Aliens

We are in a time when the subject of aliens arises in various forms.  There are the space aliens which, we all know, are divided into those who are peaceful and friendly (like ET) and those who are bloodthirsty and destructive (the Klingons).  My son and I mused that many of these aliens are either bloodthirsty or destructive but few manage both in an effective way.  Hope, though, you get the idea.
Then, there are illegal aliens or undocumented workers, named as such based on your political direction.  This type of alien occupies arguments, state legal arguments and news reports.
Then, there are the aliens in 1 Peter.  These are Christians which Peter (probably from Rome) encourages, teaches, leads and warns.  We are also this type of alien.
Why would I identify us with these outcasts?  Because Peter reminds us of the marginal nature of our life as followers of Jesus.  He calls us to holiness ... living in total belief of Jesus and the sufficiency of the cross, the resurrection and the sacrifice He has made.  He calls us to harmony, living in a way that shows our savior by the behavior we exhibit.  And, he calls us to the humility that comes with a life that will see us suffer and persecuted like our savior.
Most of you are down with the idea of holiness, though we don't really get what the believers in the 1st century would have meant.  We also have some understanding of harmony, though we haven't really implemented it in the Church.  And suffering ... we didn't sign up for a faith that calls us to deny ourselves, our pleasures and our creature comforts.
1 Peter Christianity is lived on the edges and at the margins of society.  It is unsafe because of trials (1:6), unjust authority (2:18), suffering for right actions (3:14), persecution (4:12-14), suffering as God's refinement of Christians (4:19) and suffering because of Satan's attacks (5:8).  Read these passages.  Check out where you are and where you ought to be.  Then follow Christ!  Pastor Randy

Liquid

It was a pleasure to baptize Braxton Barnes this morning.  As I read the part of the liturgy relating to God doing great things through water I was reminded of a reading from earlier in the week.  The author theorized that we, as Christians, should be 'water' in how we do ministry.  We should flow into the low places filling them with God's good things.  We should erode the institutions and prejudices that keep us from God.  We should be life-giving to those needing the living water of Christ as they should see Christ in us.  We should be cleansing wherever we are.  We should be God's agent to do all of these things in the name of the one we follow, Jesus.  Sunday we will study the book of James.  James is pretty harsh as he corrects and confronts the Church.  He reminds us of the image of water when he says that "fresh water cannot flow from an unclean well."
When I read this passage I think of a conversation in the narthex of a church building in which one member said to another she wouldn't forgive, forget and that she would continue to bring up an old hurt again and again.  The unforgiving member was a person that had said they desired to be part of the leadership of that congregation. 
I thought how carefully our Lay Leader Development team has worked to develop a slate of leaders who truly reflect the fruit of the Spirit.  I thought how easy it would be for 'unclean water' to make its way into the fabric of any church.  And I prayed for the meetings of this week ... where we will encourage the staff, listen to stories of the good work of current leadership teams, approve a slate of officers, hear encouragement from our District Superintendent and look forward to a new year.  My prayer is that God takes us to His good place and gives us leadership that is kind, gentle, joyful, peaceful, loving and patient.  I pray that every leader is a lover of God and people.  And I pray that all of our leaders are conduits of the fresh water of Jesus.  I hope you will pray too!  Pastor Randy

Thy Word

Jerry and I were talking today about the fact that over hundreds of years, numerous authors and cultural changes the writing of God's Word has been remarkably consistent.  Threads of theme, direction and purpose follow through the entirety of Scripture.  Stories are connected.  And God's Word shouts one word from start to finish.  That word is Jesus.  Ignoring Jesus leads to heresy.  Failing to view Scripture through Jesus leads to placing improper importance on things and themes that God has not placed first in importance.  Prophecy from Genesis, images from Exodus, words from the Psalms all are clarified and revealed by the life, person and passion of Jesus.  Looking back we see, through the lens of Jesus, that people are more important than power, the oppressed have more value than kingdoms and seeing ourselves through the lens of Jesus reveals both the incredible value of each person and the fallen nature of each person ... an infirmity only healed by the life-giving work of Jesus.  May we learn from the lessons of Scripture so that we can see life through the eyes of Jesus and be taught by the living Word of God that each word of Scripture gives us what we need ... in fact, daily bread to feed us and nourish us.  May you take in some of that bread today as you read, listen and learn from the Creator, Sustainer and Lover of human souls!  Pastor Randy

Rejoice

I know you are reading this and saying, "easy for you to say."  Let me assure you it is not.  I have some sick sheep in great pain. Friends are dealing with cancer and life and death questions.  Marriages are struggling.  People close to me are looking for work.  I could go on, including my last week of our sewer backing up, the sewer people cut our phone/internet/cable like, my truck had to be repaired and we made two trips to Montgomery.  Add three hospital visits and one I could have made.  But I think you get the point.  So, I'm reading another preacher's work, a guy named Paul.  He writes, "Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!"  This is from a person whose problems and trials make mine look like a walk in the park.  He was stoned, imprisoned, bitten by a snake, verbally abused and he writes this?  Why?
I heard it best from an old preacher who told me, "If you don't have God, you don't have anything.  If you have Jesus you have all you need."  Got folks in the hospital, take Jesus with you.  Got illness or pain, pray for healing.  Got inconveniences, pray for patience.  Got trouble, check out the one who said, "Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give your rest.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Remember ... our great high priest, Jesus, has gone out before us.  He knows what we face.  He has been there.  He will always be there!  So, rejoice! Pastor Randy

