Looking for a place

I met with a man yesterday about renting his facility and it looks like it may work out. The building will hold 270, is right on the main drag in Holly Springs, and will save us a ton of cash. It is an older building and not the most attractive one but they continue to work on it and are trying to improve it all the time. Keep praying about all this.

Weekend Update

Saturday night, Pattie and her sister planned to take their Mother to see Gaither and Friends at the Gwinnett Center. Pattie's Mom loves the Gaither Vocal Band and all their friends but at the last minute she could not attend because of health concerns. So it ended up just Pattie and I going since the tickets were already purchased. Now I've always liked the Vocal Band but this is not the style of music that really excites me at this point in my life. They definitely play to the older crowd. The Gwinnett Center was packed and I think we were the youngest ones there (not really but you can get the picture). We had great floor seats and there were many songs that I thoroughly enjoyed and a blind piano player that was worth the price of the tickets. He was awesome. It started at 6:00 and we left at 9:00 during the intermission which they called half-time. I was stunned at the length of this concert. As far as I know they are still singing and partying right now.

We had a good Sunday and I dealt with an elephant called politics. This sounds dry but it was actually very missional and challenged us to stay focused on God's purposes rather than political issues.

Bus Rodeo

Every year, the Transportation Department puts on a special day for the drivers that includes a road course and a look at the new buses that will be in the fleet next year. The new buses looked great and what ever we don't like about them will be overlooked because they are air-conditioned. It was fun hanging out for the morning and it ended at lunch with some very tasty grilled pork chops with BBQ sauce, delicious cole slaw, and baked beans. There was also a dessert competition among the drivers which meant a plateful of "I shouldn't eat all this but I am going to anyways" goodness. And to top it all off, they had karaoke. I sang Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now" and "I Can Only Imagine" with another driver, Deena. It was a fun time.

It's a great Thursday night. I am sitting in Caribou Coffee sipping a delicious orange iced tea and blogging away on my son's macbook. It's been a good day. Had a great supper with Ben, Joe and Rayanne all joining Pattie and I for a change. It was a breakfast night and I am all into that. Lost comes back on tonight and the gang is getting back together for IBC Black Cherries and Strawberry Kiwi Jones Sodas and popcorn as we watch the show. I can't wait.

We're Moving!

I announced to the church three weeks ago that we would be moving out of the warehouse. I am just now ready to tell the rest of the world. We have been almost 4 years in this warehouse but now it is time to move on. We have often wondered if our location has prevented us from growing and I guess we will soon find out. I believe that we have found a space to move to for the Summer and it is right on the main drag in Holly Springs. It's not the greatest looking building but it does fit our budget, gives us room to grow and is in a prominent location. We will continue to look for a more permanent solution but at least we won't be homeless. I have no doubt that God is moving us. He pulled the plug on this. My responsibility is to follow. Moving can be both exciting and scary. It's because it is about change. We don't know what will happen. We have been comfortable in our spot and now God is moving us off our spot. Things will be different, opportunities will change, new doors will open and I for one am ready for the change.

Elephant #2: Get Saved!

On April 13, we dealt with the second elephant. This elephant has been really bothering me the last year or so. It is the way we do evangelism. The problem outsiders have with this is that it seems we are not genuine in our efforts to get to know them. That we are agenda-driven. That our only concern is conversion. We don't really care what they think, believe or feel, we just want them to hear what we have to say. Most of the evangelism methods that I have learned have been confrontational and devoid of relationship. Some have been scripted so that it sounded more like selling vacuums than presenting a life-changing message. It seemed it was about the presentation rather than the person. The formula seemed to be a logical progression of facts backed with irrefutable Scripture and closing with a carefully crafted question that would ensure acceptance. But I don't see Jesus operating like this. Jesus never presented His truth the same way twice. He responded to people's questions, He listened to their stories, He responded to their needs. He was more about conversations than presentation. The difference between Jesus and much of present day evangelism is that Jesus was not conversion-driven. We are all about the conversion, get them to "pray the prayer" yet He often turned away those who were asking the right questions. Jesus was disciple-driven. He was into making disciples not converts. He balanced the ease of conversion with the cost of discipleship. Its easy to profess faith in Jesus but it is a whole other thing to follow Him. That was His invitation - "Follow Me!"

I love Bus Drivers.

