better place. Put your hope in that. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20

QUESTION: What thoughts would you add to this discussion?

In Biblical Truth, Food for Thought, What I'm Teaching , , , ,
permalink

When You Realize You Have No Non-Christian Friends

March 25, 2013 — 1 Comment

3.25.13Have you ever been there? I have. It’s the moment after you listen to an inspiring message from a pastor, and you’re all fired up to go and win your non-Christian friends to Christ. And then you realize you don’t have any non-Christian friends. You’ve lived in the church bubble for too long.

I like church people. They’re my kind of people. In fact, if it was up to me, I’d probably hang around them all the time. They share my values, my interests. But when Jesus told us to the be the light of the world, I don’t think he meant for all the lights to gather together in one place, leaving the rest of the world to fend for themselves in darkness.

As a Christian, and especially as a pastor, I have to be intentional about building meaningful relationships with those outside the faith. As uncomfortable as it might be at times, I need to be investing in the lives of those around me, so that I’ll have a platform to share the hope of Christ.

Did Jesus ever do this?

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:9-13

QUESTION: What “sinners” are you hanging around with?

In Biblical Truth, Food for Thought, What I'm Teaching , , , ,
permalink

Do We Really Hate Homosexuals That Much?

February 27, 2013 — 4 Comments

2.27.13Right now I’m currently going through a great book called The Great Evangelical Recession (which I’ll post a review about later). In it, the author asserts that evangelicals are predominantly known for one thing among the American public: we hate homosexuals. We’re not known for the gospel, or our love for each other, or our charity to the poor, orphans, or widows. We’re known for our hate, specifically aimed at the homosexual community.

I remember my denomination (Southern Baptist Convention) making waves several years ago when they boycotted Disney because of their stance on homosexuality. Yesterday I read an article in a Baptist publication where the top official in the Southern Baptist Convention called on Southern Baptists to mobilize and put pressure on the Boy Scouts of America to keep homosexuals out of leadership positions. Once again, evangelicals coming out against the homosexual community.

My beliefs on homosexuality aside, is this really what evangelicals want to be known for? That we hate a certain group of people? Is that really what Jesus called us to? How many times did Jesus speak out against homosexuality (something prevalent in the culture of that day)? None. How many times did Jesus engage in the culture wars of his day? None.

There are tons of biblical commands that aren’t being followed today: greed, divorce, gossip, malice, murder, jealousy, etc. Why are we picking one out and making that the focus of our hate? Is that the message we really want to send to America? Not the gospel, not the hope of heaven, just that we hate homosexuals?

Evangelicals, let’s be better than that. Let’s be more Christ-like than that.

In Food for Thought, What I'm Living , , ,
permalink

Why I Preach the Way I Do

February 13, 2013 — 2 Comments

2.13.13I literally just got back from speaking at a high school chapel at a Christian school in town. Pulling from my years of student ministry, I shared the contents of the blog post I wrote earlier, “7 Things I Wish I Could Tell Every High Schooler.” The response from the students, even at 8 in the morning, was extremely positive. The students were leaning in, staying with me, and giving me positive non-verbal feedback throughout the talk.

Why? Because I talked about something that they wanted to hear about. Alcohol, sex, and adulthood, all pretty safe topics for interest when it comes to high schoolers. But it reminded me of why I preach the way I do. There are many different schools of thought about how to preach and differing opinions on what preachers should talk about. Lots of highly polished men, with lots of highly polished diplomas, speak eloquently for their points of view, many of them conflicting with each other.

Some think that the only way to preach is to walk through the Bible, verse-by-verse. “Just preach the Word,” they would say. For them, nothing excites them more than a two-year sermon series walking through the book of Romans. That may be fine, it’s just not my style. My style gets the verse-by-verse folks up in arms. They see it as a degradation of Scripture. I see it as biblical preaching.

Here’s the example I base my preaching style off of: Jesus. Look in the gospels. How many times do we see Jesus taking his disciples through a verse-by-verse study of the book of Leviticus? Never. How did Jesus preach? He used every day examples to talk about deeper truths pertinent to his hearers. He talked about farmers and lost sheep. He used contemporary culture as a bridge to deeper spiritual truths.

That’s why I talk to high schoolers about alcohol and sex and adulthood, issues they care about, and use them as a bridge to the deeper truths found in Scripture. One nice by-product of preaching about issues people actually care about: people listen. And they bring their friends to listen too. That’s why I preach the way I do.

In Food for Thought, Ministry in the Trenches, What I'm Living , , ,
permalink

My God is For Me

February 4, 2013 — Leave a comment

1.25.13When God looks down from heaven at you, does he shake his head in disappointment? It’s easy to think that sometimes. If you grew up in a religion of rules and regulations, its easy to feel defeated when you don’t live up. Like a cop pulling out behind us when we’re driving, many of us have a natural fear when we get too close to God, because we’re sure we’re going to get in trouble for something.

Yesterday in our Catfish series, we talked about the myth that God is fed up with me. If you’re honest with yourself, you probably don’t live up to your own standards, so how could you ever imagine living up to God’s standards?

The truth we find from Scripture is the powerful truth that God is for me. If you read the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15, you see God’s heart for us, “But while he was still a long way off, his father [God] saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20)

Romans 8:31-32 says the same thing: “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Psalm 23:6 says, “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

When we realize that God is for us, our relationship with Him completely changes:

  1. We don’t hid from God but run to God. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
  2. We don’t live for God’s approval but live from his approval. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
  3. We don’t fear what happens to us because we know that God is working in us. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,who have been called according to his purpose.”

