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Ever heard of the phrase, “Think outside the box”? It’s a cliche that’s been used ad nauseum throughout the corporate world and in leadership training for decades now. Where did it come from?

One explanation is that it was due to a popular puzzle found in Sam Lloyd’s “Cyclopedia of Puzzles” in 1914. The “nine dot puzzle” was solved by going “outside the box”, as seen below.

 

But it wasn’t until Walt Disney came along where the puzzle was used to inspire the creative thought process with his staff during the development of Disneyland in California and especially the case later on for Walt Disney World in Florida.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The thinking behind it is that you go beyond the “normal” line of thinking (or problem solving) and include what may seem to be unorthodox, if not “crazy” ideas. The potential results are great! Walt Disney World and it’s “magic” (quality experience) is one such example.

I like to think that Jesus is the ultimate “outside the box” thinker. The religious order of the day (that were used to only one way of doing things) hated Him even when His “crazy” actions resulted in miracles! (i.e. good stuff!)

John 9 tells us about His healing of a blind man:

¹As He went along, He saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. ⁴As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶Having said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ⁷“Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

⁸His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹Some claimed that he was.
Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

¹⁰“How then were your eyes opened?” they demanded.

¹¹He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

¹²“Where is this man?” they asked him.
“I don’t know,” he said.

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. ¹⁴Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. ¹⁵Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”

¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”
But others asked, “How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?” So they were divided.

¹⁷Finally they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”
The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

You might have noticed the whole Jesus-spitting-on-the-ground-mixing-it-with-dirt-and-then-putting-on-the-man’s-eyes thing… yeah, that’s “outside the box”! As we see, it resulted in the man having sight again and it got people talking!

It was so “outrageous” that the Pharisees wouldn’t even trust the (formerly) blind man’s word! They brought his parents in and had them testify as well. (Which is kind of weird, right? Having your parents “vouch” for you?) But even that wasn’t enough to satisfy them! The Pharisees talked to him one more time just to make sure… and not only did they still didn’t believe it happened, they got angry at him and basically cussed the guy out!

You see, most of the “different” ideas at first may seem “crazy” and your critics will say as much. However, after they see how successful it is, the more sensible ones will be saying, “Why didn’t I think of that?”. They didn’t think of that because they trap themselves into thinking that God, church ministry and life itself can only work a certain way! This is the same “inside the box” mentality that the Pharisees had!

It was also the same ordinary way of thinking that Walt Disney’s critics had, when he bought acre-after-acre of undesirable, worthless swampland in order to build what would later become the Walt Disney World Resort! They all thought he would fall flat on his face for:

- Putting company-owned hotels on the same property as the theme parks

- Building and operating a “monorail” to carry guests around the resort

- Making good hospitality a common practice in all areas

- Paying attention to “the smaller details”

- Ensuring that families got the most out of their vacation experience

It was his “dream” to fulfill by any means necessary! It’s what drove him to think differently and succeed!

And you know, people will often to say themselves they’re not “creative enough” to think “outside the box”. The thing is, it’s not for a lack of creativity that we find ourselves “inside the box” but rather a lack of passion!

You see, when you’re really in love with an idea, you’ll figure out a way to make it happen! It’s much like when you found the girl (or guy) of your dreams! Think back to what that was like when you were dating them. Did you pull off any “Say Anything” like stunts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those that aren’t ’80′s movie savants, the question would be if you did anything “crazy” to impress the one you loved? I know I did when I was “courting” my wife!

- I swallowed my pride and wrote cheesy poems about her. My wife cherishes them still to this day for some odd reason…

- I sent her flowers often and on random workdays. Almost to the point of invoking co-workers’ resentment!

- I drove hours at a time just to see her. We lived on complete other sides of South Carolina, so it was usually a 4 hour trip there-and-back to see her. One time in particular, I drove from Georgetown, SC to Gatlinburg, TN to spend the night with her and her family, and I went back the next day (because of church!). That’s six & a half hours each way!

