Relative Truths

Ok, so last night I went to the Masquerade to hear The Less play.  It wasn’t the first time I had been to a concert to see The Less, but it was the first time that I have ever been to the Masquerade.  For those of you unfamiliar with that venue, they have three different stage areas: Purgatory, Heaven, and Hell.  Ironically, The Less were playing in Hell.  I thought it was cool that my first trip to the Masquerade put me in Hell!

 

Anyway, while we were waiting for the band to play, one of the guys from church who went on the men’s retreat made the comment that we went from the mountain top last weekend to Hell this weekend (for posts on the Men’s Retreat click here, here, or here).  I thought that was a pretty interesting comment and it really resonated with me.  First of all, hearing The Less play is nothing like being in Hell.  They are a great band and really good guys.  In fact, Adam Courtney is kind of like a hero to me.  Anyway, what made it interesting was the idea behind the comment.  How often have we found ourselves feeling like we are moving between extremes?  How often do we feel like we have just experienced something awesome, only to have what seems like the worst day ever just after that?  Do you ever fail to enjoy something because you are wondering what bad event is going to ruin it?  I know that I have.

 

The truth behind that comment is that life takes twists and turns.  There are days where you feel like you are on top of a mountain.  You feel close to God, things are going great, life seems in sync.  Then, there are days where you feel like you are in the lowest valley.  You struggle with questions, nothing seems to work right, nothing feels like it is in sync.  We have all been there.  The truth to remember is that God is with us in the twist and turns.  Going back to my story, I know God was on the retreat working in the lives of those men on the mountain.  I also know that God was at the Masquerade last night, smiling as His children were using the talents He gave them, especially since those guys give glory to God in their lives.  So, if you are in the midst of a twist or turn today, know that God is with you.  He promises to never leave nor forsake.  Trust in that and you can make it through the valley.  Do you believe that, or am I off?  Let me know, or tell me when you have gone from one extreme to the other.      

Ok, so we finished our Saturday evening worship service on the retreat.  This service has about 45 minutes of music and then an open mike time for sharing.  Now, I can’t tell you what was shared because what is said on the mountain stays on the mountain.  But I will tell you how incredibly blessed I feel to have been on this retreat.  Our guys are powerful prayer warriors, open about their struggles, and a great support for each other.  There are over 100 guys here tonight that I would go into battle with any day. 

 

I say all of that to set-up the truth I wanted to share.  I was a little hesitant about this weekend.  I was the one in charge of planning it.  I DID NOT want to leave my wife for the weekend.  However, when I got here, God reminded me of why I needed to be here.  I needed to be reminded of why I am in ministry: to serve God’s people.  To see that many men cry, pray, and encourage their brothers in Christ reminds me that Christ is victorious in all situations.  If we can trust in that truth, then He will reveal why we are where we are. 

Ok, so I am sitting here in front of the fire at the convention center here in Toccoa.  What a great thing fires are, aren’t they?  Nothing sparks fun conversation like gathering around a fire.  Anyway, we have had two sessions so today for our retreat.  Our speaker, Dr. Teykl has been talking to us about presence and praying for others and the importance of salvation.  While he was speaking about salvation, it made me think of how soft we often are in terms of salvation.  It seems like we take it for granted that people are saved or we just choose not to stress that part of Christian faith.  How much of an eternal disservice we are doing people by not stressing the importance of heaven and hell. 

 

Along those lines, Dr. Teykl led us in a worship experience where we sang and literally danced around the room.  Picture 100 men, much less United Methodists, dancing around the room just to praise our amazing God.  That’s what I’m talking about.  When we forget how awesome God is, we neglect to praise Him the way we should.  However, when we can remember the eternal gift we have in God’s saving grace, then we begin to give the honor and praise that is worthy of His name.  I guess the truth I learned today is that it is ok to dance for God.  After all, He died for you. 

Ok, so I am on our church’s annual Men’s Retreat.  I meant to post this last night but I was having internet issues.  Anyway, this is the 11^th year of the retreat, and my third time being on it (I guess that would fit since I have been here three years).  Anyway, we are at the Georgia Baptist Convention Center in Toccoa, GA.   It is beautiful up here, and I love the idea of a weekend away on the mountain top.  This past Sunday, I was able to preach at Lawrenceville.  I preached on meditation and I tried to stress the point of spending time alone with God on the “mountain top” so that He could guide you and direct how to best live and serve. 

 

Well, here I am, literally on a mountain top.  Tonight, our speaker, Dr. Terry Teykl, teased the topics he will address tomorrow.  He said something that I thought was really profound and great.  He said that, “The whole Christian faith is based on experiencing Him (Him referring to God).”  I know that too often we let Christian faith become so much more than that.  It becomes too complicated with details and rules and appearance and stuff.  Well, the truth is that Christian faith is about an experience.  Before we experience God, there is something missing that we just can’t fill.  After we experience God, we know what was once missing, and we seek to have that experience over and over again.

