On the mall (Taken with instagram)
Top 10 Albums of 2011
My top ten albums of 2011.
Gay Marriage: A Ministerial Conundrum (Part 1)
This question was recently asked on a friend’s Facebook feed in response to a video on gay marriage:
…I have some friends who are a happily and legally married gay couple. Though I am so encouraged by everyone’s comments about inviting homosexuals to church I have to ask, what would your opinions be about this specific situation if this couple came to your church? Would your wish be for them to eventually realize their wrong ways and repent from their homosexual lifestyle (and thus getting a divorce, marrying a woman or remaining celibate) or would you simply leave them as they are, a lovingly committed, dedicated married couple? Also, before you answer remember Jesus’ words about divorce. Not wanting to start anything here, just adding to the discussion. Blessings.
It’s a very interesting question and one I’ve been struggling with since listening to David Platt at Secret Church. He asked the same question about a polygamist and said that he should stayed married to his wives and continue to support and take care of them in the way that they had before. The repercussion is that their polygamy would disqualify them from leadership (“husband of one wife”). So, does this apply to gay marriage as well?
In 1 Corinthians Paul says that a believer married to unbeliever should not divorce if the unbeliever agrees to stay with them and then shortly after states that we should “remain in the condition in which we were called.” (1 Corinthians 7:12-22) Though this does not speak of the topic of homosexuality (same-sex marriage would not have been a issue at the time) it is something to look at as we think about the question. This is not something that will just go away, if you are a part of a church, and especially if you are in ministry, you will have to face this some day.
Obviously this is just the beginning of thinking through this. It is obvious from scripture that a gay marriage is not a God honoring union, but neither is polygamy. One could even argue that such unions were not marriages in the eyes of God.
So, what do you think? Should a married gay or lesbian couple stay together after becoming believers? What if they have children? What if one of them has been a stay-at-home mom or dad, supported by their spouse?
I’ll be coming back to this soon, expounding on my thoughts and looking at more scripture. In the meantime, what do you think?
Joe Paterno, Riots, and the Gospel
I’ve been thinking a lot today about the riot in State College, PA last night after the firing of Coach Paterno. Honestly, I’m sad to see him go. I love college football and during my lifetime he has always been the coach at Penn State. It’s surreal to think of the Nittany Lions without Joe Pa on the sideline (or at least up in the booth). That being said the students at Penn State have their priorities all out of whack.
Was Paterno disgraced, sure but by his own actions, not those of the board or trustees. Is it sad that he’s gone, yes. But not near a devastating as what happened to those young boys (up to possibly twenty at this point) who were molested by a man who was under Paterno’s authority. As soon as Paterno heard he should have called the police, no questions asked. It is for this inaction that he was fired, it’s not the media’s fault or the trustees. If, when confronted with this issue nine years ago, he had done the right thing he might still be the head coach at Penn State today.
Now back to the students. When did we become a society that puts football above the lives of children? Even without the underlying circumstances, who in their right mind destroys a downtown because a football coach was fired? Hopefully, one day these kids will look back on this a realize just how outrageous their reaction was. Hopefully they’ll see that is was Joe Pa himself and not the board of trustees that dishonored him.
I hope that these young men and women will get their priorities in order and turn their passion towards something useful. How about making sure that this never happens again? What would happen if the love they showed for Joe Paterno was turned toward Sandusky’s victims, or the rights of the unborn, or poverty? If this kind of passion was let loose on issues like this, the world would be changed.
As I read the articles this morning I couldn’t help but think, where is this type of passion in the church? Do these kids love their football coach more than we love Jesus, more than we love “the least of these?” I look at them and those in the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and I wonder what would happen if this generation were to know Jesus. If that passion and tenacity were turned towards the things of God, how would our society change? It gives me hope. It challenges me. It drives me even more to reach this generation with the Gospel.
I pray that God will use me and others to bring the message of the Kingdom to this generation. And, I hope that the church doesn’t tame them.
