One of my most treasured memories of Eve had to do with prayer, of course.  Eve used to come to our Thursday noon prayer meetings at the church office, and one day she came with a big notebook to show me.  In that notebook, she had collected hundreds of prayers, Scriptures, promises of God, and personal prayers.  Reading through this book was like looking into the portfolio of a renowned artist, or the compositions of a virtuoso musician.  Eve’s passionate heart, full of trust in her God, was displayed on every page.  As she showed me the book, she recommended that I add a “prayer focus for the week” to the weekly Pulse, and I did just that, often drawing on something from Eve’s prayer notebook in order to stir our church’s hearts towards greater faith and prayer. 

The verse I usually like to preach on when I lead a memorial service is Ecclesiastes 7:2 – “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man.”  At every funeral, we are reminded of the finality of death, the importance of living every day to the fullest, and the need to make sure we are right with God.  We are also reminded of how uniquely special the life we have been given really is, and the opportunity we have to forever impact the lives of others.  One of my favorite quotes comes from the late Christian musician Rich Mullins.  Reflecting on death, he wrote, “I think we cry at funerals – even at funerals of people we don’t like – because we realize what a miracle a life is.  You realize, ‘This will never happen again.’  There will never be this exact combination of genes, there will never again be the things that have created this person to be what he is.  God has spoken uniquely here, and it’s gone.  It’s over.  And I think there is some regret, because we all realize, boy, we didn’t pay enough attention.”  God spoke uniquely when He created Eve, and blessed are those who took the time to pay attention to what He had to say through her.

Do you have any meaningful memories of Eve?  If so, please share a comment below.

“Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the LORD’s wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.”

This passage speaks powerfully to those times that we find ourselves having sinned against God and feeling like we are not worthy to be forgiven.  We feel like we need to wallow in our shame and guilt, and that our fellowship with God has been damaged.  But the truth is that God is always quick to forgive and restore, and Satan is the one who wants nothing more than to convince us that God doesn’t love us, can’t forgive us, and that we are unworthy to call ourselves a Christian.  This passage from Micah is a wonderful call to recommitment after we have fallen.  The enemy may laugh at us and call us all kinds of names, but we know that he is defeated, that the Lord has already pled our case and established our right if we belong to Jesus.  And so we can say with confidence, “Do not gloat over me, my enemy!  Though I have fallen, I will rise.”  And we can waste not one second more wallowing in guilt and shame, instead returning speedily to our merciful and loving God.

If you are a man, or if you know of any men, looking for brothers who will stand and encourage and fight for you as you strive to become the man God has called you to be, I would encourage you to come to NewLife on a Wednesday night from 7-8:30 for Fight Club.  If you have any questions, contact Anthony Varesio at 860-306-3920 or anthonyshope@yahoo.com, or Eric Stillman at 860-869-4580 or nlcfpastor@gmail.com.  For more info, visit http://www.glastonburyfightclub.com/.

This summer, beginning on June 13th, I’ll be preaching through different interactions with Jesus found in the gospel.  From Peter walking on water to the woman caught in adultery, from Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead to Jesus healing the blind and the lame, these stories serve as pictures of the God we serve, in all of His power and compassion.  If you are not currently following any Bible reading plan, I would encourage you to spend your summer reading through the Gospels, the stories of Jesus’ life, and let God open your eyes anew to who He is and how He deals with His people.

As I prepare for this summer, I would love to hear from you – what story or stories are most meaningful to you, and why?  What is it about Jesus that attracts, intrigues, or challenges you the most?  Let me share a three of my thoughts below:

(1) I have always been fascinated by the fact that Jesus was a sinless friend of sinners.  In John 8:46, Jesus asks the Pharisees, “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?”, and in Hebrews 4:15, we are told that Jesus was tempted in every way we are, yet was without sin.  Yet somehow, despite His perfection, it is obvious on every page of the Gospels that the outcasts and sinners of society loved to be near Him, while the religious people wanted to kill Him.  This just blows my mind.  I think that many Christians believe that in order to relate more to those who seem far from God, they need to be relevant to them, that perhaps by behaving more like the people of the world, we can seem more “real” to them and therefore point them more easily to God.  But here is Jesus, without one sin, and those who feels rejected by the religious elite (and therefore by God) just want to be near Him.  If that is not the case in our lives (or in our church), we would be wise to ask how we are different than Jesus.