- I spent every spare dime I had on her! What little money I had saved up and was earning at the time went to going out with her. I would literally eat hot dogs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches during the week, then on Friday and/or Saturday night it would be “high-on-the-hog” at our favorite restaurants!

- I made my proposal to her a “big deal” by taking her up to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. My public declaration of love for her took place in picturesque rose garden near the boat pond.

While some of these things are more “typical” (for a fool in love) than “outside the box”, it still shows that I wouldn’t have done that kind of stuff for someone I didn’t have such strong feelings about!

The point is in all of this is that if you’re really passionate about something or someone, you’ll go beyond the norm to meet those goals and dreams! If we’re not truly compassionate towards our neighbors and care about their eternal destination, then “average” and “the usual” will suffice just fine. Remember that minimum effort and thinking will get minimum results!

The Christian church could learn a lesson or two from Jesus! (imagine that!) Instead of doing the “same ol’ thing”, what can we be doing different to reach our community for Him? It’s unfortunate that while there are many adequate, Biblical, and relatively successful programs and events churches offer year-in-year-out, there could be so much more!

We have to realize that “the lost” aren’t exactly beating down our doors to get in and check us out! The public at-large now doesn’t exactly look to the church as a welcoming place to find life’s answers and loving support!

Let’s get people talking about what we’re doing! Instead of focusing internally on providing “alternatives” and “family friendly” experiences, how about we think externally and go after those who aren’t in church?

In our case, we decided to make an effort to do something “different” than the usual. We have over 600 special cards that will act as a coupon for a free “treat” at the Midnight Rooster Coffee Shop in downtown Hartsville. No, we’re not getting a secret discount there or anything, but instead paying full price on every card that is redeemed! This is all in order to get our name out to those not expecting it!

It’s a simple idea, really. But at the same time it could be seen by some as “endorsing Halloween”. That’s not the case at all! We wanted to go where “the lost” will be at this weekend… our doorsteps! The purpose is to offer something different to those who aren’t in church and might not find themselves at a “trunk or treat” or “harvest festival”. Sometimes “outside the box” doesn’t always have to be hard! In this case, it’s actually pretty easy… just handing out cards to trick-or-treaters in our neighborhoods!

And you know what? We may not see any measurable “fruit” from it. Then again, we might get a lot of families outside of our normal social circles, who possibly weren’t even looking for a church, to come check TLC out one Sunday!

If you’d like to help, feel free to contact the church office at: info@thelivingchurch.tv

Be sure to let us know how many cards you’ll need this weekend!

Again, your passion (or lack thereof) will direct your thinking! Be open to new approaches in reaching goals, answers and people!

Proverbs 18:15 sums this up well:

“The intelligent man is always open to new ideas. In fact, he looks for them.”

Amen!

Yesterday was just “one of those days” where anything that could go wrong did. That in itself is the simple definition of what they call, “Murphy’s Law”. While it may not have been that disastrous, it sure seemed like it!

It almost seems “taboo” for pastors to publicly admit when a worship service didn’t go so well. Well, forget that because I think much can be learned from an experience like what happened yesterday!

After the “high” of last Sunday’s service (and previous Sundays), where everything went right, this time it just felt… I don’t know, “bad“. We’re in the middle of our “Love is all you need” series at TLC and yesterday was supposed to be another great service. Not sure if that was the case…

- Our worship team was depleted already due to some of our musicians/singers being out of town and the ones remaining messed up at least three times. “Messed up” as in: so-bad-they-started-the-songs-over-kind-of-bad. They all claimed to “have the songs down” but that likely wasn’t the case.

- Volunteers were late. One worship leader didn’t get there until an hour prior to service and the sound guy didn’t get there until 20 minutes before we started!

- While we had some new visitors there, many of our “usual crowd” were absent for whatever reason. Smallest number we’ve seen in months, probably. (again, after having steadily growing attendance)

- The battery in my mic pack went dead on stage. Had to go “old school tent revival” and preach a little louder! Otherwise, I think I did “fine” with the message, which at least made the service seemingly end well.