If I ask how you know you’re right before God & your first words are ‘because I…’, you’ve missed the Gospel.
Love your wife not because of who she is but because of who Christ is.
Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dewell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Sermon: God’s Ultimate Purpose for Our Lives
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 2and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:17-24(ESV)
I’ve always felt that as Christians we are a lot like Superman. There are other super heroes that I could compare us to but none quite fits the bill like Superman does, especially as I look at what Paul is saying in these verses, “take off the old and put on the new.” Like Superman we have been given great strength and power, his physical and ours spiritual. And also like Superman our power comes from a sun. His power comes from the yellow sun that the earth orbits, and ours comes from Jesus, the Son of God who died that we might be saved.
Superman doesn’t jump into action until he takes off Clark Kent to reveal his true self. We are like Superman in this way as well. We have to take off the old self in order that we can show others the new creation we are in Jesus Christ. This taking off the old self and putting on the new is called sanctification, the part of our salvation where we grow in Christlikeness. This is what I feel God’s ultimate purpose for our lives is, and what we will focus on today.
“God’s spirit calls men to Jesus in diverse ways. Some are drawn so gently that they scarce know when the drawing began, and others are so suddenly affected that their conversion stands out with noonday clearness.” -Charles Spurgeon
We should remember this quote from Spurgeon as we look at sanctification today. Everyone’s experience of salvation will be different. Your journey will not look like anyone else’s but all of us are called to a closer union with Christ.
The passage we read earlier in Ephesians is not the only place where Paul uses the language of “putting off the old self and putting on the new,” it is also prominent in Colossians 3. In verse 10 he says “put on the new self which is being renewed in the image of its creator.” Being “renewed in the image of (our) creator,” that is being made to be like Christ is God’s ultimate purpose. That is what the Gospel, the “good news” is all about. Jesus was sent by the Father. He came from heaven and pitched his tent among the people he created, and called out to them, urging them to enter a new kingdom, to give allegiance to a new ruler. Accepting the gift of salvation is a life changing, world altering experience, it is literally a rebirth. When we accept God’s grace we are throwing away our “right” to call the shots, we and our sinful nature are no longer the Lord of our lives, Jesus is. And if Jesus is Lord, if we are his disciples, than me must want nothing more than to be like him.
I want to quickly show you why I feel that making us Christlike is the Father’s ultimate purpose. Turn with me to Romans 8:29. Look at what Paul says,”For those that he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of God…” God has know since before creation who would follow Christ and who would not, and he has also seen what happens when we follow him, that we will become like him. From the beginning of time God has had this as his purpose.
Now turn to 2 Corinthians 3:18, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” In Romans 8 we saw that God has in the past said we (those that follow Christ as Lord and Savior) will be conformed to his image. Here is second Corinthians we see that in the present “we are being transformed” into the image we are beholding. That of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
So we see that in the past God has ordained that we will be conformed to his image and that in the present the Spirit is doing just that, what about the future? Turn with me again to 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when we appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” For all of history is has been God’s plan that his children, that is those that have/are/will follow Christ, will one day be resurrected and truly be like Christ.
If we look at these three passages the whole doctrine of salvation is there. In Romans 8:29, regeneration and justification (we have been reborn and will be like Christ). In 2 Corinthians 3:18, sanctification (we are becoming like Christ). And finally, in 1 John 3:2, glorification (we are like Christ).