(2) It can also be shocking to see how directly Jesus communicates with people, especially when He is confronting them.  I think that Jesus often gets a reputation of a meek and mild teacher and healer, a wise sage who is just loving and nice to everyone.  But the Gospels reveal someone who did not hesitate to sharply confront people, even his own disciple Peter when he turns to him and says “Get behind me Satan!” in Matthew 16:23.  The target of most of his sharpest criticism is the religious elite, something that should make all of us who are part of the church stop and reflect on whether or not we are displaying Christ to the world. 

(3) I am also encouraged and challenged by Jesus’ range of emotion.  In the gospels, we see Jesus weeping at the tomb of Lazarus, displaying zealous anger as he overturns the tables of the money changers in the temple, anxiously sweating blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, and tenderly touching and healing a leper.  Jesus was no robot impassively walking through this world, but he fully experienced everything.

What about you?  If you have any thoughts to share, post a comment below.  And consider reading through the Gospels with fresh eyes this summer.

What do you think of topical sermons?

Over the past three and a half years at NewLife, I have tried different approaches to preaching.  For some series, I preach through a book of the Bible (e.g. Colossians) or the life of an important person (e.g. The Life of David).  For other series, I stay more topical (e.g. Death and the Life after that, Why Believe?).  My current sermon series, which I have called “Practical Christianity,” falls more on the topical side, in that each week deals with a specific topic (love life, parenting, work, money, etc.), but I am coming at it from the perspective of how to work out the implications of the gospel into each realm of your life (as Paul said in Philippians 2:12-13 – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose).

I am interested in your answer to this question because there are some churches that preach almost entirely topical sermons.  In these kind of churches, for example, there will be a series on what the Bible has to say about money, followed by a series on parenting, followed by a series on conquering your fears, and then one on love, sex, and marriage.  On the other hand, there are other churches that preach entirely verse-by-verse, going through one book of the Bible after another until you understand what it means and how it applies to your life today. 

I see strengths and weaknesses in both approaches, but I am curious to hear what you think.  Consider the following questions:

1) Is one approach more “right” or “Biblical” than another?
2) Has one approach helped you more in your spiritual growth than the other?
3) What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of preaching topically vs. preaching verse-by-verse?

If you’ve got an opinion, please share your comment below.

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:13-14)

You see, the former slave had rarely handled money in his life, and so he had no comprehension of what $50,000 was.  He had no idea how much money was available to him, and so as a result he was asking for fifty cents when in reality he had enough money to comfortably live on for the rest of his life. 

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

In his letter to the Ephesian church, Paul writes this incredible prayer:  “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Ephesians 1:17-19).  Notice that one of the things Paul prays for is that we would wake up to the glorious inheritance we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I’m not talking about money here, nor do I believe is Paul, who was not rich in the things of this world.  I am talking about all of the power and love and peace and joy that is available to us if we would only truly believe the gospel, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). 

This past Sunday, I began a new sermon series I am calling “Practical Christianity.”  My goal for you in this series is that you would, as Paul said in Philippians 2:12-13, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”  We have been saved from sin and death and meaninglessness in life completely by the grace of God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  We did nothing to earn that favor – it was a completely undeserved gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9).  And now, as God is at work within us, we partner with him in working out that salvation into every aspect of our lives, applying the gospel of salvation by grace to our love life, our work life, our friendships, our church, our world, and every other corner of our life.  Over the next couple of months, I plan to focus on how to work out the gospel into all of those areas of our life.  Click here for a list of the upcoming sermons.

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you.  I believe this has the power to be a life-changing series for you as you learn to look at your world through the lens of the gospel.  Many of us have been like that former slave, drawing on our limited resources to deal with the stresses, fears, and other challenges that we face in life, when all along we have the $50,000 gospel (so to speak) available to us that speaks directly to our deepest desires, fears, and anxieties surrounding our love life, work life, money issues, etc.  The gospel is not “five principles to a happy marriage” or “seven steps to reducing your debt,” and therefore neither will these sermons be that type of sermon.  No – the gospel is the answer to the deepest emptiness in our heart, the most heartfelt dreams we have, and the fears and anxieties that keep us from living life to the fullest. 

We have so little understanding of all that is available to us through the gospel, but I pray along with Paul that the eyes of our hearts might be opened, so that we might see it clearly and find life.