Now you have to realize something… pastors tend to over-analyze situations, especially their own “performance” or how the service went in general. It’s important because we are somewhat seen as caretakers of people’s spiritual lives! The thought that we might have negatively impacted someone’s relationship with God is downright burdensome! This guilt in knowing we “messed up” weighs like a ton-of-bricks for the rest of the day!

The thing is, those of us in ministry will often overlook the actual “results” that occurred, like someone being truly touched by the message or the music that day. Why is that? One reason is because the enemy tries to make us feel worthless in our work in order to hinder us from doing any further “damage” to his work! We simply cannot listen to that garbage! (This just doesn’t apply to church leaders, but to all believers!)

And you know what? Despite any hiccups, difficulties, or distractions… the Holy Spirit can still move! This has been a lesson I learned back in college when I studied Homiletics (the practice of delivering sermons). Our class watched a tape of Billy Graham from one of his crusade events, where he preached a pretty “vanilla” sermon (no fancy language, no dramatic inflection in his speech, no “compelling” illustrations) yet the response was overwhelming! Hundreds walked to the altar to receive Christ!

I can attest to this personally, where there were times that I thought I didn’t do my best (i.e. forgot a sermon point, mentioned the wrong scripture, or messed up an illustration) but there would be people at the altar or folks would tell me afterward that they “needed to hear that!”. On the contrary, I’ve had days where I felt that I hit all the points and delivered it with confidence and passion, but the response fell flat and I got no “compliments”! Funny how that works! We have to remember that all a sermon is supposed to be is God using us as His mouthpiece!

Thankfully, I get more of a sense of peace from Him in delivering His Word than making sure I get any sort of validation (or “ego-stroking”) from others! (God is much more reliable in that department, that’s for sure!)

On another note, pastors have a tendency to hype up a Sunday morning worship service on Facebook, Twitter, or in person (for good reason!). After the service, you’ll hear much of the same wording describing that service as “awesome”, “great”, “mind-blowing”, etc. (also for good reason!). So it may seem like us pastors are more like carnival barkers that try to get everyone’s attention! I’m guilty of this behavior, but by no means do I plan on stopping! Every week I believe wholeheartedly that God will move in our services and it’s important that people are there to experience it!

Needless to say, there was no “sugar-coating” to yesterday’s service. I spoke with our worship team and some of the volunteers after the service and everyone knew it could’ve (and should’ve) been a lot better. However, I told them that just as we “create our own luck”, we can also “create our own failure” when we’re not prepared! God can work through us despite any lack of preparation, but if it becomes a habit on our part, God will check us on it! When we fall on our face, that’s when we pick ourselves up and make sure it doesn’t happen again! We should always carry a sense of excellence with everything we do for Him!

While the content of this post may not speak to many of you reading, one thing you can take from it is this: Encourage your leaders when they fall!

The Apostle Paul writes in I Thessalonians 5:12-13 for us to:

“honor the officers of your church who work hard among you and warn you against all that is wrong. Think highly of them and give them your wholehearted love because they are straining to help you.”

One great example of this came yesterday when one of our worship leaders, a young man who has really grown into this role, finished playing and sat back down in the audience. A young couple that has been visiting our church slipped him a note thanking him for the work he does every Sunday leading our congregation into a time of worship! This totally made his day! He’s as bad as I am when it comes to self-critiquing, so having that word of encouragement certainly helps!

At least now you may have some insight on what goes on in the crazy heads of church leaders on a Sunday afternoon! Use this to realize that we’re just like you… normal, everyday human beings that will occasionally make a mistake (or two)! Pray for us that we continue leading you with confidence, humility and a hunger for His presence!

We’re in the middle of our “Love is all you need” series at TLC this month! I think last Sunday’s message has been my favorite to deliver (even though I guess I shouldn’t have “favorites”).

John 3:16 is likely the most famous passage in the Bible. It’s just about ingrained in our consciousness as the pledge of allegiance, “Jingle Bells” and the Golden Rule. It’s that well-known for a reason, in that it is a simple summary of what our faith in Christ brings us… salvation!