If you’re like me you’re now thinking “Ok, so God wants me to be Christlike, how do I do that?” On one level the answer is you don’t, the Spirit does. It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that allows us to become like Christ. Let’s jump back to Romans 8.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Romans 8:26-30
Here Paul shows us that even when we do not know what to do the Spirit is working in us. That it is through the interceding of the Spirit that “all things work together for good.” As I look back at the events of Monday night I know that the Spirit was working through us in this way. Jennifer and I knew something was wrong but not what and through prayer the Spirit gave us the wisdom to understand and get out. I’ve thought a lot about verse 28 this week, in both the context of our ordeal and the memories of 9/11. I’ve asked, “How is God going to work this together for good? What good will be found in the death of my young neighbor? What good came from 9/11?” As I have thought on this I realized that I was taking this out of context. He tells me in this passage what good will come. Some way some how things are going to work out for good, for those who follow him and according to his purpose. And what is his purpose? That those who believe would “be conformed to the image of his Son.” God uses all things, the birth of a child, the death of a friend, all our triumphs and tragedies, to strengthen the union between his adopted children and Christ.
It is clear that we are sanctified by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But, we are not to just sit back at wait for it to happen. In what is called “The High Priestly Prayer” in John 17 Jesus says that like he and the Father, his disciples are no longer of this world. That once we accepted his salvation and lordship our residence is no longer of this earth but in heaven. (Once again stating that we are like him.) He also says that like the Father sent into the world, he is sending us into the world. So we can’t sit on our duffs and call ourselves Christians, we like Jesus have to “be about our Father’s business.”
As we looked at earlier God has perfected us, is perfecting us, and will make us perfect. It is in the middle, the present tense that we have a part to play in the process. Look at verses 17-21. Paul is telling us both what to put away and what to replace it with. In verse 24 he repeats again what the new self is, the we are “created after the likeness of God.”
Verse 25 through the beginning of chapter five shows us what the sanctified person looks like and what he does. They share the gospel, and are not easily angered. The change their lives, the thief begins to work so that he can give to those in need. The gossip used to tear people down but now is an encourager. The believer forgives and loves as Christ forgave and loved us.
As we conclude another word about Superman. One of the interesting things about Kal-el is that he is like us in the process of sanctification as well. See Superman has not always had all of the powers we think of when we think of him today, I was reminded of this this week when I read the new issue of Action Comics that took things back to the beginning. At first Superman couldn’t fly, he could only “leap tall buildings in a single bound;” he wasn’t invulnerable just very, very durable. In fact at the end of this comic he is defeated, pinned to a wall by a high speed bullet train. But the more time Kal-el spends on earth influenced by the yellow sun, the more he sheds his former self and the more Superman he becomes.
The more time we spend with Jesus, the more like him we become. The more time we spend in prayer, the more time we spend in the Word, the more time we spend in loving each other, our neighbors and our enemies. The more we will become like him. Will we ever be perfect, no, not until the day we are resurrected and glorified, but we can grow in our perfection.
So, what does being Christlike have to do with the renaissance here at First Baptist? Everything. First, if each of us is not growing in Christlikeness and leading others to do the same, then anything and everything else we do is moot. We might as well just be another social club. If we are not as a church becoming more like Christ than we are not a church, we are one of the imitations of God that Pastor Al described last week. Instead of being the body of Christ we are an imitation of it and a distraction from it.
Secondly, Paul’s description of the body looks like what we want to see the end result of our efforts to be. Look at what he says in verse 14-15 of Colossians 3, “above all else put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called to one body.” He has already said that there is not Jew or Greek, that in Christ we don’t distinguish between barbarians, slaves, or free men. How do we do this, we put on love. When Christ is in us, so is love, because God is love. We want to be a church where we can truly say that “we are one body.” Where there is no young or old, no fear of change; where our preferences for styles of music or methods of teaching don’t keep us from worshiping the Lord together.
We can’t be that if we as individuals are not continually becoming more like Christ. And we can’t become more Christlike until we let go of our sin, forgive ourself and others, and put on love.
I’ll Never Forget Labor Day
The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.Psalm 18:4-6
Labor Day has never meant very much to me, just another minor holiday that was a day off from school or work. From now on it will have great meaning, from this point forward Labor Day will be the day that my family and I almost died. The day that God delivered us in mysterious and miraculous ways.