• I love the people that God has brought into my life through bus driving. I was too long being surrounded by the same people and the same walls and never really getting to know anyone else. But I have met wonderful people and made wonderful friendships over the last 6 months that have been refreshing and encouraging and real. We share our laughter, our complaints, and sometimes more of our lives than we should but I love it all and will enjoy it as long as God allows.
  
• One of my dear friends at the Bus Shop, who will remain nameless but we all know who she is, asked me today if I ever sin. She either has such a high opinion of me that she thinks that if anybody could go without sinning it would be me or she thinks so low of me that she cannot imagine my life as a pastor being fun, exciting, or adventuresome. If its the first, I am afraid the she will one day be greatly disappointed in me because I am definitely a flawed man. If it is the latter, I hope that I have been showing a sense of humor, an earthly life, a real faith that wouldn't let her label me as boring. Maybe it is neither of these things. Maybe she just really wants to know what types of sin a guy like me falls into. If she had been coming to church recently, she could have heard some real life confessions of a pastor but I don't know that I'm ready to defame myself in front of everyone at the Bus Shop. I already said that I value their friendship and I want to keep it that way.
• I have like a 40 minute lay over at Woodstock High School following my Sixes Elementary route and before the High School lets out. It has been a lot of fun to get to know another group of Bus Drivers during this time. Life can be hard but good healthy friendships can help lighten the load as we travel this world together.
  

Elephant #1: Hypocrisy

Started this series "The Elephant in the Room" about flaws outsiders see in Christianity that we are often blind to or just simply ignore. It was inspired by a book called UnChristian that has researched what people 18-41 perceive about Christians. There were 6 negative images about Christians held by this group. This series is about these perceptions. April 6, we dealt with the first one - hypocrisy. Hypocrisy has always been a disease of the religious. Jesus defines it as "not practicing what we preach." Jesus' harshest words were directed to religious leaders on this very subject. I know Jesus was a nice, loving person but the words spoken in Matt 23 were anything but nice and loving. I believe Jesus loved these pious religious leaders with all His heart but had to use harsh even shocking words to jolt them out of their self-righteous world and into the reality of God's love. Jesus taught that hypocrisy was more than just an obstacle on the path to salvation but it actually could slam the door to the kingdom of God in a searching soul's face. Jesus saw hypocrisy as someone who embraces a religious system but somehow misses a true relationship with God. Religion can often mask the true condition of our hearts. It is easy to call oneself a Christian because Christianity has been reduced to just another religion. It is the same as saying you are a baptist or a catholic or a methodist or what ever brand you want to put in. But true Christianity is about a relationship with Jesus Christ. The real question is not about your religious affiliation but whether you are a follower of Jesus Christ. It is harder to say "I am a follower of Jesus Christ" and it exposes our hypocrisy much easier. How I answer the question "Are you a follower of Jesus Christ?" tells me more about my relationship with God than what church I attend or what denomination I grew up in. And lastly, hypocrisy is not so much about sin as it is about falseness. Every Christian sins. Perfection is a future reality but was never the immediate goal. Just because I fail doesn't make me a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is when you say you are one thing but you are really not. Can we say that we are followers of Jesus Christ or are we just playing religious games?

Lessons from the Weekend

• Friday, I was taught another lesson in procrastination. I could have taken care of a matter early in the week but for various reasons (some very good and logical) and because of no sense of urgency, I waited till the deadline on Friday and it cost me. The word "procrastination" actually means "pro tomorrow." It means I am for, I am in favor of, I champion the cause of "tomorrow." Starting tomorrow, I am going to become the champion of "today."
• Saturday, I was reminded of how awesome it is to get alone with God. I forget this sometimes. Many times in my predetermined times to get alone with God, I'm either distracted or just going through my ritual of reading or praying and God just doesn't want to be a part of it. But Sat. at 6:00am in McDonald's (yes, even God likes MickeyD's) I just listened and God came near and I heard His voice and I felt His love. It was good. I try too much on my own strength and wisdom. His words were for me and not for this post.
• Sunday, I preached a message on homosexuality. Some people said it was the best message they had heard from me. You will never know because we didn't get it recorded. I am learning more about unconditional love and the depth of God's grace and our total dependence on God for our salvation. I'll blog more about this later.
• Sunday was also a chance to be with friends. Bob and Monica spent the afternoon at the house and then we all joined our Sunday night Connections group at 5pm. It is good to share life with others. I value the people God has put in my life and the encouragement that they give me. I hope that I am as good a friend to them as they are to me.
  

