Go Thunder! Go OKC!

I am what is called an "early adopter".

GO THUNDER!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't blame the rich young ruler

I am prepared to let the rich young ruler of Matthew 19 off the hook, at least to some level. He came to Jesus and asked him what was needed to get eternal life. Jesus recited some of the ten commandments and was told that the young man did them all religiously. (my attempt at intentional irony) Then Jesus told him to get rid of his stuff and follow Him. As you know, the young man left sorrowfully because he had a lot of stuff.

It is at this point that we preachers get all sanctimonious and condemn the young man for putting his stuff before following Christ. But the young man is not totally to blame because he had never seen that lifestyle displayed by anyong else who had a lot of stuff. I imagine that he thought of all the guff he would receive if he took such a radical step. His parents would accuse him of wasting what they worked so hard to provide for him. The local church would see the lost tithe revenue and would caution him to think through such a major decision. They would be quick to tell him that he could do a lot of good over many years by continuing to "steward his resources" in such a way that they would continue to grow. He was being asked by Jesus to throw away the old model of the solid blessed believer and write a completely new model, and he was scared to do that. Small wonder. There was not an incubating environment for that kind of radical devotion to God.

We have a lot of stuff today. I am blogging on a church owned computer connected to a network and in an air conditioned office provided by the church. Does this stuff enhance or inhibit our effectiveness for Christ? I don't have that answer in this post, but I do have another question. What if we had a clear indication that God wanted us to sell our property and use the proceeds to finance micro-congregations who met specific needs for specific parts of town? Would our response be any different from that of the rich young ruler?

World Events Update

I took a few days off from blogging. During that time a number of things happened. I am grateful that the impact of Hurricane Gustav will not be as severe as feared. The levees held, people were evacuated in an orderly fashion, and everyone comes across as being very competent and responsible. Oklahoma City is taking care of some 400 evacuees and it looks as though they will not be here long because they will be able to return home soon.

In golf news, it appears that Vijay Singh has occupied the void left by Tiger Woods. How wierd is it that the only guys to win three tournaments this year are in their 40's? None of the twenty somethings with all of the good looks and athleticism have been able to step up to the forefront while this window of opportunity exists.

College football has begun and all of the madness that goes with it. OU, OSU and Tulsa all won their games. Texas A&M continues to fail to be even mediocre. Rick Neuheisel has sparked new hope at UCLA (my hope is that they can knock off USC) and we won't have to hear about Hawaii this year after their sound thrashing at the hands of Florida. Michigan may have found a long-term solution, but they didn't find a magic instant cure to their underacheiving ways.

In baseball, my New York Yankees will not reach the playoffs in their last year in Yankee Stadium. That's sad at so many levels. Maybe now they will be willing to pay their players enough to motivate them. (I need a sarcasm font for the previous statement)

At church, things are going so well. Pastor Darren is preaching with great freedom and the Spirit of God is moving in an awesome way. This week is Friend Day. Make sure that you come and bring someone with you!

What if I wasn't afraid?

How would I live my life if I didn't fear anything? If I had no fear would I do things differently than I do now? If I wasn't afraid of getting sick would I try different food? If I wasn't afraid of what people would say would I wear a Speedo to the swimming pool? If I wasn't afraid of getting hurt would I take up rock climbing? If I wasn't afraid of heights would I try sky diving? If I wasn't afraid of losing would I engage in more contests? If I wasn't afraid of sleeping on the ground without a shower would I go to remote villages with the gospel? If I wasn't afraid of rejection would I engage more people in spiritual discussions? If I wasn't afraid of looking silly would I take dance lessons?

Fear keeps us from trying so many things. Fear is a barrier to so much potential enjoyment and fulfillment. But God's perfect love replaces fear. When we have confidence in the security of God's love, there is no place for fear. When you fear something, give it to God. Give yourself more completely into His love and watch the fear disappear.

Please- No Politics in Church.

I don't like political discussions (arguments) between Christians. Here is why. If you are talking to someone who agrees with you, then what is the point? You just confirm one another and cement your belief that it should be clear to everyone that you hold the only position that makes sense. If you disagree politically with someone else, you feel a need to point out how uninformed, inconsistent or ignorant the other person's position is. After both sides fire their shots, neither side has changed their mind, but the potential for a wedge between the two exists. I have friends and family from both parties and from all along the political spectrum, and my friendship with them has nothing to do with their political views.

Committed Christians will vote for both McCain and Obama. Some will not vote at all but try to act like they dd. Some will not vote and tell you why they didn't vote. God is not aligned with either party. He is found in the hearts of those who follow Him.

I don't want to know who you are voting for or who you are not voting for. I am pretty sure who I will vote for, but don't ask. I watch the news just like you do. I have access to all the information that you do, including most of the forwarded e-mails. Voting preferences are not a litmus test for who really loves God and they should not be a litmus test to determine relationship between believers. We show that we love God by loving one another. And when we love one another, something as as unimportant as voting preferences doesn't matter. I understand that voting preferences are of supreme importance in political matters, but they are irrelevant to the advancement of the Kingdom of God. And I believe that each citizen, acting as a good citizen should cast an informed vote, but our eternal citizenship is in heaven.

