I was reading Max Lucado’s book this morning “The Cure for a Common Life,” and he said something that got me to thinking. He said that stats show that one third of all Americans HATE their jobs; two thirds believe that they are in the wrong job; even “successful” people are not satisfied with their jobs; a large percentage of suicides happen on Sunday nights; and a large percentage of heart attacks happen on Monday mornings. He went on to talk about how Christians should look upon their jobs with a different attitude.
You see, a Christian should work at his job as unto the Lord. We should do what we do as service to our King. You should look upon your job as your calling in life. The place that the Lord has put you…to use you there. You should type those forms for the glory of God. You should change those diapers in obedience to the Savior. You should look at the desk as your station for serving the Lord Jesus. You should handle that press at the factory as if the Lord Jesus were your manager….because He is. You should wash those dishes as if you were doing sacred service, because you are….when it’s done unto the Lord…for His glory. You should see those tables that you’re waiting on as fulfilling the call of God upon your life…because it is. That’s where the Lord has you. Shine in your place of service to Christ. Grow and bloom in the place where the Lord has planted you. “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24
7/8/09
7/7/09
Kings?
With all the talk of the King of Pop being laid to rest today, and with all the comparisons of him with the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis, and whoever else our world might be calling a king; I just want to remind everyone out there that the Lord Jesus is the King of kings. The Lord Jesus is the only One worthy to be praised as well...but, our world still wants to praise men. And, while the bodies of these so-called kings are laying in graves, the body of the King of kings is not in a grave. He is risen in all of His glory.
Hallelujah! Lord, open the eyes of the lost crowd to see your glory.
Hallelujah! Lord, open the eyes of the lost crowd to see your glory.
7/2/09
My Concerns with what the GCR Could Lead Us To
First of all, I voted for the task force to study the SBC. I am not agaisnst the GCR. I am very much for a true GCR. But, I have had some people ask me what my concern with the GCR is? Why am I concerned about a document such as this? What do you think that it will do…that’s so bad? Or, what it could lead to?
Well, my concern is that the GCR could lead to us joining with certain groups to start Churches and do missions that I could never feel good about. I do not want to start Churches that have Pastors preaching on “The 6 Different Positions of Satisfying Sex,” and then telling their people that on their way out the door that each couple will receive the video by Darryl “Boom Boom” Fannah called “Darryl’s Illustrative How To’s of Enjoyable Sex.” And, then they are also told that sex toys will be available in the lobby for them to purchase.I also don’t want to start Churches with Pastors who get into the pulpit and say,”Well, Da_ _ it, I’m mad as h_ll at the Devil, and I’m tired of his sh_t!” I don’t want to start Churches, nor support missionaries, who are drinking a Bud Lite while preaching. I don’t want to support missionaries and start Churches with people who start off their worship services with AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” or with Foreigners “It Feels Like the First Time.”
Those are my concerns. And, just in case you think that I’m overstating my argument here…that I’m exaggerating..well, I’m not. These types of scenarios are already playing out amongst a certain set of people, and many SBC Pastors are backing them up! Things very similar to what I just said above are already happening in some unwise, fleshly Churches, and we have some SB Pastors and other Ministers backing this kind of thing up...saying that we should just look past some of this kind of stuff...that we should turn a blind eye to it. I don't think so.
I'm starting to believe that we have some Pastors and other Ministers out in SBC land that are semi-Antinomian. They are not truly Antinomian, but they are close to it. They call themselves conservative, Bible believing Christians, but they want to be hedonistic...yet, not too hedonistic. They don't want anyone to call them Antinomian, nor hedonistic; but they want to live as hedonistic as they can, or at least, be able to tell their people that they can be hedonistic. And, they are this way for many reasons, but one of the main reasons...seems to me...is to somehow be relevant to the culture. To fit in. To somehow reach the lost crowd by drinking with them, and by cussing with them, and by telling dirty jokes with them, etc. That seems to be the battle cry of the hedonistic crowd. They want to be looked upon as sound, Bible preaching Christians; yet to fit in with culture, they want to drink alcohol for pleasure; cuss in and out of the pulpit; deny the leadership of the husband in the home; accept women elders, or pastors; and there's a host of other things that we're told that we must believe and practice if...if....if we don't want to become irrelevant. If, if, if we want to reach the masses.
Well, I just believe that we should counter-cultural as Christians. We should be salt and light to this dark world that has many, many wounds. We should be gloriously, wonderfully different than the lost, heathen crowd. We should let them see people who are different and separate from the worldly bunch. We need to be something that they can flee to....to escape the depravity of the world...not become just like the worldy, lost crowd. When you look at the Christians in the book of Acts, they were different. They were gloriously changed. They stood out; not fit in. And, they turned the world upside down.
Now, I'm not talking about styles of music. I love praise choruses. I like Casting Crowns and Toby Mac. And, I'm not talking about starting Churches where the Pastor wears jeans and a t-shirt. I hate wearing ties, and I wear one as little as I can...as much as I can get away with in the "culture" that I'm living in at the moment. I'm not talking about hairstyles being different, or about having pews, or chairs, or any other thing that would be a matter of preference, or personal conviction. I'm talking about Pastors and other Ministers telling us that we have to get down and dirty in hedonism in order to reach a certain kind of crowd...namely the young people of today. Oh really? How does this square up with Scripture? It doesn't. I mean, are they telling us that we have to accept drinking alcohol, and women pastors, and egalitarianism in order to reach the young people. They are saying that we have to accept things like the gay agenda...to a certain point, and we have to accept the rants of Al Gore on the environment, and we have to cuss and tell dirty jokes in order to reach the young people. Really? Do we have to do all of this to stay relevant? to reach lost people? to grow our Churches? Really?