My baptism holds a special significance in my life.  I had been baptized as a child, but soon after becoming a believer in college, I began to see the significance of being baptized as a professing Christian.  I was part of a college ministry called InterVarsity, and every summer I went on a weeklong retreat called Chapter Camp.  At the camp after my sophomore year, I remember one of the speakers talking about how she had never understood the Christian emphasis on “sin,” that she had always considered herself a pretty good person.  Something in what she was saying struck a real chord with me, as I realized that I saw myself as a good person who Jesus had saved, but definitely not as someone who was a sinner in need of salvation.  Even my prayer of salvation at age 18 was “I know where I belong, God, and it’s with you.”  I know that this is when God saved me, as I can see the immediate changes He began to make in my life, but I can also see how there was no mention of my sin or my need for a Savior, because I did not truly understand that part of my relationship with God.  That summer, I began to realize that I did not really understand what it meant that I was a sinner, and so I asked God to show me the depth of my sin.

During my junior year, I met with my InterVarsity staff worker and told him what I was praying, and he recommended that I keep a journal.  That proved to be very helpful as I started to get more real with God, and ask Him to show me more of my heart.  Then, at Chapter Camp after my junior year, I decided to be baptized.  That evening, I remember being in a time of prayer with our group, and I remember formulating in my mind what I was going to pray.  I remember another member of the group praying essentially what I had wanted to pray, and I recall saying to myself, “that’s what I was going to pray.”  I felt a wave of jealousy:  I wanted the spotlight, and it had been taken from me.  And suddenly it was as if God had lifted the veil and allowed me to see into my own soul.  I saw how, even in the most sacred things, like prayer and worship, I was so filled with a desire for the attention and praise of others, so self-focused and eager to steal glory from God.  I can’t explain the feeling, but all I know is that I could not stop crying during that prayer meeting, as God revealed to me just a snapshot of the depth of my sin.  It was just like Isaiah said so many years ago: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).  Even my righteous acts were so stained with sin and self-centeredness.  I was beginning to understand at a heart level how I had done nothing to deserve the salvation I had in Jesus, how it truly was a free and undeserved grace.

I don’t know if my baptism had anything to do with God answering that year-long prayer, but the events of that evening made my baptism a special experience.  For some of you, it may seem odd to want to understand the depth of one’s sin, but I believe you truly can not be transformed by the love of God until you understand just what he saved you from.  I had always considered myself a pretty good person who God had saved, but it wasn’t until that summer that I began to really experience the love and gratitude that comes from the salvation I have in Jesus.  As Jesus put it after his feet had been anointed by the sinful woman at the house of Simon the Pharisee, “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven — for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47).  When you don’t see much for God to forgive, there is little love for God, but when you understand the depth of your sin, the result is not self-condemnation but greater love for God, greater joy at His salvation, and greater freedom in life, for you truly realize that your self-worth is not based at all on your performance, but on His undeserved love and salvation that has been given to you in Christ Jesus.

Beginning this month, I have challenged our church to make a greater effort to memorize Scripture, so that we might be people who are led and transformed by the truth of God’s Word.  This month’s verse is 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” which reminds us that the sins of past have been forgiven and that we now belong to Jesus and have His Holy Spirit giving us new spiritual life (among many other benefits of salvation).  However, as the above story reminds us, one of the greatest cautions with Scripture memory is the folly of taking verses out of context, so that they speak things which they were never intended to speak.  Certainly no one would read Matthew 27:5, “Then Judas went out and hanged himself,” and take that as a directive, but even the most mature Christians are guilty of doing similar things all the time with other verses.  It can be hard for even seasoned Christians to know sometimes whether the commands or promises of Scripture were meant for us, or only for the original readers. 

Consider two examples that attract a lot of attention in Christian circles.  The first comes from 2 Chronicles 7:14, which reads “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  This verse is often used for large scale prayer and repentance gatherings:  it was the theme verse of the Promise Keepers million man gathering in Washington D.C., and has been used for the National Day of Prayer.  It is a stirring call to prayer and repentance, with the promise that God will then forgive sin and bring healing to the land.  But did God really intend for this promise to apply to 21st century America?  When you read the context of this verse, you find that God speaks this promise to Solomon after he finishes building the temple in Jerusalem.  In verse 13, God tells Solomon “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people” before giving the promise found in verse 14.  Now, I went to Washington D.C. for the Promise Keepers event, but I can’t say I remember any droughts, locusts, or plagues being the impetus for the call to repentance and prayer. 

Or, consider this example:  many Christians love Jeremiah 29:11, which reads “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”  Few Christians, however, can quote you the preceding verse, which reads “This is what the LORD says: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.’”  , or verses 12-13, which read “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Once again, the context shows us that this promise was made to the people of Israel as they were in captivity, encouraging them that when their time of discipline was finished, and when they had again returned to seeking the Lord, then God would restore them to their homeland.  The verse is not just a blanket pronouncement that God has good plans in store for everyone, regardless of whether or not they seek the Lord.

