Knowing God

I am re-reading J.I. Packer's classic, Knowing God.  I certainly think I know some things about God, but what Packer wants to do with this book is to help us to know God.  Most people think they know about God (or even know him).  My kids do this as well.  They will joke with one another say, "Hey look out you just sat down.  God is in that chair...you sat on him!"  They laugh and my wife and I sort of grimace at their callous joking.  We try to carefully explain that this is not how it works.  God is everywhere but he is not in the chair, per se.  That's hard for me to understand much less for kids.  Now that I am a minister, people expect you know more about God and to actually lead them to God.  I can't really do that.  In fact I don't think anyone can.  There was a man who died to bring us all to God.  Of course his name is Jesus.  I wrestle with this question of how well I know God.  How well do I really know him, his ways, and what he wants of me?

Need Discernment

I am memorizing Philippians 1:9-11 which says "And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."  This captures our vision of "Commit, know, do because it is all about him" at our church.  But I also think I need the discernment for ministry to young adults.  Statistically they are supposed to be here but where are they?  I need help from God to do this ministry.  But gratefully it is God will complete it, and not me....

Busy Summer

It has really been a busy summer, but I have had some good experiences recently.  I attended a singles Connect Conference in Charlottet which I found helpful.  It helped to give me a greater passion for our emerging generation and how to reach it for Christ.  A link to the "Threads Conferences" can be found at: http://www.threadsmedia.com/index.php?/events/connect

Psalm 62

Psalm 62 is one of my most favorite Psalms. Take a minute and read it if you like. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2062&version=31

My refuge is in God alone. I must admit I don't always do this. Taking my heart and soul to God and looking to him for everything I need is more than I can muster. That's why David said that his honor and his salvation depend upon God alone.

The psalms are such a great collection of writings by people who want something to happen but cannot make it happen on their own. Or they want deliverance from something that is beyond their control. Their satisfaction and hope come from God so that whether the situation changes or not, God is there to deliver them.

Who Knows?

Years ago in rural Alabama, a regular tradition in my family was to visit my grandparents. I am not that old but I can remember as a child that country-folk would take Sunday afternoon and visit other people in the community. Whether folks went to church or not people would show up at my grandparent’s house and “shoot the breeze” (that is, they would talk). My grandfather would ask someone who came, “what do you know?” “Aw, nothing good” they would respond. But then they would proceed to talk on for hours. Those long, hazy, lazy days of summer – dog days – as we call them – were passed talking about stuff and discussing the local gossip. Frequently you would hear someone ask, “Who knows about …” and then they would proceed to ask their question.

These were the days before the internet and instant information; before Google search engines and minute by minute updates of football scores. Information passed slowly and deliberately by word of mouth and people depended upon individuals who were in the know to tell the news of what was happening in the next county.

No wonder that in many of these sorts of cultures people give themselves over to superstition and cult logic. When information is scarce, then we tend to rely on rabbit’s foots and voodoo dolls to make sure that we cover our tracks against anything that might happen. Who knows, it might work.

But then at times things would happen to shake these individuals out of their superstitions. A major natural disaster such as a tornado or flood would jolt them out of their normal sensibilities and then strangely the church would fill up and people would return to something more firm than their rabbit’s foot or witchin’ wands.

Ancient peoples did the same things, but when a prophet named Jonah showed up on the scene declaring that Nineveh would be destroyed in 40 days, the people stood up and took notice. The King heard it and declared a fast for everyone – even the animals. He said in Jonah 3:9 "Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish."

In the OT, there is this sense of “who knows.” Who knows if perhaps God will relent and leave a blessing? The King of Nineveh responded to Jonah’s preaching and asked the same question, “Who knows?”

Unfortunately in our information-crazed era our sense of superstition has not vanished with our knowledge. After 9-11 we filed into the churches looking for some sort of answer to the question “Who knows why this happened?” This is not even a prediction but it will not be surprising to me if our country embraces Islam after these attacks because we will instinctively think that if we go to that religion then it will keep “bad things” from happening to us. Who knows, it might happen.

But in reality, we do not need to worry nor do we need to think “who knows” when contemplating whether or not God will destroy us. God has already delivered his ultimate punishment. Yes, in case you missed it, he has already inflicted his wrath and he did this to his own son, Jesus. His anger and his penalty was taken out on him. There is no longer any reason to question and worry as the King of Nineveh did. Jesus answered the question of “who knows?”

Why do we need a Singles Ministry anyway? Thoughts on Singleness and Wholeness. Part i

The church has always had an uneasy peace with Singles Ministries. Some churches treat them as an extension of the youth ministry and focus on retreats, programs, and dogma. This works to an extent. Many of us like to travel, go on mission trips, and learn more about God’s word. Those things should always be part of the components involved in a Singles Ministry. But when we think in terms of programming, we end up with titles such as “SAM” (Single Adult Ministry), “YAM” (Young Adult Ministry), or “GAP” (Graduates and Professionals). I was part of a “YAM” group and I have to admit I still like the “GAP” title it seems to describe the class a little bit more. But these titles are still programmatic functions and not organic descriptions.

Once a person reaches adulthood and does not marry, he or she develops a way of behaving which is very independent and self-organized. To try to place that person into a class or program is sometimes difficult to do. My story is perhaps different from many but I fell into the program and then stopped pursuing the next step.

I reached a point in my life where I was no longer taking risks in my relationships nor in my professional life. Look at just about any Will Ferrell movie and it will describe this condition that men get into when we fail to take on a challenge and do something risky. We tend to be perpetually part of a fraternity with nothing but the next party to plan.

That’s why many people would say to me when I was single, “All you need to do is get married. Then you’ll have some responsibility and will get your life together. I can remember people saying to me in another church, “Why do we need a Single Adult ministry anyway? We need to start a ‘how-to-get-married ministry’ and let that fix the problem of the single person.” I think this person was serious.

Apparently, this is the logic of many churches. Some churches I hear are abandoning a Singles Ministry altogether. Sure, they have some small groups which put some single people together and loosely manage those groups into the bigger whole of the church hierarchy, but there is no cohesive focus on making that group a part of the larger church organism. Nor are they focusing on the issues which make a person single. There are people, like myself, who were single because they were indeed waiting on the right one, those who were single because someone else made a different choice and they were either never married or single-again because of another person’s actions.

Marriage does not “fix” singleness. Hear me clearly: putting two single people together who have not learned how to be whole, while single, will never be whole, though married.

Singleness, Introduction

Since being named the Minister to Singles at FBCT, I have taken quite a bit of time to think (or rethink) my days of singleness. I was single until I was 30 and had developed quite a few opinions about the situation and what God wanted of us as single people. I have been married now for almost 13 years and have two children. So I am sure my memories of those days and my opinions shaped from my situation have been either lost or corrupted. But over the next few days, I want to rethink, rehash, and reconstruct what I believe about being single, married, and living in community. What do these things mean and what am I supposed to do to lead, help, and minister to those who are single? Anyway, I am going to try to think about these things and I pray for God's help as I do....