Where Atheists Get It Right

One of my atheist friends made an observation: “You Christians have it easy in some ways. Since your god forgives you for everything, you get to go around being mean without ever making it right because you’ve been ‘forgiven’.”

Wow!

My friend pointed out that atheists are not conscience free. Instead of praying to God to forgive them and (hopefully) silence that still small voice nagging at them from the back of their head, they actually go to the person they offended and make things right.

There are people we’ve wronged with whom we will never be reconciled. Loved ones who are gone or mentally impaired, for instance. In cases involving missed opportunities, we are so blessed to know that forgiveness can still be ours because of God’s amazing grace.

When we lie, cheat, gossip, or in some other way mistreat people, we can’t just fall back on the bumper sticker-ism, “Not Perfect, Just Forgiven”. We must be reconciled!

God’s forgiveness is ours for the asking, about that there is no argument. The New Testament is filled with admonishments to believers regarding our interpersonal relationships, and yet we still treat our brothers and sisters shamefully. Of course God forgives us for our many infractions, but we need to make things right with each other.

Come on! Get off the pew and be reconciled with the people you worship with every Sunday.

Jammin' for Jesus

Question--Do these signs really work to draw people into church? What do you think?

Just askin'.

Linger Here and Begin to Pray in the Sprit

I know God calls people to pray. Sometimes we may not know exactly why we're praying, or what it is we're supposed to pray for. But God knows. Our job is to be faithful. Here's a story of how God was working in Tucson seven days before tragedy struck.

I found this article written by Ralaine Fagone on the website, Breaking Christian News.

Be encouraged to get off the pew and pray.

The Deacon - God said, "Linger Here and Begin to Pray in the Spirit"

As he turned off the bike he heard the Holy Spirit call him to prayer: "Linger here and begin to pray in the Spirit."

Our nation has been in awe over the speedy recovery of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head on Saturday, January 8, 2011, in Tucson, Arizona. During a community event outside a shopping market on the corners of Ina and Oracle a man opened fire into a crowd of people. The first reports were sketchy; one news agency presumed her dead, with six others, while many painted a gloomy end to her critical condition. The doctors began to give hopeful reports and downgraded her condition quickly. Within two-and-a-half weeks she was transferred from one care facility to a place where she could begin rehabilitation from her brain injuries.

The nation's prayers after the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords have proven to be effective. But, what about prayers that took place before the event? I know one man who was called to stand and pray one week before the shooting took place.

Dick Tesi, affectionately called Deacon Dickie from Restoration International, was riding his motorcycle through Tucson on Saturday, January 1, 2011. He pulled into a gas station at the intersection of Ina and Oracle, next to a Safeway store. He felt prompted to turnoff his motorcycle before entering his next destination into the GPS. As he turned off the bike he heard the Holy Spirit call him to prayer: "Linger here and begin to pray in the Spirit." Always willing to co-operate with the Father, Dickie stood and prayed while his eyes scanned the area. He was unsure why he needed to pray right then and there. Still, he remained until he felt released. Back on the road; his work was completed.

When the news reports aired, telling the horror that took place, Deacon Dickie stopped to remember his call to prayer the week prior. He realized the prayer was strategic for the tragic event. Dickie expressed his concern regarding his "ineffective" prayer in light of the six lives lost that day. My premature response said, "It could have been worse, we don't know."

As the reports of Congresswoman Giffords' remarkable progress begun to flow to the nation, I gained insight connecting these two events. Over seven years ago Deacon Dickie experienced a miraculous recovery from a brain injury due to a motorcycle accident. Dickie was on full life support, bringing him to the threshold of eternity. Then the healing power of Jesus intervened. His brain was so swollen, part of it had to be removed. The miracle continued by making him whole and restoring his memory. I believe this made him the perfect candidate to stand and pray with authority over the events to come. Dickie had faced a similar frontal lobe injury as the Congresswoman, and had victory, making him a conqueror. Dickie had the right resume'; God called the right man to stand in the parking lot and pray over the brain injury to come.

