What to do with those eye-glazing passages

Can I be honest about something?  There are parts of the Bible that are not exciting to me.  They are Eye-Glazers, the kind where you are reading the words but the content is coming into your brain like  teacher's voice in Charlie Brown.

There.  I've said it.  And now you can 'fess up to it too.

This past week I preached through one of those EGP (Eye-Glazing Passages) in Nehemiah 3 (you can listen to the sermon here).  Because we, as a church are committed to regularly preaching through books of the Bible, you run across some of these from time to time.  So here are some thoughts, in no particular order of importance or even importance at all...

1.  If it's in there, it's worth reading.  ALL Scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim 3.16).  So read it anyway.

2.  Don't get too down if you're not mining the depths of theology when you read them.  Some of the EGP's are in the Bible because it's information, plain and simple.

3.  But...EGP's often have little insights that are fun little discoveries.  You may be surprised when you slow down and read them.

4.  As crazy as it sounds, you may want to read it more than once.  Or in smaller chunks.  That will help you not get Donut-level glazed, and may help you discover a few things in the text.  For instance, in Nehemiah 3 (which I bet I read 40 times in preparation), I saw...

• The Tekoites didn't have servant leadership (v.5) but worked harder than most anyway (v.27)
• The High Priest led the way on getting the project started (v.1)
• Shallum and his DAUGHTERS helped rebuild a section (v.12).  I'm not sure if they were corn-fed girls from the farm or really good with a chisel or what, but I didn't expect to see daughters listed among the builders (by the way, I didn't see that one until the next to last reading...no kidding).

5.  As always, I read with a pencil in hand.  Marking stuff sometimes helps me make sense or remember this or that.  That's a general principle, but it certainly applies here.  In the case of the Nehemiah 3 EGP, I remembered that I read something about the Tekoites when I hit v.27, so I was able to go find it in v.5.

I won't say the EGP's are easy or that they make for the best devotional material you have ever read.  I will say they're still worth reading, even worth preaching.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

6 Reasons we Invest in Public Schools

I referenced this in a post last week about the cheating scandal among Atlanta Public Schools and the trial, convictions, and sentencing that followed.

So here's the question again:  what if every evangelical church looked at a school in their geographic locale and did what they could to seek the welfare of that place and those people?

Here are my top six reasons our church is invested in a local school (an elementary school in our case):

1.  We have families with kids there.

2.  We have families with kids there that we want to reach with the Gospel.

3.  We want to do "cup of cold water" and evangelistic ministries as a part of our church-wide effort to Proclaim the Kingdom.  Our adopted school, in particular, is fertile ground for both.  We do the former through a great relationship with the school nurse and counselor (more below).  We do the latter through our sponsorship and hosting of a Good News Club.

4.  It gives us an opportunity to invest in people who are pouring out their lives for others.  The teachers and staff there are generally glad to see us coming.

5.  Our church family practices generosity (and fights suburbia-induced greed) by doing something at Christmas and at the end of school for families in need.  These families are often classified by the school district as homeless and are assigned to us by the counselor and nurse.  We buy and wrap gifts at Christmas.  We pack summer survival kits in May.

6.  It reminds us that the Kingdom is bigger and broader and better than just our little expression of it.  One grandmother pulled up to pick up her kid from Good News Club and excitedly expressed her gratitude that we had invested in her grandson who had just been baptized at their church the weekend before.  Awesome.

I don't assume that we can fix everything or presume that all is well simply because we're there.  Far from it.  But, I do know we're making a difference.  And that really does matter in the lives of some kids.

Raising boys and strutting in the yard

As my boys get older, I've noticed something.  The three males in the family (Max the dog excluded) have conflict over who is the biggest rooster in the hen house.  It shows up in various ways, but I have to consistently remind the other two little roosters that I'm still the biggest.  And I might have to remind the biggest rooster that it's not always that important to be seen as the biggest as it is to be the biggest.

So here are a couple of lessons I'm learning.  I don't share these as "These are things you should do too."  I share them as, "Hey, these are things I'm discovering about myself and the process of raising boys."

1.  Patience is a virtue, but it's harder to find than snow in Miami when a little rooster is trying to unseat you.

2.  Being calm is best.  I've done this successfully once.  Once.  And it really worked.  The rest of the time I've resorted to threatening to throw a rooster in an ice cold pool.  Now that it's warming up, I need to come up with a better threat.  Or be calmer.

3.  There's a balance between letting them learn to puff their chest out and be insubordinate.  One expresses some growing levels of testosterone and manhood.  The other is rebellion and dangerous to their character.  And it's tough to figure out which is which sometimes.

