Keeping it real

A genuine man is hard to find, nowadays. You meet them everyday - we all have our moments when we yield to the pressure to conform. It humors me every time I walk through our pitiful mall here in Fayetteville, NC and look into Hot Topic. Angst ridden young folk streaming into a franchised store to pay $45 for a "non-conformist" shirt and $18 for an "indie" cd that could be purchase for $9.99 on the "corporate" iTunes service. We all get a good laugh at this one, but what about when it comes to our faith? I don't know how many times I meet someone for the first time, in church, and they feel compelled to behave in a manner in which they would not behave outside the walls of a church building. Peer pressure in church is weird - no need to be "super Christian." The nature of our faith is based on the fact that we are all sinners damned to an eternity without Jesus until He wooed us with His saving Grace and brought us into a saving knowledge of Him. We trust Him as our Savior and we begin the PROCESS of sanctification. When we act in a non-genuine fashion, we set some imaginary bar (that we, ourselves, are not reaching) that non-Christians see/feel/react to and turn them off to our list of do's and dont's. Is that our faith? Not mine - just be real. Act in church like you act outside of church and if your non-church behavior embarrasses you, then evaluate the behavior. Let's discuss - and remember my rules - 1. Be nice 2. No anonymous posts - it's just not genuine, and kinda lame.

Family Guy Fervor

Ok - I admit it.  I watch Family Guy.  I can feel your piercing and holy glare as you think, "How dare you?"  So now that we have that out of the way, I received an e-mail today from a family focused group that urged a boycott of the show due to what they deemed "anti-christian" content. I agree that Family Guy does toe the line and, at times, cross it, but as I considered the material in question, I couldn't help but wonder.......  At the bottom of the e-mail from this group was the bold banner "TAKE ACTION! URGE THE FCC TO BAN THIS SHOW."  Their bone of contention was over a line where a character states that "Jesus hates many people and especially homosexuals."  

Further consideration of the group's request for "ACTION" made me wonder what action I should undertake.  Should I write what will surely be an unread letter decrying how my faith is being portrayed by a cartoon?  Or should I direct my frustration towards those who are actively living their faith in a way that portrays just such a message to the world?  When shows such as Family Guy put a mirror in the face of Western Christianity, why is it that our immediate reaction is to lead a boycott of show just because what we saw was ugly??  Ever stop to wonder if this ACTUALLY is what people think about Jesus and Christianity??  Have you ever shown someone the love of Jesus with no strings attached?  Are you part of the problem??  Not trying to talk you into watching Family Guy, I just wonder if we ought be more outraged at how those on our team (Christianity) are portraying our faith as opposed to wasting time and effort hoping to get what is a wildly popular show off the air.  Maybe our crumbling societal values are just a reflection of the church.  I better stop - you are getting mad.

New directions

Ever feel like you are alone in voicing the need to take a project, ministry, or personal endeavor in a different direction?  It takes a certain level of bravery and daring just to admit the direction in which you are headed is not the right tack and to begin the process of changing is a hurdle at which many balk.  Remember that ships aren't turned on a dime or they risk turning over. Change is good, but at times, it takes a quiet careful drive to enact sweeping change.  Lay out a plan and implement it - don't lose heart during the daily toil.  Win others to your side and send them out to perpetuate the cycle.  Sometimes, the accomplishment is in the journey.  

New blog post

New blog post on Around the Word 180 blog.  Everything coming together this weekend.  I am acting as the site pastor at Executive Place site at 9 and 11 am and preaching at the 11 am service. Check out the blog post.  Peace 

C

A commitment to excellence

Please check out my friend, Matt Harmer's blog. Also note the pithy (click the hyperlink if you don't know what the word means) response from yours truly.

Prayer Points

Here are the prayer points for the week. Don't miss my small group discussion on leadership - still have a few copies of the book left and am giving it away for free tomorrow night. V2 - 6:30 pm at Manna Church's Cliffdale site. Pray on

1. May we wholeheartedly submit to the will of God so that we can be a light in darkness in our home, our market place and our work place.