Follow those promptings and calls to prayer. Pray from the spirit and partner with Father's plans. You may not have understanding or think the prayer is ineffective. But, a time may come, like it did for my friend Deacon Dickie, where you will look back and be struck with the awe and mystery of God.

No one's ever seen or heard anything like this, never so much as imagined anything quite like it—What God has arranged for those who love Him. But you've seen and heard it because God by His Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you.

The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you're thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that He not only knows what He's thinking, but He lets us in on it. 1 Corinthians 2:10-13 (The Message)

Perhaps you noticed the unusual aspects of this story. Things like it had been seven years since Dickie's accident where he [was on the brink of death], and he prayed seven days before the accident—demonstrating God's completion. Even the names of key players are relevant; the street corners of Oracle—means "speaker" or "word" and Ina—is translated "pure", the store named Safe-way, and Gabrielle—means "Hero of God." There is a story within the story. This adds to the mysteries of God.

Written by Ralaine Fagone and reported by Breaking Christian News.

What Jesus Would NOT Do

Great food for thought.

Ask Forgiveness - Not Permission

It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

A lot of people live this way, and I’m a little bit jealous of them. They are brave, confident, and unflinching. But what about those people from whom forgiveness must be asked? Perhaps they’d RATHER be considered before an act is committed against them.

A local church just finished a remodel on the campus. They chose to move forward and finish the project without securing the proper building permits, so as to have the building ready in time to host a special invited guest. They’re now on the hook for fines levied by the city.

Look, all the people who give their tithes and offerings to this church have trusted the pastor, the staff, and the church board to be good stewards of their hard-earned money.

The remodel alone cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. In these precarious economic times, it’s irresponsible to throw money away on unnecessary fines. Oh sure, the pastor can ask for forgiveness, but is the cost of breaking the law and damaging the church’s reputation really worth the prestige of hosting a big name musical group?

I strongly believe that Christian leaders ought to be setting the bar for propriety and goodness. We are only human, of course, and therefore flawed. However, we are called to be Jesus with skin on. He came to offer forgiveness, not ask for it.

Now get of the pew and do right. If you’ve been given a position of church leadership, you’ve been called to a big job and you need to be in pursuit of holiness while fulfilling your responsibilities.

Remember, Jesus came to offer forgiveness – not ask for it! Now get off the pew, kick clichés and platitudes out the door, and take care of that which has been entrusted to you.

Feelin' Good

What could possibly be any better than a "thumbs up" from Jesus?

It's gonna be a good day.

When a Church Doesn't Want You

Finding a new church home is never easy – especially when you’re new to the area.

Sherry was a single mom with two young kids when she moved to California from the Mid-west. One of the first things she set out to do was find a good church home, so she began her search.

The young mom was quick to filter out the churches that wouldn’t fit with her needs. The kids were her top priority, so she wanted a place where she knew they’d be safe and blessed. She was looking for a church that wasn’t so small that she’d feel smothered, and yet not so large that she’d get lost in the crowd.

Week after week she visited the myriad of faith families in the city she now called home, and it didn’t take long for her to find the church to which she wanted to commit. Her kids loved their new Sunday school teachers and were quickly making friends and connections.

Sherry enrolled in the membership classes, which only served to reinforce the fact that she was indeed in the right place.

When the education was over, Sherry happily joined with the other graduates and prepared to become an official member of her new church. She and the kids had been regular attendees for six or more months and they were settling into their new life in California.

The final step in becoming a church member was meeting personally with the pastor, presumably so he could welcome the parishioners to the family. That’s when it all fell apart.

The pastor of the church Sherry now considered her home sat across the desk from her in his large office. “Sherry”, he said, “you are a single mom with two kids and I don’t think you fit our member profile. Thank you for your interest, but we won’t be making you a member.”