Without getting into too much detail, since books have been written about the interpretation of Scripture, let me encourage you to do three things as you read and memorize Scripture:

(1) Read the verse in its context.  Be sure that it is truly saying what you think it is saying.  For example, one favorite verse of many people is Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through him [Jesus] who gives me strength.”  Often this verse is used as a motivator for people to overcome fears and achieve great things (I’ve seen “Phil 4:13″ inscribed on the eye black of University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, for instance).  In the context, Paul is telling the Philippians that he has learned to be content in every situation, whether he has plenty or is in poverty, because he knows that God will give him the strength he needs in each situation.  Whenever you are memorizing Scripture, be sure that you understand the purpose for which it was written by reading it in its context.

(2) Consider the audience for whom it was intended.  Was the verse directed to all believers?  Or was it a promise given to a specific person or people in a specific situation?  In the case of the Chronicles passage from above, the promise was given to Solomon about the people of Israel.  In the case of the Jeremiah passage, it was given to the Israelite people in captivity in Babylon about their return to Israel.

(3) Look for timeless principles.  Even if the promise or command was given to a particular people in a particular situation, that does not mean it is not valuable to memorize or not applicable to today.  With the Chronicles passage, the principle of repentance for wrongdoing and seeking God’s face for forgiveness and blessing applies not only to the ancient Israelites, but certainly to Americans today.  While I would be reluctant to take that promise word for word, since the promise was dealing with drought, locusts, and plagues, the timeless principle is that there is healing that occurs when we repent of sin and turn to faith in God.  And with the Jeremiah passage, although it was spoken to the Israelites, we have a similar promise in Romans 8:28:  “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.”  The timeless principle is that, even when we find ourselves in captivity, that God’s desire is to give us a future full of hope and blessing, if we would only turn to Him and seek Him.

In your desire to know God and His Word, be careful not to cherry-pick verses and, by doing so, develop a faith that is based on out-of-context verses that inspire or encourage you.  Learn what the verses really mean by reading them in context.

So… how’s your New Year’s Resolution going?  Still going strong?  If you’re anything like me, you know how difficult it can be to sustain any change, no matter how minor or important, for much longer than the time it takes to type this line.  On January 1st I find myself writing down all of the things that I want to do differently in 2010, on January 8th I’m still working on half of them, and by January 15th I’ve lost the list and can’t remember what it was I wanted to change in the first place!  Like most people, however, the more accountability I have, the more successful I will be.  If I try to go it alone, I am probably doomed, but if I go with others, I am more likely to make it. 

All of this is to first of all say a big CONGRATULATIONS! to all who began reading through the Bible in Two Years way back on January 1st, 2008, and made it to the end of the Bible last week!  Whether you chose to read just the New Testament, the Old Testament, or the entire Bible, great job to all who stuck with it, fell behind but caught back up, and didn’t give up along the way.  My journey was certainly challenging, but in the end I finished my readings on January 1st, 2010.  My goal, in order to raise the accountability factor, was to leave a comment every day on one of the passages on the Bible in Two Years webpage.  And I was successful at that for a long time – maybe fifteen months or so.  And then I began to fall behind… and then some more… and before I knew it I was over three months behind heading into December!  But I was able to catch up, and found that I really enjoyed reading some of the books all in one sitting as opposed to breaking them up over the course of a month. 

Now that we’re in 2010, we’re turning our focus as a church to a new discipline:  Scripture memorization.  Some of you love memorizing God’s Word; some of you struggle at it, but we all need to be challenged to hide His Word in our hearts for many reasons.  The first is that meditating on His word will transform our hearts and minds and make us more like Jesus.  The second reason is that it is His truth that sets us free from sin and slavery to the lies of the enemy, so that we truly know who we are in Christ.  The third is that His Word is the powerful sword of the Spirit with which we fight off Satan, our enemy, just as Jesus did when tempted in the wilderness in Luke 4.

Every month, I will give you a verse of the month and challenge you to memorize it and meditate on it, allowing it transform you by its power and truth.  I will also include three related verses for those who want more of a challenge, and a whole chapter for those really brave souls.  We will have memory aides for you available at church, and an insert in the bulletin with all of the verses printed out.  The last Sunday of every month in 2010, I will preach on the month’s memory verse, and there will be an opportunity for testimonies on what the particular verse means for you. 

