I'm Homeless yet Happy!

O.K. homeless is an overstatement. Really I am house-less, because we closed the sell of our house today. It was a long awaited event that brings an important chapter of our lives to a close. Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Oh God, Please!

Father, my heart is often troubled. My desires run ahead of my faith, and I am tempted to want more. How often I have lived as if you are not enough. Yet, in those moments you rescue my soul with the sure knowledge that Jesus is more than enough. There is enough grace in Jesus to fill the most desperate soul with joy. Even in death, I am secure, because Jesus is enough. So give me Jesus today; give me Jesus tomorrow. This world will pass away, but Jesus endures and through Him so will I. Thank you, my precious Heavenly Father. Amen!

Fernando Ortega - "Give Me Jesus" from Adamson.TV on Vimeo.

Comeback Worship: A Special Treat

Here is an excellent discussion on the topic of leading worship. I found it convicting and challenging. If you cannot listen to the whole thing, pay attention to approximately the 38:00 mark, where these fine men discuss the connection between planning and spontaneity.

Lessons Learned from Three Decades of Leading from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

Developing a Holy Hatred

It was one of my favorite parts of the day. The bus dropped me off at 3:10. By 3:15 the T.V. was one with an episode of either The Three Stooges or The Little Rascals filling the screen. Being a child myself, I could resonate with The Rascals. And being a young boy, I wanted to join their club. You remember the club, don't you? The he-man-woman-haters-club was one club was not just their club but mine too. Over the years, however, the he-man-haters club turned into the he-man-I really like-girls club. And then when I got married it became the he-man-I love this woman, I thank God for this woman, I want to spend the rest of my life with her, and I cannot and do not want to remember what it was like to be single-club.

Yet, I wonder if a Christian man can and should have any room in his life for hate. The answer, I believe, is a firm yes and no. On the one hand, followers of Christ are not given room by God to hate people. So the answer is no. On the other hand, we are given permission to hate sin. So in this regard the answer is yes.

It is this hatred that I woke up with this morning. I hate sin. I hate what sin does to my life--how it robs me of peace and joy and takes my focus off God. I hate what sin does to our families--how it tears down and tears apart. I hate what sin does in our churches--how it robs us of effectiveness and creates petty divisions in the body. I hate what sin does to our society--how it weakens our moral fabric and turns resolve, courage, and virtue into antiquated ideas in a society of people-pleasers and how it turn perversion into a matter of preference.

With all this hatred, something strange happened. A radical love began to awaken, as I think of how much God hates sin. His hatred for sin requires blood, and while it should be my blood that is required for my sin, it was his blood shed in my place that takes the curse of sin from me. Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Now I have the power to put to death the deeds of the body (Romans 8:13). Now I am ready to worship and live this day for the glory of Christ. May God make us all sin-haters that we may become Christ-lovers.

Comeback Worship

Worship is a central part of a comeback effort. Stetzer gives us a balanced look at the issue. For those readers who are part of the Double Springs faith family, I look forward to discussing this tomorrow.

Comeback Church part 4- Celebrative Worship from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

Two Years Ago Today

Two years ago today I was a nervous wreck. I didn't expect to be, but I was. After all, we already had two kids, and I was an old pro. But this was different. Kim experienced weeks of sickness leading up to that day. In fact, the doctors wanted to take the baby a day earlier, but there was no room in the hospital. To make matters worse, the nurses took Kim to surgery and forgot me. So there I was in the room by myself imagining the worse.

Finally, the nurses remembered me, and I was rushed to the operating room. Previously I imagined the worse, but when she came I immediately began to imagine the best. From the start she was a bundle of energy--a bundle that keeps us all hopping. As soon as I saw her I knew that everything would be different and it is. There is nothing like a baby girl to make a big mean daddy melt into one big sap.

I've heard it said that boys will make you a father but a girl will turn you into daddy. I admit it sounded pretty far fetch to me until she called me daddy for the first time. I would not take a million dollars in exchange for the joy she brings to our family. As I type this, I fight back the tears. God has been better to us than we could have every imagined, and we bless his name. I love you, baby girl. Have a happy birthday.

A Good Reminder For Those who are Teaching This Sunday

One common problem associated with teaching is the tendency to be self-conscious. Do I know enough? Am I loud enough? Am I too loud? Is the lesson long or short enough? What will people think? On and on the questions go.

If you struggle with this, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones gives us good advice in his classic work Preaching and Preachers. He writes that our rule for teaching is:

[B]e natural; forget yourself; be so absorbed in what you are doing and in the realisation of the presence of God, and in the glory and greatness of the Truth that you are preaching, and the occasion that brings you together, that you are so taken up by all this that you forget yourself completely. That is the right condition; that is the only place of safety; that is the only way in which you can honour [sic] God. Self is the greatest enemy of the preacher, more so than in the case of any other man in society. And the only way to deal with self is to be so take up with, and so enraptured by, the glory of what you are doing, that you forget yourself altogether (p. 264).

In other words, it is not about us. We are clay pots with a royal message from heaven. God is the main attraction. We, therefore, labor to point others to him. Be absorbed in this and forget yourself. Then we will see a real difference in our classes and services.

Comeback Church

I have tried to post this all week. Thanks for the patience.

Comeback Church part 3- Lay Mobilization from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

I Can't Believe It

Seven years ago today I held you in my arms. I trembled at the thought of being a father. At the same time, I instantly became a dreamer. I dreamed about who you might be, what you might do, and how you would do it. I felt sure that you would change the world. My chest expanded and my eyes leaked tears of joy. But most of all I could not stop thanking God.

This morning it seemed like that baby should be looking back at me. Instead there was this little boy who is quickly growing into a man. I couldn't believe it but there you were. To tell you the truth part of me is still scared, and all of me still dreams. Now I dream of a godly man who leads a godly family, living for the glory of God. I long for the day when it comes.

I love you, son. You are a gift from God and a great joy to me. I do not deserve you. You constantly remind me of the love of God. After all, my heavenly Father gave up his son for me. I hope you have a great one with many more to come.