To watch the entire message, please click here.

In Biblical Truth, What I'm Teaching , , ,
permalink

Finding Out That Someone Who Goes To Your Church Just Got Out of Prison

January 9, 2013 — Leave a comment

1.9.13It’s always a bit disconcerting at first. Especially if they don’t give off the I-just-out-of-prison look (i.e. orange jumpsuit). A few weeks ago, after I met a nice looking young family, I found out that one of the parents has been out of prison less than six months. Many people’s reaction might be a mixture of fascination (what did they do?), repulsiveness (hide the kids!), and condemnation (how dare they show up in God’s house!). Especially if your church isn’t the type of “church” that welcomes ex-convicts. I’ve been to those types of churches. I grew up in a few of those churches. It’s the kind of churches that Pharisees would absolutely love.

For the record, I’m glad that ex-convicts find Mt Vernon Church a safe and welcoming place to explore their relationship with God. To my knowledge, we’ve got three ex-cons at Mt Vernon, and many more with a troubled past. I know one ex-con who continually invites other acquaintances with similar backgrounds to our church so that they can hear the gospel. One of the people at Mt Vernon that has invited more people (and clients) than anyone else is a bail bondsman.

End result? Mt Vernon is full of misfits, and I love that. When Jesus declared his Messianic identity at the beginning of his ministry, he used an ancient quote from the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).

It’s tough to proclaim freedom for the prisoners if you don’t know any. That’s why I love that my church seems to attract the broken and hurting. They know they will be loved and accepted here. More importantly, they know that they kind find the hope of Jesus Christ here.

QUESTION: Does your church embrace the messes?

image courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

In Ministry in the Trenches, What I'm Living , , , , ,
permalink

A Story of Hope for 2013

January 2, 2013 — 1 Comment

Can God change your life in 2013? Absolutely. Watch this video of how God worked in the life of David Duett and use it as motivation to ask God for big things in your life.

In Media , , ,
permalink

My Favorite Thing about New Year’s Day

January 1, 2013 — 2 Comments

1.1.13It’s the hope. I love New Year’s because of the natural hope that surrounds it. It’s the closest we get to having a slate wiped clean. Many folks feel like their life gets out of control, one bad decision piling on another like a snowball until you’re hurtling down a cliff, unable to grab anything to stop yourself. New Year’s is that handhold. It’s an opportunity to stop the slide, reorient yourself, and set out in a new direction. Over the past few days, I’ve seen several Facebook posts where users would say that “2012 was horrible” and they’re ready for a “much better 2013.”

When you really think about it, the hope of New Years doesn’t make much sense. Nothing really changes other than the date on a calendar. Your health problems follow you from 2013. Those bad decisions you made in 2012 will still follow you (in the form of consequences) in 2013. All those Christmas purchases that you couldn’t afford will show up on your January 2013 credit card statement. And yet, we have hope (as we should). Don’t miss out on the hope of New Year’s. Don’t buy into the myth that you can’t change your life. You can, through the power of Jesus.

At the same time, don’t miss out on the truth that every day can be New Year’s Day. One of my favorite verses in the Old Testament is Lamentations 3:22-23, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Don’t be afraid to hope. 2013 can be much better than 2012. You can make things right in your life. The secret is Jesus. Through him, all things are new. Pray like it depends on God, and work like it depends on you. Trust in Jesus, dream big, and go make 2013 awesome!

image courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

In Food for Thought, What I'm Living , , , ,
permalink

Everyone Has a Story

December 12, 2012 — Leave a comment

12.12.12 copyEarlier this year my family went down to New Orleans for a short vacation. While there, I able to engage in a favorite past-time: people watching. “People watching” sounds much nicer than “creeping,” so I’ll stick with that.

Two guys captivated my attention while there. The first guy worked at the New Orleans Insectarium. He was in his late 20s, and he screamed ‘beatnik’ with his Shaggy-like beard. He looked like the guy who would hit the hippest coffee shop in town after work. Here’s my favorite part: his job at the Insectarium was to hold live roaches and let paying guests (like me) play with them and pet them. That’s what he did all day. He sat on a stool and played with roaches. Where was that job on Career Day in high school?

The second guy that captivated me was in the New Orleans Aquarium. While we were eating lunch in the Aquarium Food Court, he was sitting behind a portable hot dog stand, waiting to sell someone a hot dog. No one came. For the entire 45 minutes we ate lunch, no one came to his stand. So he just sat there, staring blankly into space, for 45 minutes. He was young, early 20s. He looked fit. If this is what he did all day, where did he find his purpose?

Have you ever encountered someone and tried to imagine what their life was like? Next time you see someone on the sidewalk, pay for gas, or have someone bag your food at the grocery store, try to imagine their life. What’s their story?

Your story is the sum total of your life experiences, your childhood, your difficult circumstances, your personality quirks that you inherited from your aunt, the twisting, winding road that brought you to where you are today. That’s your story. The question is, how many stories do we really know? If we don’t know someone’s story, we don’t know them.

Spend some time and find someone’s story this week. See what it does to you.

Image courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

In Food for Thought , , ,
permalink