Grow!

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:14

In Sunday Morning Worship, we are reading thru Philippians together. We just came across the middle of chapter three this past Sunday, where Paul resolves for himself and encoucourages his readers to deepen their faith. In my last post, I mentioned a scene from Shawshank Redemption where a main character, Red, tells the lead character, Andy, to "get busy living or get busy dying."

A similar statement is true in our faith, we are either growing or backsliding. We need to be sensitive to what the Spirit is trying to do in our souls. What does He want to teach you? Where does He want to stretch you? Where has He been challenging you and where has He been chastising you?

God created us to mature. Look at our biology. There is a period in utero where we are safe and incubated. Then we are born and begin to unpack and grow. I just had a baby, or rather, my wife did. We just had our fourth child. In the womb, limbs are all folded up and the body is relatively scrawny. Now four weeks later, her legs and arms stretch out straight and she is packing on the pounds as she eats and grows. Biology shows us that we are created to mature. And the same is true in spiritual ways.

We begin this faith in a simple, stripped down way. Jesus is God. He loves me and died to pay the punishment for my sin. I need Him in my life. As we mature, we learn more about Him. As we mature, we use what we learn to make good, godly decisions. As we mature, we love Him more as we know Him more completely.

Press on toward that goal! Deepen your faith!

Get Busy Living

One of the most powerful quotes from a great movie, Shawshank Redemption, is when Red was talking to Andy, who was in the dregs of depression. He said "Get busy living, or get busy dying." I think that is an interesting one-liner to reflect on this Patriot's Day, 2009.

It was eight years ago, in the nine o'clock hour of the morning that four planes crashed as this nation was attacked by Islamic extremist terrorists. In result, over 3,000 American civilians were murdered and our nation declared war on terror.

My parents never forgot where they were when JFK was shot back in the 1960's. I doubt we will never forget where we were on 9/11/2001. I was a Senior at Philadelphia Biblical University and was sitting in Church Planting class. One student walked in late and announced that a plane had crashed in NYC, but none of us took it as seriously as we would later that day. As news spread of the extent of the attacks, we moved from shrugging it off to shock and emptiness. Many of us moved from shock to anger in the days to come. As I graduated from college, I got more interested in news and politics and national security. I began listening to talk radio. Eight years have passed and I have come to the realization that its all vanity and chasing after wind.

I have been called by Jesus Himself to serve His Church and to bear His Name to the world. To spend time in any other pursuit is a waste of the time God has granted me. It all started while I was in church planting class... the pursuit of nurturing a community of faith and seeing the Spirit bless a redeemed group of people. I've spent too long being side-tracked with private interests. Too long on politics and the give-and-take in Washington. Let's face it: Washington will change lives, but it will never change hearts. It will change our circumstances, but will not breath life into that which is spiritually dead. The war on terror-tactics needs to be fought and perhaps it is a genuine calling-by-God for some. But I have recently realized that calling and the daily attention I have given to it is not what God has called me to.

So I rededicate myself today to the pursuit of my calling: to water, to plant, to nurture in God's vineyard... to share His grace in a dark world... to equip and serve His people, the Church. I'm going to get busy living! Today is the first new day of a full life of ministry and service.

To God be the glory!

Back to Work

okay, okay, okay... so I haven't blogged in over a year. It has been insanely busy for me and I apologize. So enough with it already, I'm back to work.

I think that it is important for pastors to blog. I think we shouldn't be online 40 hours a week... its not our job to comb the internet for ideas to rap about. But I think we have a powerful tool here to talk with our people, the Church-at-large, and the general community about Jesus, culture, and godly living.

So I'm not going to update 25 times a day. I'm not going to spend every waking moment delving the bowels of the internet for content on this blog. But I will sort-of journal my thoughts about missional life, church dynamics, and Jesus' revolutionary message of grace and forgiveness.

With all that said, it's back to work!