The memory verse for January is 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 

The three related verses are:

Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Romans 8:1-2 – Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 12:2 – Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is– his good, pleasing and perfect will.
and chapter are included as an attachment to this email (or in the letter if you got this by mail).  The verses for this month highlight the transformation that occurs when we come to faith in Christ; our old self dies and we are given new spiritual life by God’s Holy Spirit, freeing us from the penalty and power of sin and giving us a desire for God, for His Word, and for fellowship with those who know Him.  As you meditate on these powerful verses, may you be set free from the lies of the enemy, and may your mind and heart be transformed by His transformative love for you!

Testimony of Gratitude

This past week I found myself in the hospital with a rather disconcerting medical situation.  As I lay in my cardboard hospital bed, attached to a rat’s nest of tubes and wires, I awaited for the revolving parade of various medical professionals to poke, prod, scan, and otherwise find ways to make my stay a “spa of discomfort”.   The spaces in-between offered time for me to sip on a brew of my family woes, financial challenges, the haunting of tasks and responsibilities that I inevitably must face and a myriad of other troubles that have been gnawing at me for some time.  I craftily created a cozy little hot tub of self-pity in which to bathe in.  Then my first hospital meal was served…….After a brief nap I awoke feeling colorless, dried out, cold, and having no flavor for life.  (Quite like the meal I just ate.)  I stared at the clock on the wall and watched the second hand turn; five minutes took an eternity.  So I prayed.  My prayer digresses to thoughts of NewLife Christian Fellowship.  As I drift through my experiences at NewLife I begin to feel relief.  I begin to realize what this fellowship has come to mean to me.  I have experienced and been part of many recovery fellowships, religious organizations, and support groups in varying capacities.  My desire was always to simply connect with a spiritual, supportive, and God-loving community.  I always engaged with sincerity, high hopes, and passion.  In each attempt I found myself being profoundly disappointed, disengaged, and leaving less hopeful each time.  I witnessed internal debacles that arose from power struggles, clouded objectives, absence of dedication and/or passion, personality conflicts, complacency, decimated convictions, and various other conditions that result from human nature.  My wife, Carrie, and I were in awe of NewLife from our very first visit.  We both knew that the sincerity, passion, community commitment, and religious commitment could not possibly be ersatz.  We both cried that day.  We were warmly greeted, engaged, and our hearts filled with hope from the words of the sermon.  It has only become better from that first day.  I see a community of Christ that seems to truly live “The Way”.  Principles are put before personalities (which I know is in itself a difficult task!), Christian tenets are actually applied at New Life instead of conveniently being called upon for personal gain or used as leverage in factional disputes, and a true sense of cohesiveness seems to be present within the church leadership.New Life has given me a new life.  I can’t tell you the impact that you have had on me; it wasn’t looking good for me for awhile.I wish to thank the congregation for their warmth, friendship, support, and genuine willingness to embrace me as their brother.I wish to thank the Elders for the support they have offered, tireless dedication, commitment to NewLife that sustains what I now consider a precious part of my life, the wisdom to lead and support the congregation with true Christian values and avoiding those aforementioned pitfalls that can undermine any group of people.I wish to thank Eric for helping me to see the light of Christ and being blessed with such an incredible talent and passion for delivering the Word of God and his wife Michele for her energy, love, and commitment to the “Unnamed Ministries” which are just as critical to the success of NewLife.Thank you all, you are a special community of Christ.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Last week I reference an article in The Hartford Courant and asked the question of why we shouldn’t all just be spiritual people while keeping our distance from organized religion.  After all, with the options available to us today, it is possible to listen to your favorite preacher, worship band, and even to financially support your favorite cause, all from the comfort of your own home, without having to worry about the messiness of relating to other people.  Thank you to all who shared your thoughts on the blog or on my Facebook page.  Here are my thoughts on the matter:

(1) I certainly understand the draw towards being “spiritual but not religious,” worshiping God but not committing to a particular church.  The first reason is that, as with any other close relationship, there is always the potential for hurt and conflict when becoming a part of a church.  Why submit yourself voluntarily to that when you may already get enough conflict in your family or on the job?  Secondly, Jesus presents such a perfect ideal of what it looks like to live the life of faith that the church inevitably falls short of his standard.  And so we look around for another church that looks like they’ve got it figured out, only to find out that they fall short of Jesus’ standard in other areas.  When churches hurt people or act in a hypocritical manner, they often cause many to lose faith in the God whom they represent.