Why? Sherry may never know for sure, since she walked out of that man’s office and never returned to the church. Was it because divorce made her and her family somehow unseemly? Was it because she couldn’t contribute financially as substantially as some of the other parishioners?

It is only by the grace of God that Sherry still believes in assembling together with other believers and attends any church at all. Her kids are now teens, and like many of us, she’s seen her share of piety and hypocrisy in the church. My friend Sherry keeps her eyes on the Lord.

Look around. Are there new people sitting in the pew next to you? Welcome them, talk to them and listen to them—listen well. Get off the pew!

New Direction?

How awesome it must be to blame God for not doing the job you’re being paid to do!

One of the part-time staffers at the church was called in last week for a chat with her supervisor. It seems that she’s been dropping the ball a lot lately. Her excuse? “God has been calling me to go in another direction.”

I worked at a church once as the Director of Drama Ministries. It was a ministry I was passionate about, and even though I served as an unpaid worker, I was faithful and put in a lot of time each week. I logged hundreds of volunteer hours especially around Christmas and Easter.

There were several people on our little drama team—each one with his or her unique strengths and talents. I loved those people.

One of the members of our troupe started dropping the ball. She’d promise to write, then wouldn't complete a draft, or she’d commit to rehearsing a Sunday morning skit then never get around to it. Her excuse? “It must not have been God’s plan since I never got it done.”

That has seriously got to be one of my biggest pet peeves among believers—we blame God for our laziness. Worse—we get away with it! I mean, who’s going to call us on the carpet and challenge our procrastinating ways, especially when it means we’re questioning God?

The church employee who met with her boss last week was able to quit her job AND get a good recommendation. She even got a pat on the back for listening to God’s voice in leading her life! Out in the real world, she’d get fired for not doing her job, and her permanent file would be filled with notes like, “hears voices”, and “thinks God talks to her”. Future employers would be hard-pressed to hire the crazy girl.

Look, of course I believe that God leads us in many and varied ways. I also believe He calls us to be people of the highest character, and He doesn’t want to be used as an excuse for our slothfulness.

Yep, it must be nice to be able to blame one’s bad behavior on “God’s leading”. I believe that when we do that, more often than not, we are slandering the divine and perfect character of the Lord.

Don’t be lazy and self-serving. Get off the pew!

When Preachers are Steamrollers

A young preacher was hired to lead one of the large churches on the Northwest side of our city. One of his favorite mantras over the past year-and-a-half has been, “I’d rather do something and make a mistake, then do nothing.”

So, Pastor W. has done a whole lot of somethings and has made a whole lot of mistakes. Sadly, many of his missteps have left wounded and broken people in their wake. Is that fair?

My question today is, at what point should a church board or council step in and decide enough is enough?

Pastor W. fired several long-time church employees and replaced them with younger, hipper staffers. He was new to our area when he was installed and he knew no one. He hired several people who swooped in and impressed the new guy, but who had little work experience. Some of those laborers didn’t work out so well. So, faithful long-time employees are out of work, and the church is still short-staffed because the younger, hipper new-hirers got in way over their heads.

Two decades ago the church family raised the funds to build a gym that could accommodate the needs of the growing kids and teens. It was an especially important project for the then-pastor because he recognized that without kids the church dies. It was a magnificent building—basketball court, moveable stage, tons of room—an all-purpose family life center.

The preacher who oversaw the building of that center passed away a few years ago. I wonder what he would say now that the gathering place for kids and families has been remodeled into a second Sanctuary, and is no longer basketball or kid friendly.

Under Pastor W’s leadership, Sunday school classes have been cancelled, events are no more, ministries were told to roll up their banners and call it quits, and Bible study groups have been disbanded. Services have been added and subtracted, and the “direction of the church” has changed four or five times in less than 2 years.