4.  It's hard to remember that I'm shaping arrows to be launched at The Enemy when I can't straighten them like I think they should be.  Maybe that's because I need to learn to shoot better.

So for all those with little roosters, may God bless you as you raise them.  And despite my parenting, may mine grow up to be men who make a difference.

1-and-1 Free Throws and Spiritual Growth

March Madness is over.  Now comes a rather drab NBA playoff and then baseball.  Insert my sad face here.

And for the first time in history, my mom beat the other brothers and yours truly on our bracket picks.  I haven't even managed to tally the scores yet because of the embarrassment.

There's a situation that a player finds himself in as a basketball game goes on.  In the college game, you get to 7 team fouls in a half and you shoot a 1-and-1.  They call it that because if you don't get the first, you'll never get the second.  Missing one means missing two.  Make the first and you get a shot at the second.

There's a situation like that in the spiritual life as well.  One in which if you don't get the first, you won't get the second.  Missing one means missing both.

In our spiritual lives of following Jesus, if we don't take the time to do the basics, we'll miss the other stuff too.  In my opinion, the basics are prayer and Bible intake.  That's the first 1 of the 1-and-1.

What would be the others that you would miss?  Here's a possible list...

- Meaningful worship that is fueled be worship throughout the week and isn't solely an emotional experience.
- Service that's a joy instead of a labor.
- Sacrifice that doesn't mind being inconvenienced instead of only when I somehow benefit from it.

Should I go on?

Let me go ahead and caveat here:  if you don't read your Bible every day, you can still have meaningful worship, etc.  God is God and can do as He pleases.  Further, you can do the basics and have a bad attitude while you serve, etc.

That being said, the most consistent path to the And-1's of life with Jesus happen because a person chooses to commit regular time to prayer and Bible intake.

How to do that?  There are a number of ways.  I personally enjoy the McCheyne reading plan.  But on principle, just remember that prayer is talking with God about things of mutual concern and Bible intake is more than just reading words but interacting with a Person.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Hyundai, Space, and a Special Message

Just in case you missed this awesomeness, it's well worth your 4 minutes.  These folks are in our church family.

Judge Baxter, Education, and Cheating in Georgia

If you've missed the terrible cheating scandal in the Atlanta Public Schools and the court drama that followed, you've missed something that's a travesty.  Alleged educators were breaking rules for the sake of grades.  Full story here from CNN.

In his sentencing (all were found guilty of one crime or another), Judge Baxter noted that many of the kids in APS, because of their family situation and/or living conditions, had no chance for a better life except for the public education system, which failed them miserably.

First, he's right from a societal perspective.  Too many kids are stuck in tough situations with a pathetically narrow escape hatch.  I just read a statistic that 71% of African-American children are born out of wedlock!  When you consider the statistics that testify to the struggle of single moms, that's awful.

Second, there's more to it than their family, their living situation, and the failure of school administrators who loved bonuses more than they loved kids.  There's also the church, the hope of earth.

What if every church in metro Atlanta took responsibility for one school, it's welfare, it's teachers, it's "What do you need, Mrs. Counselor?"  What about your church?

If the church is the greatest institution in the world, then we can be about the greatest good in the world.  It's true that the church has been and done great good in the world at multiple times and in multiple places.  Atlanta seems like a great opportunity (and so is your neighborhood).

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Easter and Planting a Church

FYI:  I'm going to try to re-enter the blogging world after several months away.  Thanks for hanging in there with me.

We had a record setting Easter in terms of attendance.  Every pastor brags about that, right?  That's not the point of this little story though.  It led to a great conversation on the way home with the Bear.  He was asking if we'd go to multiple services and then to a new building, etc.

Something you have to understand:  it was a genuine question fueled by some of the things he's seen and gotten to be a part of.  Whether or not he admits it (he is 12, after all), I think he likes it that he gets to hang around with dad and travel with dad and so forth.

But I told him no, we'd be looking at planting a church instead of building a building.  He asked about multiple campuses.  Again:  we'd plant a church because we want to see the Kingdom grow and that's a major way it does.

Some thoughts on why:

1.  Church planting has historically proven to be the most effective evangelistic tool.  In our ministry context, we have 275,000 people who claim NONE on their religious affiliation data.  That's over half the people in our area.  And that's a lot of people to reach.  So the most effective tool is what's needed.

2.  Our little slice of heaven is landlocked on 5 acres.  This limits our growth size.  Planting churches makes sense.

3.  Multiple services / campuses and so forth are not bad things.  But for me, the only reason I'd be open to multiple anything is if it were a step toward planting a church.  Why?  Because of the two reasons above.