 

As mentioned before, I am on the mountain top.  My prayer in these two days left, that I experience God over and over.  I need guidance and direction from God now, and I am going to use this time on the mountain top to experience God.  The truth is we can talk about experiencing God, or we can experience God.  What will you choose?

Ok, so I totally ripped this idea off from Perry Noble. But hey, he hasn’t trade marked it, right? Anyway, I just wanted to reflect on today and this weekend. I probably won’t do this every Sunday, but I am today. I preached at church. We are in week two of a 13-week series on the Spiritual Disciplines (taken from Richard Foster’s book). Today was the first discipline (last week was the intro) and it was meditation. I did something different. I started with a 3.5 minute slide show. If I can figure how to load it, I will. Basically the show was to have people reflect on God in silence (kind of like meditation). I think it was received well. So here are my reflections on the weekend.

I liked doing something different. Someone told me it was the best sermon I have delivered at Lawrenceville. That means a lot to me. I was worried about trying something different, and it worked. When God calls you to do something, trust in that. The truth is that you will never fail when you are faithful to God. You just might not get the results you desired.

We had Created By God this weekend. That is the class for 5th and 6th grade students teaching them about human sexuality among other things. That is an intimidating experience. You are uncomfortable teaching it and the kids are uncomfortable hearing it. However, it is important for the church to address this very real topic. The truth is that kids are exposed to sex in elementary school. The church can either bury its head in the sand or be proactive and teach what the Bible says about sex. Our youth did a series on that last fall. I applaud churches and ministries that are willing to tackle this subject in a real way.

We heard some great news about Erin. Please keep her in your prayers. She is truly the model of a Christian servant and just an incredibly nice person. God is touching some many people through this it is amazing. That is fitting based on the kind of person Erin is.

I am wicked tired. We had a surprise party for my dad last night. He turns 60 on Valentine’s Day. Mom knew that to surprise him, she needed to do it now. It was awesome. I got to see my aunt and uncle from Plains. I haven’t seen them since my wedding, so it was great. However, I didn’t get to sleep until after midnight and got up at 4:45 today. I am watching football and fighting sleep. Good times.

Well, that is enough randomness for today. Just wanted to give an update on the weekend. Keep praying for Erin and for me as I continually seek to do God’s will. Also, let me know what is going on with you. You know, family updates, prayer concerns, etc. The truth is, I care. God bless.``

Ok, so we had covenant group today at Simpsonwood, and it was a workshop.  I will admit, normally I am a little “less than thrilled” about the workshops.  They can sometimes be, how do you say, not so exciting.  Anyway, I was wrong with that assumption today.  We looked at a book by Kennon Callahan called Effective Church Leadership.  It is a good book and it contains a lot of useful, practical information.  What made the session good though were the presenters. 

 

Four ministers in our conference presented: Mike Long, Bill Burch, Jane Brooks, and Bill Britt.  It was a good presentation because all of them have had success in leading effective churches.  I was able to put stock in the material because the people presenting it have used it and been successful.  They believe it and have lived it.  That kind of proof allows me to have confidence believing in it too.

 

It occurred to me as they were presenting that if we want to share Christ with others, we need to offer that kind of proof too.  It is hard to demonstrate Christ’s love if we haven’t experienced it and believe in it.  It is hard to tell someone the good news if we don’t think there is anything special to it.  However, when we have experienced the grace of God, then we can share it in a way that will allow people to believe.  That is the kind of proof that people buy into. 

 

So, I guess the truth is that when we have experienced God we need to live like it.  That is how we share Him with others, and how others can believe in Him too.  When we don’t live any differently from our experience God, then people will believe there is no difference in a life with Him.  That’s the truth.  What kind of proof do you want to display?

Ok, so we went to the Sugar Bowl this week.  This was the second time I have been to a UGA bowl game (the other was the 1995 Peach Bowl when UGA lost to UVA, oh well).  Anyway, Georgia won this game convincingly, so that was fun.  We got to scream and yell and cheer and I didn’t have to worry about church the next day, so that was fun.  We sat with some people from Rutledge that I miss, so that was fun.  We were able to have lunch with some friends who had come to the game, so that was fun.  I tried Blackened Alligator for dinner, so that was fun.   I found the Café Du Monde which has the best beignet and coffee I have ever had, so that was fun.  There were a lot of fun moments on this trip.

The truth is that the most fun I had was spending time with Rebekah.  Originally, I was going to go to this game with a friend.  He couldn’t go, so I talked Rebekah into it.  I am so glad I did.  We both have pretty busy jobs, and sometimes it is hard to have a lot of uninterrupted time with her.  For three days, we were together none-stop and didn’t have work to worry about.  It was awesome.  I really love my wife and I have a lot of fun with her.  She is smart and funny, and really good at making me think about things.  I couldn’t imagine anyone I would rather spend 8 hours in a car with, one way. 

