A Psalm 22 Year

2009 ends today….and I’m glad to see it go.  I’ve got to be honest.  It’s been a Psalm 22 year.  I was reading through the Psalm 20’s or so and came across the 22nd.  For me personally and so many others that I know, it has been that type of year.  Would definitely encourage you to check Psalm 22 on your own when you have time, but here are the first two verses that kind of give a glimpse into that chapter:

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief. (NLT)

Now, please don’t misunderstand, there have been a number of positive and good times, this past year, and there are so many things that I look at in my life and know that I am a blessed man.  And when considering the plight of others and what they have been through/going through, my junk seems trivial at times.

If you know me, then you know that I am horrible at hiding what’s going on in the inside.  In fact, that’s probably part of why I’m writing this post…that and it is somewhat therapeutic for me.  Had a friend last night even comment to me “it’s good to see you smile” which is code for “what’s your problem been?”   Life is like that during seasons of our life…that’s true for everyone.  When those times are prolonged for months and years, it weighs on you.  From unrealized dreams to illness and disease, life is tough.

Last January, I wrote down some goals and some dreams….in fact I wrote down 10 specific thoughts under the heading of where I saw us/myself within a year (that would be now).  How many of those dreams were realized? …. 1

So, on to a new year.  I probably will write down some more dreams and goals for the new year.  Some will be the same as last year, some will be new I’m sure.  I don’t have any new answers, insights, resolutions to make or 10 steps to a new and improved me….or you.  I do have some thoughts for any that have had a Psalm 22 year.  Some of these I’ve been processing, some that I’m still trying to “get there”.  These won’t be terribly deep, just real:

1. You’re not alone…there are others that have been and are going through what you are. I think for me, that has been huge.  Partly because I can look at where they are now and realize that they made it through.  That gives me hope.
2. My time vs God’s time. My timing is not His timing.  His timing is not my timing.  This is probably the hardest truth to live and work through.  The Bible is full of stories where God would make a promise, a realization of a dream, and the fulfillment of that promise or dream would take years.  His time is not our time.  It doesn’t mean that God’s not at work, it doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care, it just means….His timing is not my timing..rinse and repeat.
3. In the meantime…. If you’re in the area between “the promise and the payoff” of your dream (to quote Furtick), find a place to serve and do that.  Not a place that is your “job” or in your area of core competency necessarily…just a place where you can help meet a need.
4. Mumble a lot of prayers.  This is a goal, a hope and a need of mine that I’m experiencing and need more of through my day.

Anyway, I really do hope that you have a very happy new year, a great and memorable new year.  Perhaps a Psalm 20 year:

May he grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory and raise a victory banner in the name of our God.
May the Lord answer all your prayers. (vv. 5-6, NLT)

the c word

We had my parents over for dinner tonight and we were discussing how many people that we know that have been impacted by cancer.  Kim had thyroid cancer back several years ago and now two incredible friends of ours (Tom and Angie) are waging their own battles.  Would you take a minute to pray for both Tom and Angie right now and any others around you that are fighting to battle cancer? Here is a quick synopsis of their stories and links to check out:

Tom Lowry – Tom was my youth pastor growing up, gave me my first opportunity in ministry by letting me intern under him in student ministry (what was he thinking? ….) and has remained a great friend and encourager to me through the years.  He discipled me and help see me through the “yeah, it’s okay God, I’ve got this on my own” years.  He has always been like a second dad to me.  He had mentioned several weeks ago to me that he would be going through some tests and then this week revealed that the tests would be to test for cancer.  He shared the video below tonight at Curtis Baptist Church in Augusta where he is on staff still (church/place I grew up at).  You can follow Tom on his blog as well as he will be giving updates there:

Tom’s Blog: http://tomsthoughtsonstuff.blogspot.com

Angie Sanders – I first met Bobby and Angie at Lighthouse Baptist Church here in Aiken where I was on staff as the youth pastor.  I suckered them in asked them to become volunteers in our student ministry and later had the privilege to officiate at their wedding.  It has been incredible for me to watch them grow in their faith and how they have become leaders at their church in ministry.  They are a great example of Jesus with skin on: they just love Jesus and love people.  Angie has recently been diagnosed with cancer and has had surgery to remove it and is about to undergo additional chemotherapy.

Angie’s Group on Facebook

some monday morning perspective

1. be thankful for where you are and what you have 2. don’t just stay there.  move to help those in need.  I needed this.  Thanks Newspring for posting this.  There is a little graphic content so just know that before watching.

Prentice Story Video

This morning Phillip concluded his message with a video about the Prentice family.  This was a video that I shot last Sunday afternoon and edited this week.  Going into the video, we thought it was going to be primarily a video to promote Grace Kidz, the special needs ministry at Cedar Creek Church.  However, like what happens much of the time, the video ended up telling a bigger story.

We wrapped up our vision series this week and this video ended up painting a picture of what it looks like when the body of is working toward the same result and the church is fulfilling its vision.  Christian was invited by a friend in our student ministry.  Jamie and Logan ended up getting plugged in to our special needs ministry in several areas.  That’s not to mention all the other areas (care ministry, home groups, greeters, worship, media, etc.) that all played a part in helping them to feel welcome but also communicating God’s grace.  Now, they’re investing in people’s lives, too.

http://www.vimeo.com/6345276

to reach people that no one is reaching….