(2) One of the commentors on the blog wrote “It’s easy to look at all us sinners who make up the church instead of focusing on God.  When I look at people, I tend to get discouraged, frustrated, or cynical.  But I don’t go to church to check out the latest fashions or gossip.  I go to learn about and worship our Creator.  So I think if our focus is right, we’ll grow.”  Many people may lose faith in God because of the way His people act, but we have to try to resist taking that step.  The church is not God, and the failings of God’s people do not change God’s perfection, but only prove how much we all need a Savior to redeem us and the Holy Spirit to guide us.
 
(3) Instead of fixing our eyes on the people of the church, we should learn from the example of Jesus, who, when faced with a people so full of wickedness that they deserted him, betrayed him, mocked him, and crucified him, chose to willingly die for them in order to make them holy and beautiful (Ephesians 5:25-27).  I will say it again:  Jesus, when faced with a sinful group of people, does not reject them but does all he can, even to the point of death, in order to transform them into a holy, beautiful people.  Does that mean you should die for the church?  Not necessarily, but it does mean that a little perspective is in order as to how we should respond to imperfect people.

(4) One of my fears with the “spiritual but not religious” approach is how it turns God and church into just another commodity in our consumer culture.  By “church shopping” and asking whether or not a particular church works for us, we often exhibit an attitude towards God’s people that is opposite of a Biblical approach.  While it is legitimate to evaluate churches based on their fidelity to the Bible or what they are teaching your children, it is also important to recognize that God may bring you to a particular church because of what you have to give to them, not just because of what they have to give to you.

(5) One of the dangers of rejecting the church and choosing to worship God on your own is that growth in Christ-likeness often happens when we are in close relationship with others who can encourage us, challenge us, and point out our blind spots to us.  When we attempt to be spiritual on our own, we can mistakenly think that all is well in our discipleship, instead of being challenged towards much needed growth.

(6) Finally, the biggest reason we need the church was something I addressed in the Pulse on May 12th of this year (you can read what I wrote here).  When you cut yourself off from other believers, or surround yourself only with your friends, you limit your experience of and worship of God.  Each believer has experienced God in unique ways:  some may have testimony after testimony of God’s provision; another may be able to speak to God’s healing power; another can speak to God’s ability to restore a marriage; and yet another to God’s ability to transform even the hardest heart.  The church, in all of its weakness, is a collective testimony to the majesty of God, and to cut yourself off from that is to leave yourself with a small God.

What do you think?  Can you give any other reasons why being a part of the church is worth the potential hurt and disappointment?  I’d be interested in your thoughts.  If you have an opinion, post your comments below.

2) I get to make an eternal difference every day – It is such a blessing and humbling honor to know that every time I preach the gospel or share Christ with someone, that God may be using my words to bring someone into a relationship with Him, to free them from sin and make them more like Jesus, or to help them see God in a way they had never known Him before.  Although one of my strengths is public speaking, I know that it would be very hard for me to use that gift to sell or promote things that I know are not as life-changing as the gospel.  I believe whole-heartedly in the power of the gospel, and am blessed beyond measure to be able to communicate the gospel of God’s love and salvation for sinners on a regular basis.

3) I get paid to spend time with God – I still remember saying this to the congregation at NewLife when I was first hired as the youth pastor back in 1998.  The biggest blessing, as I saw it, was that I was essentially getting paid to commune with Jesus, to learn from Him, become like Him, know Him Word, and share it with everyone.  Over time, I have realized that this is more challenging then I first expected.  I have noticed that it is very easy to get into the habit of reading the Bible with an eye towards how to teach it instead of how I can conform to what God is saying.  My prayer and devotional life can be about how I can be a better pastor instead of how I can deepen my relationship with God.  In short, a relationship with God can become part of work instead of part of life.  Sometimes God wants to deal with me on things that are just for me, not for sharing with others.  For that reason, I long for this to be my attitude, that my highest calling would be to know God more every day, and so, somehow, to become more like His Son.  As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

 I am blessed to be a pastor, and thank God for the continual grace and mercy He has shown towards me in allowing me to serve Him in this way.

Ahh, the pastor’s favorite words to hear.  To those unfamiliar with church life, it may seem that the pastor does little more than stand up on a Sunday and speak for thirty minutes and then shake hands with people as they live.  The reality, of course, is quite different.  The pastor’s job is one of the most unique jobs out there, in my opinion, and I thought it might be instructive to share five of the challenges that are unique to the pastor’s job.  Next week, I will share some of the blessings that are unique to this calling.  What I write is not meant as a complaint; rather, I believe it will help you know better how to pray for me and my family, and will be helpful to any of you who are considering going into the ministry.