I said all of that for two reasons.  One, if Rebekah reads this, then I look good.  Two, I learned on this trip that we need to make time for people.  If you are married and haven’t had a fun road trip with your spouse, find some time and do it.  If there is a friend you haven’t seen in awhile, or you just want to reconnect, take a road trip.  And do it now.  We are guaranteed today.  Use it.  The truth is that we can always be busy with work, but we can’t always spend time with those we love and care about.  Take advantage of it.  Work tomorrow, fellowship today.

Ok, so New Year’s Day, Rebekah and I got up early and headed to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl.  We were pretty tried from the previous day.  If you want to know what was going on, read yesterday’s post by clicking here.  Anyway, I will post about the Sugar Bowl and the trip in later days, but as we were driving, I was able to reflect on the weekend. 

On Sunday the 30^th, I preached at Lawrenceville.  One thing I have learned as an associate is that there are certain days you plan on preaching.  Among them are the Sundays before Labor Day and Memorial Day, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and the Sunday after Christmas (I would add the Sunday after Annual Conference, but that doesn’t apply if the senior pastor is moving or there are other circumstances).  Anyway, it was a great morning.  I say that not because of the sermon, even though I pray that God was able to speak to people through it, but it was really cool because my brother David was there.  For those of you that don’t know him, David is the founding and lead pastor of The Vine, a new UMC in Braselton.  David also has a blog that you can check out here. 

Anyway, being a preacher means that David doesn’t get to often hear me preach.  It was a cool feeling when I saw him walk in that day.  It was cool because I know he will be honest with my evaluation and I trust everything he says.  When he says I did a good job, I feel pretty good about that. 

The truth is that we all need encouragement in our lives.  We also need people that are honest in assessing how we are living for Christ.  I have that in several people, David, Rebekah, Andrew, Allen, my accountability group, etc.  It is essential for us to have that support, encouragement, and accountability to be who God wants us to be.  Nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes.  It is not a weakness to seek out or to hear our faults or shortcomings.  It is a weakness when we feel that we are perfect or cannot improve.  We find strength in the accountability of others because it allows us to grow closer to who God wants us to be.  The truth is that God created you and has great plans and designs for you.  Allow others to help you fulfill that and you will be blessed.  I promise.

Ok, so I still want you to pray for Erin . If you don’t know what that last sentence meant, you can read yesterday’s post by clicking here. I want to talk about another big event from this week. On Monday, New Year’s Eve, we hosted the 2^nd Annual Flashlight 5K. The 5K was the brainchild of a church member last year. She basically ran the event last year. It was awesome. We had almost 300 runners and raised money for the Lawrenceville Co-op. This year, that church member could not a part of the process, and it fell to me to plan and implement. I was scared to death. But then I was reminded of how small I am and how big God is. I had a meeting with a few people that said they were interested in helping out, and they stepped-up to get this event done. One of the volunteers that did a ton of work isn’t yet a church member!

The truth is that we can talk about what we can do for God. However, the truth is what can God do through us? Through a few people being willing to step-up and serve, we were able to share God’s love again with 300 runners and raise some money for two local ministries. It was a great event. Thanks to a handful of people who reminded me of a God who works in our lives, and another 100 volunteers who gave up part of their New Year’s Eve, we had a smooth event that accomplished our goals.

I learned a lot in this event. I learned that God has given me the strength to pull things like this off. I learned that when God is at the center of a plan, anything can happen. I also learned that God is working in the lives of people at Lawrenceville. It was the best way to start a New Year.

Ok, so I know it has been forever since I last posted.  To those of you that check frequently, I apologize.  It has been a crazy close to the year.  I am writing several posts, so there will be new posts every day for a while now.  Several things have happened in the last few weeks.  I am going to post about them each day for awhile here and let you comment on them.  First, I want to thank all of my volunteers for the Flashlight 5K.  I am going to write about some things I learned on that later, but I just wanted to say thank you.

 

Anyway, today’s topic is my friend Erin Blonshine.  Erin is a longtime member at Lawrenceville FUMC, and is now on the youth staff.  I first met Erin over 3 years ago when she came to visit seminary with Lisa Johnson.  At that time, I had no clue I would be serving Lawrenceville and that I would come to know and respect Erin like I do.  She is one of the nicest people I have ever met and a true example of a Christian servant. 

 

Long story short, she went to the doctor on December 30^th and they quickly discovered that she has Leukemia.  If you want the details on the diagnosis, check out her blog, www.blonshine.blogspot.com.  I went to see her last Monday.  I was struck by the fact that even though she was receiving this news, and was in a complete state of shock about it, she still was smiling and friendly.  Her family is a true example of faithfulness.  The truth that I learned from seeing them this week is that even in the face of dark times, when you trust in Christ, you can still see a light.  I am amazed and encouraged by them and their faith.  I am praying for a complete healing and I know that God is going to do something amazing with Erin in this.  Pray for her and her family.  And, like the Blonshines, trust that God is with you and the truth that he will never leave you.