2. May God grant us favor with all the vendors we will encounter in the construction of our Hope Mills site.

3. May our conscience mind not be trapped in a continuous play back loop over the current national financial situation. But may we focus our minds on how we can serve our God no matter the financial situation.

4. May God encourage us to use the power of the Holy Spirit in us by faith to publicly pray for the sick at our workplace this week.

Prayer Points

Don't get stuck on these - read the "Spiritual Metabolism" post, THEN come back. If I haven't convinced you that it's time to read scripture and pray, then go slam your hand in a door cuz you are dense. (sarcasm) Cheers

C

1. Pray for growth and commitment for the 120 people who attended the "The Next Step" mission interest meeting.

2. Pray for another "Small Group" that someone in your "Small Group" is aware of.

3. Pray that God will provide wisdom and discernment for the mayor of Fayetteville, Anthony G.Chavonne and Fayetteville's council members -

Wesley A. Meredith, Mayor Pro Tem; Council Member District 9;
Keith A. Bates Sr., Council Member District 1;
Charles Evans, Council Member District 2;
Robert A. Massey Jr., Council Member District 3;
D.J., Haire Council Member District 4;
Robert Thomas Hurst, Jr., Council Member District 5;
William Joseph Leon Crisp, Council Member District 6;
Valencia A. Applewhite, Council Member District 7;
Theodore W. Mohn, Council Member District 8

4. Pray for our deployed soldiers and their loved ones.

5. And while we have the ear of God, let's remember to keep Rick Lacoma lifted up as he recovers from his surgery (Thursday AM).

Spiritual Metabolism

A metabolism - we all have it. Some hate ours, some love theirs, but try as we might, we cannot magically turn it on and off. Want to get your metabolism up?? Eat. Not anything - low glycemic index foods that will stoke the fires of your fat burning, carb burning, efficient machine that turns your body from a sedentary being to a well-oiled athletic champion.

As a worked on my metabolism/well-oiled athletic machine this morning (sarcasm), the parallels started to emerge between my physical and spiritual metabolism. We are reading through the Scriptures on 180 Days at Manna Church, and the more you train yourself to daily search the Scriptures, the faster you burn through them, the more you crave them, the more enjoyable the daily "exercise." As perhaps the least "spiritual" person that you or I know, I am not spouting "Christianese" at you in an attempt to coerce you into wading through some boring collection of stories - it's not. It is alive and full of insight on every aspect of life. As a Christian, a daily life of prayer and Bible reading are just part of what you should do. But don't take my word for it - I can only encourage you. You can choose not to partake and end up a spiritual couch potato - doesn't matter to me. I only know one gear - all out. So join me - life is better in the fast lane.

Great post

Read a great post on Sickness becoming our sabbath. We tend to think of taking Sunday off as "sabbath." Yeah, we don't work on that day and so we have taken off a day and rested, right?? My iPhone has turned into my day off buster. I won't re-hash the post - it is well written. Check it out.

The world is shrinking

At a conference in Charleston, SC and had a meeting with some pastors from other churches to discuss an upcoming event in which I have a part. As the meeting came to a close, we started discussing our next meeting and began to toss around ideas of a meeting via skype or utilizing i-chat. At this point, it hit me - how small this world of ours has become. What is stopping you from reaching folks clear across the globe?? With most every laptop purchase comes a built-in camera - why not start that podcast or video blog and share your passion with others. Use what God has given you to change the world and impact those around you. They say that in America, anyone can be whatever they want as long as they put their mind to it and stick with it. Using Web 2.0 tools, "sticking with it" just got a whole lot easier. So get on Twitter, Facebook, Skype, iTunes store, etc. and live your faith on your sleeve. Change the world and reach those who are willing t0 listen.