Since my last blog

I am alive! I have not fallen off the face of the earth nor have I abandoned this blog. My life is good, my God is great and my journey is still continuing. Here are somethings that I have been doing since my last blog.

• Spring Break. It actually felt like a Spring Break since I got a break from bus driving. Joe went to FL with some friends and had a great time. The closest I got to a beach was the pond that lies between my parent's house and my sister's house in Dunlap, TN (actually there is no beach but at least it is a body of water). Rayanne brought a friend and rade minibikes and golf carts to their heart's content. Pattie and I had our regular restive time at the more than tranquil home of my parents. It was good to see them and my sisters.
• Penny and David were there from Ukraine. Its always fun to be with them and this was no different.
  
• Last Sunday, Jenny, Brian and the kids came over for lunch. We had a great time and look forward to our next family day. My shaky hands were no match for Jenny, Brian, and Pattie as I solidly defeated them in Dutch Blitz.
• Started back on the bus Monday morning in 30 degree weather. How ridiculous is that for April. Back in shorts though today.
• Tax day came and I had done nothing about mine. Two things I dread - haircuts and taxes - and I put both of them off as long as possible. Took my taxes to a new company fully expecting to file an extention but they took my stuff and entered it right there in front of me and I walked out of there a richer man. Only in America!
• My dad's birthday is also on Tax Day. My dad's a good man and I'm proud to be his son. I'm glad that he had a good day. We all pitched in and got him a GPS.
• Tonight I am sitting in Caribou Coffee waiting for Rayanne to be done with youth group, enjoying some kind of fattening mocha whip cream coffee ice blended drink and trying to catch up this blog. I'm running out of time but I hope I can do more tonight.
  

I've gone bald!

I woke up Saturday morning and decided to shave my mustache and goatee. When I went to the bus shop on Monday, a kindergarten boy who rides the bus with his bus-driving mom came up to me and rubbed my chin and said, "You've gone bald on your face." It's amazing that something that seems so obvious and drastic to you goes unnoticed by others. It took many people a little time before they realized what I had done. Sunday morning, I felt like the "elephant in the room." It seemed so obvious but no one was talking about it.

Connections

Sunday night we started a thing called Connections. We invited all adults to return to the Warehouse at 5:00 to connect with others and to start conversations around the topics we introduced Sunday morning. We had a good turnout and a great time. We will be doing this every Sunday night during this series. We ate subs from Jersey Mikes and fellowshipped around the table. It was a great time of getting to know each other. We had a great mixture of old and new families in our church. We then divided into groups and discussed some pre-planned questions. I loved the dialogue and the ideas that were being talked about in this setting. I believe that this will be a great format to get people connected and start deeper relationships with each other and with God.

Elephant in the Room

Started this new series on Sunday. The first message was "Are We Who We Think We Are?"

When you play the word association game and say the name “Jesus” most people will give a favorable response - good, healer, sacrificial, love, etc. But use the name “Christian” and you will get a totally different picture - political, judgmental, hypocrite, anti-homosexual, etc. Christians are suppose to represent Christ in this world but it seems that something has gone terribly wrong. It seems that there is a big difference between what people think of Jesus and what they think of His followers. Which makes me wonder if many Christians today are like the Pharisees of Jesus' day. The Pharisees were the leaders of God's designed religion and they had the Scriptures and God on their side or so they thought. But somehow they had strayed from God's original intent and were distorting faith and practice. Jesus' most scathing words were for those leaders. Matt 23 gives the account of Jesus' evaluation of the Pharisees and I see uncomfortable parallels to Christianity today. They sermonized rather than served. They stood behind their pulpits (or sat in their seat) rather than get in the trenches. They took stands against evil with authority rather than bending with compassion. They were opportunistic rather than authentic. They were so busy being right that they missed the movement of God. This series is not an attack on modern day Christianity although I believe that there is a difference between being a Christian and being a follower of Jesus. This will be a call to self examination to see if our faith and our stances accurately reflect the heart of Jesus. Its an attempt to understand our culture and the mindset of those outside of our faith. It is a challenge to broaden our circle of love to include everyone and to pursue acts of compassion no matter where it leads and what it costs. I believe it could be one of the most powerful series we have ever done.