1) The ideal pastor has to be skilled at many different things.  He has to be an engaging public speaker, a visionary leader who can raise up and inspire volunteer leaders, a manager who knows how to oversee and administrate a church full of volunteers, a counselor capable of helping people through their life issues, a social worker able to help people find tangible help for their needs, a scholar capable of reading ancient texts in foreign languages and bringing their meaning to today’s world, a mentor who can help others grow in their faith, and, of course, a mystic who understands what it means to know God and help others experience Him.  And in a smaller church like ours, it will help if the pastor has some understanding of maintenance and repair, real estate, legal issues, and many other things.  Of course, no pastor is all of those things.  A classic strategy used by churches who are searching for a new pastor is to solicit opinions from the congregation on how they expect their pastor to spend his time.  Typically, after the list has been constructed – preaching, pastoral care, visitation, administration, evangelism, leadership, meetings, building relationships with other pastors, and so on – the congregation finds that they are expecting a pastor who will work 80-100 hours a week!  What this means is that the pastor is bound to disappoint people when he is not both the inspiring leader and the sensitive counselor, or both the engaging public speaker and the gifted administrator.

Personally, I am stronger in the mentor (shepherd), scholar, and public speaking areas; weaker in the social worker, leader, and manager areas (not to mention the maintenance, real estate, and legal areas).  What this means for me is that I need to align myself with people who have gifts in areas that I am lacking, especially those of administration, and do my best to learn from them and, where appropriate, to give them responsibility.

2) It’s one of the only jobs where your family essentially comes to work with you and knows everyone at your job.  I can think of few other professions where the boundaries between home and work are so blurred.  With many other jobs, there is a natural divide between home and work, and your employer does not care what happens at home unless it begins to affect your performance at work.  As a pastor, however, everything that happens at home matters, because it speaks to your character and maturity as a spiritual leader.  In fact, one of the central qualifications of a church leader is that he manages his own family well (1 Timothy 3:4).  Therefore, if there are marital issues or parenting problems, it could be grounds to lose your job.  And, of course, you are your family’s pastor, which has its own challenges.  Congratulations kids – he’s not only your dad, he’s also your pastor.

When I took the position at NewLife, the reality is that my whole family was called as ministers to the church.  In a very real sense, then, the church became a part of our family.  Where do you draw the line between work and non-work when dealing with people who you consider family?  Is it considered work every time I spend time with someone from NewLife?  Or only if it is someone I wouldn’t naturally spend time with if I were not the pastor?  Is prayer time work?  The pastor has a real challenge figuring out where to draw the boundaries between home and work, and I know I have yet to figure that one out.

3) You are often the only paid employee working with an “organization” made up entirely of volunteers.  This has a couple of important ramifications.  The first is that the pastor has to come to terms with the fact that while many things are high priority to you, especially since your livelihood depends on church ministry, the same things are often not a high priority for anyone else.  Everyone else can drop out, say no, and put things off, because other things in life will be higher priorities.  As a result, the pastor and his family will often be left holding the bag, picking up the pieces, and patching things together. 

The second ramification, of course, is that motivating people changes when you can’t just fire them or dock their pay.  In the working world, if you give someone a deadline and they do not come through, they should expect some measure of discipline and there could be real fear of losing a job.  In the church world, however, what do you do when a volunteer consistently misses deadlines or doesn’t follow through?  The pastor is often faced with the choice between making do with what you’ve got, doing it all yourself, or having nothing at all. 

4) No weekends off.  Of course, the most obvious challenge that is unique to the ministry is that Sunday is always a day of work.  Going away for the weekend just isn’t an option, save the few Sundays off the pastor gets.  I take Mondays off, and am off some Saturdays as well, and since our kids are still preschool age, we make it work, but once they are going to school on Mondays, I know it will be harder to carve out extended family time.

5) The job is never done.  One of the biggest challenges I have found is that the job of being a pastor is never done.  Sermons may come and go every week, but the work of helping people become like Jesus is never done until the day you die.  The pastor has to be able to say “that’s enough for today” and be content with the lack of closure, or he can easily work an 80 hour week.  Once again, this means that the pastor has to resign himself to disappointing people, because he will never be able to give everyone all the time that they want.  It also means that the pastor has to learn to trust that God is fully capable of changing people’s lives, with or without the pastor’s help.

I hope that gives you a little insight into the unique challenges faced by the pastor, and helps you understand why I am always asking for prayer for good boundaries between home and work.  Next week, I will share some of the blessings that are unique to this job.  If you have any thoughts or feedback, please feel free to post a comment.

