VACATION!

So how appropriate that I read Genesis 2:2 today

"And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done." 

And speaking of rest, I'm going on vacation! It's been 5 years since we went on a family vacation that wasn't for the expressed purpose of visiting family living far away. I'm going to eat junk, see some Americana, and recharge with the family.

So nothing deep from me this week and nothing at all next week! Thanks for reading and I look forward to writing again soon.

Heath

God Doesn't Need Spiritual Sprinters

"The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder." -Alfred Hitchcock

In a nation where we often root for the underdog (see NCAA tournament), horse racing is an exception. Year after year many tune in to watch the next potential Triple Crown winner. And for the last few decades, we've seen several horses win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.

BUT THEN COMES THE BELMONT.

It's not much longer than the Derby, adding just a quarter mile to the Derby's total distance. But that final quarter mile has killed many a dream. So how did we see 3 Triple Crown winners in the 70's and none since?

Like Mr. Hitchcock says, it's all about endurance. 

Horses in the 70's were built for stamina. They were built not just to get to the finish line, but to run through it. But as horse racing continued, more shorter races were instituted and stamina was sacrificed for speed.

Too many Christians today are built for "speed". They read 1-minute devotionals instead of the Bible and get antsy when Sunday's service begins to extend beyond an hour. Jesus didn't ask for fragments of your life, but the whole thing. God has a race for you to win, but it's a marathon, not a sprint. It requires us running through the finish and not just to it.


Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 

Paul's not encouraging speed, but endurance. God promises straight paths when we pursue Him, but He doesn't promise quick paths. God has plans for you, but you must walk in them. Ask God to give you the spiritual stamina to pursue His plans, at His pace, for His glory.

The Real Reason You Fail

"I'm not superstitious...but I am a little stitious." -Michael Scott

1989:  the year we learned that winning at basketball had nothing to do with attitude or ability. We just needed the right shoes.

More recently, NBA great Lebron James has been making headlines with a headband. He stopped wearing it a few weeks ago to look more like his teammates. But after a tough playoff loss, the headband came back as if it were the reason he had been winning all along.

So what is the real reason you fail? While we may blame a number of factors, the truth is it always comes back to what's rattling around in our own hearts and minds.

"...put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." Colossians 3:10

It's not time to put on the right shoes, or the right headgear, but instead the right self. Don't fall back to the old self, the self that:

• blames others
• looks at the outward
• thinks you're alone

Instead put on the new self! Remember that you have been created in Christ Jesus for good works. So stop blaming outside factors for inside failures. You don't need different shoes. You need to look inward, pray for renewal, and put on the new self Jesus saved you to be.

The Best Way To Respond to Criticism

"If my critics saw me walking over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn't swim." -Margaret Thatcher

"You've got a pride issue." 

I couldn't believe my ears! My wife and I were talking in the parsonage of my first pastorate out of seminary. And out of the clear blue sky, she drops this bomb on me. I was fuming! I stormed down the stairs to the basement of our house. After shutting myself into a room I said, "God, do I have a pride issue?" 

Wife 1
Husband 0

This lesson has stuck with me ever since. I realized quickly that the best way to respond to criticism is to evaluate it. We are so quick to:

• Deny the claim
• Disregard the person
• Drag up the critic's issues

But what if we really stopped to look at ourselves? Maybe the criticism was a bit sharper than it needed to be, but does it have merit? If after prayer and pondering you determine that it doesn't, then throw it away. But if you determine it does, you must be willing to change. 

Just last week, a member of my church came with a stinging criticism of an area of my ministry. As I listened, I realized that while the criticism was harsh, I hadn't done everything that I could in that area. The next day I wrote this church member a note expressing my thanks for all their previous encouragement, my assurances that I would work on the areas that had been brought up, and asking forgiveness for my role in the situation.

And yesterday, that church member was waiting for me. They quickly and sincerely apologized for the manner in which they had spoken and asked my forgiveness. Not only have we repaired the relationship, but some good came out of this person's criticism, sharp as it was.

So don't disregard criticism...evaluate it. Sometimes it will be offered as constructive criticism, and sometimes as destructive criticism. Be sure in every instance that you pray and ponder whether there is truth in it, regardless of the way in which it is given. 

Eternal Security or Eternal Deception?

 "When a person truly meets Christ, changes will take place. The outward may be without the inward, but the inward is never without the outward." -Greg Laurie

Can I be frank...

No, not Sinatra...well actually...

I struggle with the idea of salvation at times. My struggle comes in talking with people who have portrayed salvation in Jesus Christ as one of a few possibilities...