Not everyone is as ADD as the young new pastor, and parishioners can be slow to change. You know, Christians love their church. They love the choir, their Sunday school teacher, the nursery “cuddlers” who invest in their kids and grandkids, and the friendly face that greets them with a warm handshake every Sunday morning.

Change is good. Change is necessary. Without change there is no growth. But is there such a thing as moving too fast? What happens to the church body when you steamroll over it? People have hearts and relationships and feelings. Christians are like everybody else—we need to find a place where we belong.

Is steamrolling over folks and their ideas really the best way for Pastor W. to grow the church? People are leaving in droves, while others are sitting and stewing in their pew of anger and disappointment. The church board is “trusting God”.

I firmly believe that change is a GREAT thing and is imperative for new growth. I don’t know what the answer is, but I think that pride gets in the way when good men put more value in their ideas then they do on the feelings and needs of the people who hired them. We get mad at politicians who do that and we fire them! But when a pastor does the same thing, we often get angry, hurt, or bitter, and leave the body. Some of us have spoken up, but we’ve been chastised by pew-sitters for doing so.

I don’t know the answer, but we’ve got to do better. Get off the pew and do better!

She's a...Prophet?

My friend “Libby” and I have known one another since we were kids. Our parents were friends, we attended the same Seventh-Day-Adventist church and the same Adventist school. Neither one of us are Adventists today.

For those of you who might be unfamiliar with the Adventist faith, let me give you an overview. Adventists are sabbatarians, that is, they (like the Jews) believe that Saturday is the Sabbath of the Bible and are legalistic about keeping it. Sabbath begins each week on Friday night at sundown, and ends when the sun sets on Saturday.

The Seventh-Day-Adventist church has its roots in a religious movement that began in 1833 when a Baptist layman named William Miller prophesied Jesus’ return (which he believed would happened in or about 1843). Among the “Millerites” was a woman named Ellen G. White. It wasn’t long before her visions and prophecies had more believers and followers than Mr. Miller’s, and a group broke away and formed a new church. The S.D.A. church was formally established in 1863.

Okay, back to my friend Libby. We were chatting the other day about some of our high school memories—teachers, friends, etc… We both remember being in a Bible class where we rarely opened the Bible. Rather, we studied the extensive catalog of books and writings by Ellen G. White—the church’s prophet.

In 1982 a man named William Rea published a book titled, “The White Lie”, in which he outed Mrs. White as a fraud. When she was a teen, Libby read Mr. Rea’s book. She recollects sitting in Bible class and having many questions about Ellen White and her writings. She wanted (and needed) answers, so she raised her hand and made her queries. The teacher called my outspoken friend out of class.

“Libby”, said Mr. M., “your questions are confusing the other kids in the class and you need to keep your mouth shut.” Mr. M. didn’t stop there. “Also, I am dumbfounded as to how exactly to deal with you as you are neither male or female.”

Why would a teacher say such a thing to a high school girl?

My friend was embarrassed, ashamed, and confused. From that moment on she didn’t speak out in class, and she kept her questions to herself. Rather than deal with the questions and allow personal opinions and debate, that teacher dismissed my friend.

Hey, I know how the situation could easily have been resolved. It was “Bible” class, right? Here’s an idea…TEACH THE BIBLE! It’s no wonder the Adventist church is seen by many as a cult. The writings of the “prophet” contradict the Bible in plenty of ways, and yet more emphasis has often been put on Mrs. White’s word, than the Word of God.

I wonder if Mr. M. is still a Seventh-Day-Adventist today. I wonder how many other students he shut up because he wasn’t able to explain away the holes Libby saw in the Adventist theology.

To all you who teach, lead, or in some way influence young people, let me encourage you. Please, please let kids ask questions. Encourage them to think outside the box and look for answers. If you don’t know the answers to their questions, don’t shut them up. Rather, help them find the solutions to their puzzles. You could even learn a thing or two along the way. You might have to get off the pew to discover and discern, but you’ll be glad you did. Get off the pew.