At the same time, we tend to focus too much on the latter half of that passage:

“that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The whole “eternal life” is often the focus and rightfully so. Yet, the first half is no slouch either:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”

Look at that for just a second… “For God so loved the world”. Not “hated”, “kind of liked”, “was fond of”, but instead “loved”! God loves His creation, mankind, so much that He would send His Son to die for us!

He loves us to such a degree that He doesn’t want to see us go to hell! That’s why He gave us Jesus Christ so that we would have a “way out” and get to experience senses of everlasting peace, joy, and strength through Him!

The best part about this is when realizing that we SO don’t deserve this kind of treatment! God didn’t have to do this, but He loves us like a great parent would for their child! (even better than that!)

That word “deserve” comes up a lot because most of the time we think we have to “earn” something that we receive! Thank God that He doesn’t share that opinion…

Romans 5 says:

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”

Two keywords in this passage:  powerless (like children!) and ungodly (rebellious sinners!). This accurately describes our state of being and the great need for God in our lives! That word “ungodly” of course means “unlike God”… and if God is the essence of love, purity, righteousness, etc. then what are we?

Notice there is doesn’t say “Christ died for the upstanding tax-paying citizens” or “Chris died for the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts“. In other words, we are inherently bad! Just goes to show that although we’re unworthy, God gave us this great gift of love in Jesus Christ anyways!

This reminded me of when I was in my junior year of high school and my parents got me a new Pontiac Firebird! Man, that thing was sweet! It had chrome wheels, a loud “Monsoon” stereo, t-tops and a fast (but not-too-fast) V6 engine!

What did I do to deserve such a nice car as a 17 year old kid?

Was I a “straight A” honor roll student? Not quite.

Did I have a big scholarship waiting for me in college? I wish!

Could I have been described as a “perfect son”? Certainly not…

So why did I get this beautiful car? Because my parents had the means and loved me that much to give it to me! I was completely undeserving yet my parents blessed me anyways! What does that sound like? (Hmm…)

I had the nicest car on campus and there was some jealousy in the midst for sure. The envy from other students (and maybe even a few teachers!) existed because not only was it a nice car and I didn’t earn it, but also because they didn’t have one like it!

So how does this relate back to John 3:16? Two ways:

- God loves us so deeply that He offers this AWESOME free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ for ANYONE even though we can’t earn it nor do we deserve it! He SPOILS us! (in a good way, of course)

- This gift should be appreciated and used! It should make others jealous and want it for themselves!

I drove that car everywhere and enjoyed every minute of it! We should treat our relationship with Christ the same way! Make others want what we have! Let them know where they can get it too!

Lastly, don’t neglect this gift! I would eventually let the car go every now and then. (terrible, I know!) Brake dust on the wheels, dead bugs on the front end, dirty clothes in the backseat, a dent here or there… as a result, it became less desirable! Not just to me personally, but to others!

Needless to say, I didn’t always appreciate this great gift I was given. Make sure you don’t make the same mistake with your faith! Thank God for what He’s given you today! Clean off all of the “dirt” (sins, bad habits, negativity) and “shine” with joy so that others will want what you have!

On a side note: I sure do miss that car!

When the first light brightened the dark
Before the breaking of the human heart
There was You and there was me
Innocence was all I knew
‘Cause all I had to know was You
We were running underneath the trees

I wanna see you face to face
Where being in your arms is the permanent state
I want it like it was back then
I wanna be in Eden

I remember how You’d call my name
And I would meet You at the garden gate
How the glory of Your love would shine
And I remember when the stars were young
You breathed life into my lungs
Oh I never felt so alive

I wanna see you face to face
Where being in your arms is the permanent state
I want it like it was back then I wanna be in Eden

To be naked and unashamed
In a sweet down pour of innocent rain
I want it like it was back then
I wanna be in Eden

(Lyrics from Phil Wickham’s “Eden”)

The garden of Eden… many people don’t notice that it wasn’t just a “paradise”. Eden was where God had a one-on-one relationship with His favorite creation: man! Sin hadn’t gotten in the way yet and there was no distance, shame, or fear. As we all know, Adam and Eve giving into temptation and going against God’s command changed all of that. As a result, they realized they were naked and hid from God! Things were never the same since.