And somewhere else today, there is a woman sitting paralyzed at her kitchen table as the rest of the world hurries off to work or school.  She stares back and forth between two boxes of cereal, unsure of whether God would have her eat Fruity Pebbles or Count Chocula this morning. 

Does this sound silly to you?

Then what about this:  somewhere, there is a man who has not taken a steady job to support his family, because he is still waiting for God to clearly tell him which career path he should take.

And somewhere else, there is a woman who is staying home on Sundays because she has not heard God’s voice telling her which of the many churches she has visited is the one her family should be attending. 

And finally, there is a woman somewhere who has been waiting for three years for her boyfriend to propose to her, but he claims that he has yet to do it because he hasn’t felt a clear direction from God yet.  And now she’s wondering whether her frustration is a sign from God that she needs to break off the relationship and find someone a little less “spiritual” and a little more decisive.

The will of God.  For those who love God and desperately want to follow Him, the will of God can be a scary thing.  After all, is there some path that God has for me, that requires me seeking Him every step of the way?  And if I step off this path even slightly – like by choosing the green polo instead of the striped shirt – am I forever out of His will?  Or worse – if I choose the wrong college, or the wrong husband, or the wrong job, am I doomed to settle for second best in life? 

Or is there even such a thing as the wrong college, the wrong husband, the wrong job?  Is it just all predetermined by the Lord, so that whatever I choose was what He wanted for me all along?

We’ve been looking at the book of Proverbs this summer, a book that is all about wisdom, and becoming a person who is able to make wise choices.  If we are going to make wise choices, we need to know what the Bible means when it talks about God’s will.  Most importantly, we need to know whether or not God has a specific will for our individual lives, a blueprint that we are supposed to be following.  Should we be seeking Him for every decision that we make?  And if we do, how will we know when He has spoken?  And how long do we wait when we feel like He hasn’t spoken definitively?  Does God really care whether I eat Fruity Pebbles or Count Chocula in the morning?  Does he care who I marry?  And how do we know which decisions He really cares about?

This Sunday, we’ll be looking at what Proverbs has to say about God’s will and decision making.  I have no doubt that many of you are facing important decisions in your life, and are looking to God for wisdom so that you can make a good choice.  This Sunday, I hope to bring some clarity from Proverbs to what it means to seek and follow God’s will for our lives. 

To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue.  2 All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD.  3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.  4 The LORD works out everything for his own ends– even the wicked for a day of disaster. (Proverbs 16:1-4)

Most importantly, however, that event reminded me how much I love my wife and how desperately I never want something like that to happen to our family.  I don’t think it’s possible to communicate to someone who has not been in a ministry family just what it is like being married to a pastor, but just to give you an idea, let me share some of the “Pastor’s wife” titles I found in a quick search on Amazon.com:

I’m more than the pastor’s wife:  authentic living in a fishbowl world
The sweetness of a bitter cup:  journey of a pastor’s wife
A life embraced:  a hopeful guide for the pastor’s wife
The pastor’s wife does cry!

And, of course:

Help!  I’m a pastor’s wife!

Frightening titles, no?  Seriously, is there another job out there that demands such intimate involvement on the part of a man’s family or invites such scrutiny?  Besides perhaps the President of the United States?  The difference is, of course, that the President can have an affair and still keep his job!  But for the pastor and his family, like the book said, it can be fishbowl living, with everyone on the outside looking in at you, each with their own expectations of how you should live. 

It is not important to go into detail of all that is involved in being a part of the pastor’s family, but what I really want to do is just say a big thank you to my wife – and every pastor’s wife for that matter – for being who she is.  I would not be a quarter of the man or the pastor I am without her.  She loves me even when I don’t deserve it, serves me even when I am self-centered, and always challenges me to be my best, to never settle.  She is a passionate woman who takes the call of God on our lives to love and serve the people of NewLife very seriously, and she is darn good at it.  I am in awe daily of all that she allows Jesus to do through her. 

The second event of the last two days was our seventh anniversary on Monday.  As I reflect on our marriage, I praise God for His promise that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).  Even before our marriage, God began a good work when He brought us together.  We come from very different backgrounds, with very different personalities, but together have challenged and encouraged each other to a deeper relationship with God.  And though we are far from perfect, we cling to our God through the hard times and the good times, knowing that He is true to His promises and is doing something beautiful in and through us. 

So here’s to the Pastor’s wife.  I love you, Michele.