4.  I wonder if 20 churches of 500 would be more able to respond to a need and turn their organizational side to meet it at a faster rate than 10 churches of 1000.  I think probably so.  Slimmer and smaller is more capable of adjustment.  Again, I'm not dogging churches of 1000.  Far from it.

5.  I like pastoring a people, not running an organization.  I have friends who can do both.  I'm grateful for them.  I'm challenged by them.  I want to get better at both.  But I want to burn my energy with people:  knowing their stories, knowing their kids's names, etc.

This is just me on a Monday, but it's something that's been in my heart for a while.  I cast no aspersions.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Weeping while the world rejoices

I read a verse this morning that has just stuck with me and I can't shake it.  It describes so much of what goes on in our world.

Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.  You will be sorrowful but your sorrow will turn into joy. (John 16.20)

You think about the world around us.  You think about how it rejoices over things that should bring tears.  The World Politic is fodder for late night comedians instead of the cause of weeping (and, as Christians, are we laughing along with them?).  Offhand and off-color jokes get forwarded not just to email accounts, but through them.  Cultural norms and ethics crumble while the world throws a party.

In the midst of this, I'm challenged two ways:

1.  To stay sad - my mentor at seminary used to tell me to be shocked by nothing and saddened by everything.  That's a tough balance.  Losing sadness means I'm writing people off.  I don't want to be guilty of that.

2.  Don't rejoice with them - there are some things that are funny.  Jimmy Fallon is one of them.  There are other things that are not.  Either way, there ought to linger in the atmosphere of our souls the tinge of sadness that things aren't supposed to be this way.  To do otherwise is to misspend our joy.

And the true, real, lasting joy is coming:  "But your sorrow will turn into joy."

Cup of Cold Water and Sharing the Gospel

We just had a team on the ground in Bolivia ministering to orphans and the folks who run one of the orphanages there.  It got me to thinking about this verse:

And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward (Matt 10.42)

Did you get that?  There is a kind of ministry that is "Cup of Cold Water" ministry where hands get dirty and comfort zones get blown up.  It's mercy ministry.  It's Least-of-These ministry.  And there's not much glamor in it...though there are certain rewards.

I'm 100% for those kinds of opportunities.  I think they are tangible expressions of love that Jesus enjoys seeing His people give to others.

But I don't think it's enough.  Ever.

That's because faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom 10.17).  Some argue that "hearing" is figurative in that verse, but I don't think the context allows for that.  The passage speaks of someone being sent to preach so people can hear and call on the name of the Lord to be saved (v.13-16).

Good works are exactly that:  good things we get to work at.  And often it opens the door to have a genuine conversation about why we're doing what we're doing.  But it's no substitute for the message because the kind of faith that calls out to God resulting in salvation comes from people like you and me sharing the Gospel with others around us.

So how does that apply to you today?

We Found Love Right Where we are

I'm taking a marriage and family class for my doctoral work and something hit me the other day, triggered by a song, and I thought I'd take just a second and comment.

There's an old Johnny Lee song that talks about looking for love in all the wrong places.  When marriage gets tough, there's a temptation to go looking for love in some terribly wrong places.  See if these sound familiar to you or a *ahem* friend you know...

Pornography - the trade of a 3-D living, human being for some 2-D fantasy.  And while it's devastatingly rampant among men, women are now in its clutches as well.  Fifty Shades of Gray, anyone?  And in case you think it's outside the church, 34% of churchgoing women admit to intentionally visiting a porn site in the past month (that's 1 of 3, in case your math is bad).

People - here the trade is for a real person, somehow believing that the grass is greener on their side of the fence.  It can take many forms, including emotional attachment and the fantasy of "I wish I had that person as my spouse."  That, of course, leads to physical detachment from the spouse and opens the door for all sorts of bad.

Coexistence - the trade of relationship for shared space.  This feels like roommates rather than love.  Habits grate on nerves, inconsiderate actions or words are expected and don't cause wounds anymore, and two different agendas and itineraries determine activities.  As a pastor, I've seen some empty-nesters struggle with this.

None of these "wrong places" have to be as dire as I described them.  But they point to the same problem:  you don't fall in and out of love.  You choose to love or not to love.  The same choice has to be made in every relationship.  Do I love or not love?  We are under a western, romantic notion that love is some crazy emotion.  I'm all for the emotion when it's there - that makes the choice that much easier.  But when it's not, it's still a choice to love or not love.

Ed Sheeran has a song out right now that points to this.  It's a solid song - the kind that will want you to grab your honey and dance, then kiss her on the lips like you haven't done so in a while.  The closing lyric of the chorus is an important one:  we found love right where we are.

Where else will you find love except right where you are?  It's a choice.  It's in your marriage or in your relationship with your child or loved one that you find love.