So what does the story of the “fall of man” have to do with us today? When planning my message for our First Year Celebration Service, I wanted God to give me a thought I could use to really convey what our church has done. The word “restoration” came to mind. It fit well because that’s what we’ve seen in the past year at TLC… many people getting restored to where God wants them to be, whether that meant being delivered from drugs, alcohol, depression, martial issues, etc.

We featured two “life stories” (another way of saying “testimonies”) of two of our church members who have been changed by God in a dramatic, meaningful way! It was probably the coolest part of our service!

The actual word restoration, as defined by Merriam-Webster, means “to bring back to a former condition or position”.

The “former condition” in this case, where sin didn’t separate us from Him. Where we had innocence and trust, rather than being blighted and fearful! Through the rest of the Old Testament, we see where God gave man ways to get our collective act together (“the law”, “the flood”, temple ordinances, sacrifices, you name it). However, it wasn’t until He came to this world in form of Jesus Christ and died for us where that distance between could be bridged!

The moment we accept Christ into our heart, something happens: we’re suddenly taken back to a place where our creator, who despite creating the universe and everything in it, chose to have a relationship with us! (Not the animals, stars, oceans, air, or anything else!) We were the only thing that He created to be like Him! By Jesus taking up our sins on the cross, He made it possible for us dirty-rotten sinners to get close with God (again)! The relationship with man and his creator was restored on Calvary!

When selling people on the idea of a relationship with Jesus Christ, we often make the mistake of putting our salvation only in the terms of “heaven and hell”. The thing is, that only deals with the eternal life we have waiting for us. This earthly life is worth talking about as well, when we “get right” with God and make Him first before all other things! That’s how we experience true senses of love, peace, joy, and truth that can’t be found anywhere else! (Only an intimate faith in Christ produces that!)

In midst of our weary day-to-day schedule, we often yearn for “paradise” (as Eden was described). Paradise, as it turns out, is actually intimacy with God, and not the luscious landscaped setting we picture in our heads. That’s also how heaven will be… not a place where our earthly comforts are magnified, but where we’re in a state of awe and praise towards the Almighty!

Remember this: God’s love is so great that He made it easy for us to find Him! This “way back” is called Jesus! It is through Christ where we find restoration to what God originally created us to be (like Him: “clean”, without sin, holy, righteous, merciful, and… loving)!

(TLC’s First Year Celebration Service… it’s a BIG deal!)

This weekend, our church has a great opportunity to further impact those around us here in Hartsville! On Sunday, every invited family member, friend, co-worker, neighbor, and even complete strangers will get to see and hear about what God has done in the past year not just for us, but through us!

They’ll get to see what church should be about… changing lives!

And I can’t wait until everyone will get to hear some of the stories of our people and the message that will be summing it up: That God’s love for us is powerful and when fully realized it can do AWESOME things in us! Instead of us merely doing good, we enter this process of becoming more and more like Jesus!

2 Corinthians 3 describes this well:

¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

So instead of God making us into “nice people”, He transforms us into something that resembles Himself! Strong, compassionate, holy, righteous… even humble!

This wonderful relationship we have with Jesus Christ is something worth telling others about! It should get us excited when we know the depth of the grace given to us all because He wants us to possess this burning desire to know him deeper! The Bible describes God as “jealous” since He really does want our attention and affection!

If you are a member of TLC, by all means, make sure you bring someone you know that doesn’t have God in their life the way He ought to be! We are not here to “recycle church members” but to transform those in need of a savior! (The same one that saved us!)

We need “all hands on deck” for this Sunday… YOU (yes, YOU!) can make the difference between heaven & hell in someone’s life! (It’s a crazy thought, but absolutely true!) In addition, it’s not only a matter of eternal life… but our earthly life! Imagine the great joy and peace (found by knowing God) they’d be missing out on, all because we were too shy!