…you have to do things that no one is doing.  The message doesn’t change but the methods MUST.  Check out this clip from Craig Groeschel.

its former glory…..

I had a meeting with the Augusta Symphony about a website so I met with them a few weeks ago.  They are housed at Sacred Heart Cultural center in downtown Augusta.  Sacred Heart was a church that closed in 1971 and was renovated and restored in 1987 as a cultural center for the community to rent.  It also houses several organizations.  I have looked at this building a lot in my days as it is right beside Curtis Baptist Church and School, two places where I spend A LOT of time growing up.  My older brothers use to sneak across the street during church into the old abandoned building and would often explore through it.

I wasn’t sure where exactly their offices were located so I slipped in through a door I saw open.  Straight ahead of me I saw a sign that said “Auditorium Entrance”.  I hadn’t been in Sacred Heart since shortly after it reopened in the late 80’s and just had to see it.  So, I snuck in through the auditorium door and when I walked through a small corridor, there I was on the stage at Sacred Heart.  If you have never been inside this building, you must see it (here’s a photographer’s site that I came across that had some great shots of the interior – Shawna Herring & here is a photo gallery on the sacred heart site).  As I looked around, it literally took my breath away…I was just blown away!  Just an incredible sight.  The summer sun was pouring in through the stain glass windows and the architecture, paint, the craftsmanship…just unbelievable.  I just stood there for a while taking it in.

As I stood there, all of the sudden this thought hit me:

This use to be a place where people came expecting God to move, expecting to worship, encountering Jesus.

My mood changed.  I felt crushed as I began to think about that.  I was reminded that this church was like so many others that I’ve seen and know: Churches that at one time were thriving with life and were impacting the community around them.  Over time they had lost that focus on Jesus, lost what it meant to present and be the Gospel in the context of their community at that time.  So many churches are just dying…just empty buildings.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I am thrilled that this beautiful building is being used so effectively in the community.  But as I was driving back to Aiken I thought a lot about those two extremes of emotion that I had just experienced.  It made me wonder about Cedar Creek, and other churches that right now are making an impact in their community and the world.  Here are some questions:

• What will our church/churches look like in 40 years?  In 5 years?  Will these churches keep their focus on Jesus or will they cease to exist?
• Will we hold to our styles and methodologies as sacred and become culturally irrelevant?
• As the “contemporary churches” become the new traditional churches (by the way, that is happening all over in churches that were birthed out of the Saddleback and Willow Creek models), will they be willing to ask the hard questions and make the even tougher decisions that it takes to change their methods (not the message) as needed over time?

CCC Baptism Video

http://www.vimeo.com/5902288

the right fit

I was reading Steven Furtick’s blog earlier this week, and he had a post on how growth happens at Elevation Church.  As soon as I read it I thought “If I had to describe what I would perceive as the perfect fit for me in ministry, it would be to help make what he describes here happen on a Sunday morning.”  Here’s the content of that post:

How Church Growth Happens:

We enable experiences and interactions that leave our people saying:
I love my church

So they’ll tell their friends:
You’ve got to come check out my church

The friends come.
We worship Jesus and preach the Gospel with excellence.

The friends leave saying:
I really like this church

Inspiring them to come back again and again until they say:
I love my church

And tell their friends:
You’ve got to come check out my church…

but you promised

I can remember saying that growing up to my parents.  During summers when I was a kid, I would often pester my parents to take us somewhere to swim.  I grew up in North Augusta and summers were the same as they are now in this area: brutally hot and humid.  For us it was either one of four places: Misty Waters, Anderson’s, Ascauga Lake or Hammond Hills Pool (the first three are either shut down or non-existent now).  I would remember my parents saying that they would take us “sometime” later on in the week or day, and I would just cling to that hope saying “but you promised”   Now I’m sometimes on the receiving end of that with my own kids.

I’ve been reading through Romans in my time with God and just came across a passage that just nailed me.  It is out of Romans 4 and is speaking about Abraham’s faith and it was his faith that made him right with God.  God made a promise to Abraham (an old childless man with a barren wife) that he would be the father of “many nations”.  This was a promise that he and Sara had to wait for years to come to pass…but it did.

Speaking of Abraham, in 4:20-21, the Bible says:

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Here are some thoughts and questions that really stuck out to me:

• For all of us, there is a promise.  A promise of a plan, a will, a purpose for what we are to be about.  (Jeremiah 29:11)
• There are times when that purpose or plan is very clear.  There are times when it is just a dream, or we can only see “snapshots” of what it might be/could be.  There are times when we have NO clue.
• That doesn’t change the fact that the promise is still there.
• Question: Do I believe God will keep His promise? Abraham had to wait 25 years for the promise to be fulfilled (from the time when God first gave him that promise till Isaac’s birth)….now munch on that….25 years.  Yet he still believed.
• Question: Do i really believe God has the power to make that promise happen? My words say yes, but too often my actions say “I’ve got this God.  Let me help you out on that.”
• I’m just hoping and praying that the above verses will be true in me.  I’m asking God for that kind of faith that is unwavering to trust his promise and his power.

the cussing pastor

confession: I have a draft in my draft folder of my blog called “The Cussing Pastor”….it’s been there for around 8 months.

It’s not about anyone in particular at all, but just a growing trend that has emerged among pastors, leaders and communicators.  I didn’t finish the draft and probably won’t.  I think Ed Young nails what I was thinking.