• You walked an aisle
• You prayed a prayer
• You were baptized

But can that truly be it? How many parents have assured me of the salvation of children who have rarely shown even the slightest hint of spiritual sensitivity? More than I can count, and each time my heart breaks for them. 

As a Baptist the idea of eternal security is not only an important doctrine, but a biblical doctrine (John 10:28):

"I give them eternal life and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." -Jesus 

I guess the question becomes: How do we know someone has placed their lives in the hand of Jesus? Well, we can't really KNOW, because only God has access to a person's heart. However, the Bible says an unchanged life is an unsaved life. Not because we have to work hard to be saved, but we should WANT to work hard because we've been saved.

1 John 3:7-8 says there are two things we can practice: righteousness or sin. It does not say that performing one, on occasion, defines us. Instead we are told that our practices and repetitive habits indicate whether we have truly repented of the old life and entered in a new life through Jesus. 

One Simple Way A Pastor Can Encourage Children

"It's not enough to love the children, it is necessary that they are aware they are loved." John Bosco

Adrian Rogers was a 3-time president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the pastor of a 29,000 member church, and one of my preaching heroes. But my favorite story about the man comes from my Greek professor in seminary. I'll re-tell the story in his words to the best of  my ability:

"As I was walking the hallways of Bellevue Baptist Church just prior to a worship service, I noticed a man, down on one knee, talking face to face with a young child. As I got closer, I realized it was Dr. Rogers who was listening intently to this little boy. While I'm sure Adrian had several things on his mind, such as the order of the forthcoming service or his own sermon, he took the time to listen and speak with that little boy and to be his pastor. Of all the wonderful sermons and actions that Dr. Rogers took in the time I knew him, this act stuck with me more than any other."

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matthew 19:14 NIV)

That story was meaningful to me as a young minister and now as a lead pastor. Yes, I've got places to go and people to see, especially on a Sunday morning. But aren't children people? If Jesus took special time away from talking to adults to let the little children come to Him, how much more so should I as a pastor? I remain mindful that I need to be quick to stop and stoop in order to be the pastor even to the youngest child.

We lament the exodus of young people from our churches. We love them and we want to see God's work in their lives, but have we told them that? Have we stopped to take a knee and look them in the eye and listen to them?

I encourage pastors, ministers, volunteers, and parents to stop and stoop from time to time. Do not tower over, but get face to face with a child and let them know you care. And perhaps such simple efforts will help these kids see a genuine Christianity that continues to register with them into adulthood.

5 Confessions of a Former Youth Minister

I am NOT an expert on teenagers or youth ministry. And these 5 confessions are simply some lessons I learned from a decade of youth ministry. It's not exhaustive, but may be helpful to some parents or youth ministers out there.

1. Be real, not cool. 

My first opportunity as a youth minister came at the age of 22. I wasn't much older than the kids I was teaching, so of course I thought I could be the "cool" youth minister. I didn't grow a soul-patch or start saying "dude", but I certainly failed at just being myself. Over the course of that 4-year ministry stop, my relationships with the kids grew when I stopped pretending to be a teenager.
 
2. Work with Parents, not for them. 
Youth ministers feel an incredible burden to "fix" the kids in their youth groups. We see the answers they give in Bible study and compare them to the choices they make the rest of the time. It crushes us. But I had to realize that I was only able to invest a few hours in these kids lives each week. I'm not an employee of the parents, but my work was to support the spiritual authority of parents with their teens. Make parents a part of your efforts.

3. Sheltered kids are safe kids
My children's friends have been surprised at times when my kids didn't know who Justin Bieber or Rihanna were (just doing my part America). And over my years of youth ministry I've heard kids be teased for not seeing certain movies or listening to certain music. While many call these kids sheltered, I call them safe. In my decade of experience, those kids who lived in homes where their parents attempted to shelter them from temptation have generally lived out a more vocal faith into their adult lives. This isn't true in every single case, but more often than not.

4. Be a friend and an authority
Randy was my youth pastor growing up, and he really mentored me without either of us ever knowing it. Randy had this amazing ability to be a fun friend to us, but then flip a switch and instantly become our authority when needed. If you are responsible for teenagers, act like it. Yes, some of them won't like being told "no" and they may leave. You need to decide what's most important to you: group size or group health.

5. Teach the Bible...they can handle it.
This kind of goes with the idea of what's most important to you. I've always emphasized personal reading of the Bible to teens, but then I'd interact with other youth ministers who told me what they were doing. Suddenly I was being encouraged to do this VHS series (Be kind, rewind), or teach that book. They were always fun studies, but they weren't always biblically solid or impactful. Teach your kids that the Bible is enough. Other resources are helpful, but the Bible must always be the foundation for what you're doing.

Have other thoughts in your top 5? I'd love to hear them in the comments.