Funny me, I thought all along that we should preach the Gospel and trust the Holy Spirit to save people...even young people. I thought that holiness and the Lordship of Christ was important in us living lives that are pleasing to God. I thought that purity was important to God. I didn't know that all I had to do was cuss and tell dirty jokes in the pulpit and around town, and then the masses would adore me and join my Church. I didn't realize that all the young people out there were just waiting on me to drink with them at the local pub, and let their wife be the Assistant Pastor. And then, they would come pouring into my Church. I just didn't realize that I needed to have a little "Captain" in me, and drink liquor while I was worshipping, in order to grow a Church in these days.
Lord, help us.
Well, my concern is that the GCR could lead to us joining with certain groups to start Churches and do missions that I could never feel good about. I do not want to start Churches that have Pastors preaching on “The 6 Different Positions of Satisfying Sex,” and then telling their people that on their way out the door that each couple will receive the video by Darryl “Boom Boom” Fannah called “Darryl’s Illustrative How To’s of Enjoyable Sex.” And, then they are also told that sex toys will be available in the lobby for them to purchase.I also don’t want to start Churches with Pastors who get into the pulpit and say,”Well, Da_ _ it, I’m mad as h_ll at the Devil, and I’m tired of his sh_t!” I don’t want to start Churches, nor support missionaries, who are drinking a Bud Lite while preaching. I don’t want to support missionaries and start Churches with people who start off their worship services with AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” or with Foreigners “It Feels Like the First Time.”
Those are my concerns. And, just in case you think that I’m overstating my argument here…that I’m exaggerating..well, I’m not. These types of scenarios are already playing out amongst a certain set of people, and many SBC Pastors are backing them up! Things very similar to what I just said above are already happening in some unwise, fleshly Churches, and we have some SB Pastors and other Ministers backing this kind of thing up...saying that we should just look past some of this kind of stuff...that we should turn a blind eye to it. I don't think so.
I'm starting to believe that we have some Pastors and other Ministers out in SBC land that are semi-Antinomian. They are not truly Antinomian, but they are close to it. They call themselves conservative, Bible believing Christians, but they want to be hedonistic...yet, not too hedonistic. They don't want anyone to call them Antinomian, nor hedonistic; but they want to live as hedonistic as they can, or at least, be able to tell their people that they can be hedonistic. And, they are this way for many reasons, but one of the main reasons...seems to me...is to somehow be relevant to the culture. To fit in. To somehow reach the lost crowd by drinking with them, and by cussing with them, and by telling dirty jokes with them, etc. That seems to be the battle cry of the hedonistic crowd. They want to be looked upon as sound, Bible preaching Christians; yet to fit in with culture, they want to drink alcohol for pleasure; cuss in and out of the pulpit; deny the leadership of the husband in the home; accept women elders, or pastors; and there's a host of other things that we're told that we must believe and practice if...if....if we don't want to become irrelevant. If, if, if we want to reach the masses.
Well, I just believe that we should counter-cultural as Christians. We should be salt and light to this dark world that has many, many wounds. We should be gloriously, wonderfully different than the lost, heathen crowd. We should let them see people who are different and separate from the worldly bunch. We need to be something that they can flee to....to escape the depravity of the world...not become just like the worldy, lost crowd. When you look at the Christians in the book of Acts, they were different. They were gloriously changed. They stood out; not fit in. And, they turned the world upside down.
Now, I'm not talking about styles of music. I love praise choruses. I like Casting Crowns and Toby Mac. And, I'm not talking about starting Churches where the Pastor wears jeans and a t-shirt. I hate wearing ties, and I wear one as little as I can...as much as I can get away with in the "culture" that I'm living in at the moment. I'm not talking about hairstyles being different, or about having pews, or chairs, or any other thing that would be a matter of preference, or personal conviction. I'm talking about Pastors and other Ministers telling us that we have to get down and dirty in hedonism in order to reach a certain kind of crowd...namely the young people of today. Oh really? How does this square up with Scripture? It doesn't. I mean, are they telling us that we have to accept drinking alcohol, and women pastors, and egalitarianism in order to reach the young people. They are saying that we have to accept things like the gay agenda...to a certain point, and we have to accept the rants of Al Gore on the environment, and we have to cuss and tell dirty jokes in order to reach the young people. Really? Do we have to do all of this to stay relevant? to reach lost people? to grow our Churches? Really?
Funny me, I thought all along that we should preach the Gospel and trust the Holy Spirit to save people...even young people. I thought that holiness and the Lordship of Christ was important in us living lives that are pleasing to God. I thought that purity was important to God. I didn't know that all I had to do was cuss and tell dirty jokes in the pulpit and around town, and then the masses would adore me and join my Church. I didn't realize that all the young people out there were just waiting on me to drink with them at the local pub, and let their wife be the Assistant Pastor. And then, they would come pouring into my Church. I just didn't realize that I needed to have a little "Captain" in me, and drink liquor while I was worshipping, in order to grow a Church in these days.
Lord, help us.
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