I am glad that we have Christians working in politics. We need Christians working in every facet of life. It is the individual Christian living the Christian life in the workplace; being salt and light to their sphere of influence that will effect change that will last.

Here he is!

I know that you all have been suffering from Tyler withdrawl. Some of you have even questioned what kind of grandpa I am since I haven't posted a picture in months. Maybe this will help. This is Tyler at Target. He is 7 months now.

I need some help.

Our Fall Missions Explosion will be the week of September 21 - 28. On Monday and Tuesday evenings, September 22 & 23 we will be having "Dinner with a Missionary" in several homes. These are informal affairs where someone opens their home to a missionary guest and the host can invite other people (as many or as few as their home will allow). Over a meal, pot luck or however the host wants to do it, people get to meet and get to know a missionary on a personal level. In this setting, you can ask the questions that are not possible to ask when a missionary comes for a service. They are always enjoyable, enlightening and encouraging to both the missionary and those who attend.

I currently have 5 missionaries who are available on one or both evenings. They are Wayne Gray, who is our new executive director of Teen Challenge Oklahoma, Gary Gunsolus, who directs the construction teams who help churches in our region, Bill Hicks, who is a missionary in Northern Asia, Christy Perry, who works with Teen Challenge in Russia, and Joni Middleton, who works with Project Rescue in Calcutta, India. All of them are interesting and passionate people.

I need some people to volunteer their homes for these dinners with a missionary. Please let me know if your are interested and I can get you more information.

Seeker or Sought?

I'm currently reading a book entitled Off-Road Disciplines by Earl Creps and it is making a fundamental positive change in my assumptions about evangelism. We hear different terms for those who are not in relationship with Christ, with "seeker" being a very common one. Creps takes the position that Christ is the "seeker" and that those who don't yet know Him are the "sought". He refers to the three parables in Luke of the lost coin, lost sheep, and lost son. In those cases, the ones doing the seeking were the owner of the lost coin, the shepherd for his lost sheep, and the father looking for his lost son. There was great rejoicing when the seekers found what they sought.

Creps says on page 145, "The practice of evangelism involves making room for the Spirit to draw the sought into a saving encounter with the Seeker through Christ. The Church's job is not to save people but to shape the space in which God calls them to Himself."

This sounds a lot like Lakeside's strategy statement of creating environments where the needs of people are met. These environments can look a lot different than any of the environments we have seen before. Many if not most of the environments must look different than what we have seen before.

Let's strive to be creative instead of conventional in our approach to our personal Great Commissions.

What am I supposed to do?

Today I got one of those phone calls I get every now and then. Pastor Mike usually gets the benevolence calls, but he was away from his desk, so it came to me. Usually I answer these calls with the expectation that I can do something to help. We try to assess the need, the legitimacy of the request, and our way of helping to meet the need at an appropriate level. We get several of these calls every week.

The guy who called today had called before and Pastor Mike had helped him with some rent. After that, subsequent conversations led Mike to decide that it was not good stewardship to give him any more. Today I didn't know any of that history when I talked to the guy. I listened to his story and asked him a number of questions. Without going into detail, I decided that we should not give him the help he was looking for. It was not a really difficult decision to make.

What was difficult, however, was the question that remains in my mind. What can I do for that guy? He is as well known and well loved by God as I am. As christians, don't we have a responsibility to help? I know all of the answers, I just don't know "the answer".

Ministry isn't always pretty.

This is a picture of me on the mission field. You can thank Chris Griffin for recording this "Kodak Moment". This occurred in El Salvador on the day we visited a refugee camp for people who had lost their homes due to a volcanic eruption. We were playing with the kids and a game sprung up where one of the team members would be singled out and the kids would do their best to tackle. Finally my number came up and as they converged on me I turned all "Incredible Hulk" on them. They never got me to the ground. It was tremendous fun. This may be my favorite picture of me of all time.

Last Night's Guy Night

Last night was Guy Night and even after all the rain of the day, we had a perfect night to see a baseball game. The rain stayed away, and in the middle of August we had a cool, overcast evening to enjoy. I got to visit with several guys that I didn't know very well before and that was great. I also got to hang with some of the guys I have known for a long time and I like that, too. We had many Dads with their sons and that was very cool. Matt Stomprud took care of all of the details and made everything look easy. Donovan Dufrene drove the bus and made the ride comfortable and convenient. We have some really great guys here at Lakeside and I am always blessed when I get to be around them.

Remember Lakeside GUYS- God Uses Your Strengths!

Guy Night Status

As of 2:30 today the game is still scheduled to play. I talked to the Redhawks office and they said if the rain will stop they will play because the field has been covered. So Guy Night is still a go. If the game is cancelled we will move to Thursday night.

Keep checking back. If I hear something different I will let you know.

"Stay tuned. We'll keep you advised."- Gary England