It started with a cry. Judah, my son, woke up crying in his sleep. It’s not odd for an almost two-year-old to wake up in the night, so Jennifer calmed him. I had just gone to bed and thought little of it. A little while later, as we had just begun to go to sleep, he cried again. This time I went downstairs. Judah was on the floor, crying, I thought he had just fallen out of bed. Something felt strange though, and my heart was pounding. After he was back to sleep I went back to the bedroom, still not thinking much of the situation.
Shortly, he cried again. Jennifer went to him and fell asleep as he did. This could have been the end of the story, the headline in the paper reading Six Found Dead in Westover Duplex. But the Spirit moved and woke my daughter, McCartney. As I said, it’s not uncommon for Judah to wake up in the middle of the night, but McCartney is a different story. Jennifer woke up and was alarmed, and after going into McCartney’s bedroom began to feel disoriented, and having a pounding headache. Not knowing what was going on she went to get me from our room. When I came downstairs she was collapsed on the floor.
We both thought that there was a spiritual attack happening, so a brought both kids into the den and we began praying. We asked the Father to take away whatever was holding us down and impairing our ability to think. At the moment we finished praying the answer came to us, both at the same time, carbon monoxide poisoning. My laptop was right next to me, so I quickly googled the symptoms, and they fit. We grabbed a few things and headed out as quickly as we could (though I found out later from looking at the timestamp on the search history and when we called 911 that quickly in this state was thirty minutes.) I carried Judah out to the car, and then McCartney. Jennifer was throwing up on our outside steps but was able to make to the car own her own.
You may be wondering why in the headline I said “six dead.” As we were pulling out of the driveway I saw a U-Haul truck parked across the street. The new neighbors we had been waiting on on Sunday had come in during the night. As we left for the hospital we called 911 and asked that someone come and check to see if they were there. They were, the young man didn’t make it; his wife did.
Eventually we were sent to Pittsburgh for hyperbaric treatment. While we were there I learned that my initial blood gas test at WVU had shown a CO level of 42%. According to the doctor and nurses I should have been passed out on the floor, not carrying my children to the car and driving to the hospital. It is nothing less than a miracle that I was able to function. Luckily there are no pictures of me sitting in the emergency room in nothing but my jeans.
I feel like David when he wrote this Psalm. God delivered us from the poison that was suffocating us. Death literally encompassed us and he brought us through. He used the cries of two children to alert us and the power of his Holy Spirit animating me when I shouldn’t have been able to move. He continues to show me that I must rely on him, continues to bring me through situations where I can only credit him. After this experience I can truly say, even more than before:
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.Psalm 18:1-3
A Movement in Morgantown?
Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet Scott, a church planter who recently moved to Morgantown. He and his team are planting Frontier Community Church. Is was great to meet a brother who’s passions and vision so closely match my own, but it was even greater to see what God is doing in Morgantown. If what Scott told me is true, the spirit is definitely moving in this place.
Scott told me that he and his team had been looking at planting in Morgantown for the past two years. When they first started researching the area their was no work that could be described as missional, no church that they could find that was intentionally engaging the community in an effort to make disciples. As they moved closer to moving to the city the began to see things happening, new leaders joining established churches and becoming a catalyst for change. New churches, like New Hill being planted and becoming thriving communities. Scott was able to give me a list of like-minded leaders from all across the spectrum, some I have met, others that I haven’t. They come from new churches, old churches, and cross denominational lines. What they have in common is a desire to see the city changed… by making disciples.
Please pray with me for Morgantown. Pray for me, these other leaders, and the churches we serve. Pray that God will move and changed this city through the preaching of the Gospel. Pray that we will be able to gather together, to pray, encourage one another, and give to one another through our gifts, talents, and resources.
There is a great opportunity to see a movement grow in Morgantown, a movement that will grow beyond the cities borders and beyond Monongalia County. We have the opportunity to disciple people who will leave this place and go to the big cities, the small towns, both in the States and all over the world. There is something happening in Morgantown, and I thank God that he is letting me be a part of it.