Economy

I wonder which economy is most important to us?  This present age has an economy we have been pretty good at manipulating.  Part of the reason for this is that we were born in America, which I consider to be the greatest nation on earth.  I am thankful to be here, live here and have America as a base of operations for the business I am in.  What is MY business?  Make disciples of Jesus who love God, know God and serve God.  America gives me great opportunity to go forward as a soldier in this mission.  I can freely profess my faith, preach God's Word and make amazing connections through physical mobility, usable technology and other resources.  Because of these opportunities, our congregation (and those of our brothers and sisters in Christ) should be able to get God's message out in multiple ways.  So ... why is this so difficult and why aren't results what I would like?  I think there are several reasons.
Yes ... though this economy is struggling it is still vibrant when compared with most of the world.  But there is a dark side to our current economic system.  Jesus said it best when He said you can either serve 'mammon' (this economic system, the world's economy) or God.  We seem to be both servants and subjects of the economy that sustains us.  Our decisions revolve around our finances.  We worry about giving up funds for our church because it might have a negative effect on funding our excessive lifestyle.  We make excuses like "God doesn't need my money" and "they [the Church] is always talking about money."  Here is the paradox.  God's Word also says that if our attitude is focused on 'getting' then our pockets will seem like they have holes and we will try to fill ourselves but will never get enough.  I meet prisoners of our economy every week.
Sunday we will look at the two economies.  We will examine the story of the Free Store in Columbus, Ohio that has given away millions of dollars worth of goods, food, furniture, clothes and even prescription drugs, yet it seems to always have enough.  We will talk of a local ministry that is about to give back to its parent organization because of the abundance of giving.  We will pray to become part of God's economic system and to live under His definition of abundance.  And, we will ask for God's eyes to see His unseen economy in the midst of the falseness, the emptiness and the excessiveness of this present age.  Hope to see you there!  Randy

This week's message is one that can be confusing.  It speaks about two sides of the same coin ... the faith in the unseen promises of God and the actions (our actions) that profess faith.  Notice I didn't say they professed this faith with words.  Look at the list.  Not many great talkers ... but many who risked it all for a God they loved.  They professed it [faith] by following God's calling in complete trust of His promises.  Hebrews 11 is the hall of fame of people who had this kind of faith.  They followed, struggled, failed, had victories and often saw nothing of the end of the promise ... yet they believed.  Many of them were people we would shun or avoid because they were messed-up.  But their lives were invested in a God that saw their risk, their steps and their pain.

Are we like them?  Over the past few weeks I have seen some disturbing images.  People who say they are Christians clap for the number of executions conducted in Texas.  People applaud as debaters spell out that a person who has chosen not to buy health insurance should be allowed to die.  I distinctly remember Jesus talking about having compassion for those in prison and being in the business of healing.  Casting Crowns performed a song that had the lyrics, "If we are the body, why aren't His hands healing,  why aren't His arms reaching, why aren't His words teaching?"  When we, as Christians, are in the forums of our world it should be as if Jesus were there.  And when Jesus comes to town, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come."  How do these things happen?  Through those who, Jesus said, gave the world flavor and revelation about Him (salt and light).  For is is our task to proclaim (by our lives and by our lived-out witness) that God's kingdom is come.  Our Lord reigns both in the future and the present!

Read Matthew 23.  See if those claiming to be the Church today are known for what Jesus pronounces judgement upon, or if we are known for mercy, grace, peace and a loving spirit.  When I see folks claiming to be God's people that are known for bitterness, anger, vengeance, prejudice, and war, I fear for their souls.  I fear that they will meet a Maker who says to them, (Matthew 25) "I never knew you."

One Verse

1 Corinthians 12 is an oft-quoted passage with many points about the body of Christ, the Church.  But today I want to focus on one verse.  Here it is: "All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it."  I am reading Kyle Idleman's book, Not A Fan.  The book relates to the way folks often call themselves the people of God, yet they have issues when it comes to being followers of the Jesus they call their leader.  He uses the example from last week's message in which our allegiance to Jesus is a bit like a husband who has his wife's picture in his wallet with pictures of other women he likes to hang out with.  How do you think this will play out at home with the wife?
In this passage from Paul's first book to the Corinthians Paul is stating two basic facts.  First, the Body of Christ (the Church) is made up of all the followers of Christ together.  No one is better, more important, or more vital than another because we are a unit.  If each part serves its function the body thrives.  If a part goes on strike, chooses to function like another part, decides to take a year off or just says "Let all those other parts be the Church ... I'm just along for the ride"... the entire body fails to be and do its job.  Second, if you are a Christian you cannot opt-out of the Body.  You ARE part of the Body even if you choose behavior that is a poor witness or is detrimental to the whole Body.
Kyle Idleman asks "What'll it be?"  Do you really choose to be part of this Body of Christ?  Or, do you choose to be a fan of Christ (liking Him, believing He exists, thinking His Word is wise ... but failing to put His Word into your life)?  God is waiting for your answer.  Pastor Randy