Ready for the details?

The Living Church’s First Year Celebration Service will be held at the Center Theater this Sunday, September 26th at 11:00 am. In addition to a great time of worship, there will be some “life stories” (testimonies, etc.) that will highlight exactly what God does in a person’s life! I’ll be delivering a challenging, but encouraging message on God’s power of restoration and transformation that will not only speak to “the lost”, but also to YOU!

Oh yeah… after service is over with, a great (and FREE) lunch will be served outside by a local favorite, The Southern Candy Kitchen!

So what else do you need? GET THERE on Sunday and bring somebody!

One of the simple joys I have in ministry is seeing people of all ages and backgrounds come to faith in Christ, then wish to express it in the form of water baptism. Why is this such a “big deal” to us Christians?

It goes back to something that Jesus modeled for us Himself! He was baptized (practice of “immersion” i.e. dipping a person under water momentarily then bringing them back out) by John the Baptist (the name fits, right?) somewhere along the Jordan river. This was a public act of repentance (the step we take to move past a sinful lifestyle and make ourselves right with God) for anyone to see, and signified the beginning of Jesus’ “new life” in ministry.

Matthew 3 tell us more about it:

¹³Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.

¹⁴But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”

¹⁵But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him.

¹⁶After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him,

¹⁷and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

For us believers, water baptism represents the start of this new life we’ve found in Christ… a life filled with new senses of love, peace, joy, and purpose that is uniquely found through this relationship with Him! We are washing off our “old self” and embracing the new person we have become! If you’re a “follower” of Jesus Christ, then what better way to be like Him than to follow His example? (and He didn’t even need to repent!)

This coming Sunday at 11:00am, you have the opportunity to be a part of the excitement! Whether being baptized yourself, or just coming out to support those who will be! It’s an AWESOME experience, even for those just watching it happen!

On September 19th, TLC’s Sunday worship service will not be at the Center Theater, but rather take place at Kalmia Gardens near the boating dock on Black Creek. In addition to the baptisms, there will be moments for prayer, praise & worship, and you’ll even get to hear me preach a little…

If you wish to be baptized, please contact our church office at:  info@thelivingchurch.tv and I’ll be glad to talk to you about it!

Click here if you are in need of directions to Kalmia Gardens. We would love to have you there with us!

We were treated to a wonderful guest speaker today at TLC!

The Good Bishop Rev. C.W. Honeycutt (4th cousin twice removed) was in the house and boy, was he upset!

First off, there wasn’t a “proper pulpit” to set his King James Bible on (we found one backstage, thankfully!). Next, he pointed out there wasn’t any good “church music” provided for worship. After explaining that guitars (including those “bass fishin’ ” kind) were “of the devil”, he began leading the congregation into a brief rendition of “We’re Marching to Zion”. That didn’t go so well…

He also noticed a lot of the people there were dressed inappropriately for church! Blue jeans, t-shirts, hats… even women in pants!

His head was spinning… where were all the pews? The hymnals? The baptismal fount? This certainly wasn’t the kind of church he was accustomed to!

The Bishop was visibly “flustered” as he so eloquently put it. After reading scripture (with quite the animated delivery), he then turned the service over to myself. I reckon The Living Church wasn’t his glass of sweet tea…

Whether you know it or not, the Bishop’s kind of attire, music, and “church” was the norm for many years. It’s still like that to this day in some places! And you know what? God bless them because they’re our brothers-in-Christ and they’re still reaching others with the Gospel! (I’m thankful that there’s more than one way to “do church”!)

But what the Bishop embodies in a lot ways is the dark side of Christianity that misrepresents what we as believers should be about. You weren’t a “true Christian” if you didn’t wear your “Sunday best” to church. Long hair and sandals were for hippies (and pictures of Jesus). Facial hair? That was unacceptable, unless of course you sported a stylish mustache (like the Bishop’s!).

Not only that, but you made sure to throw your weight around towards others in righteous judgment if they weren’t just like you (forget that whole “being like Christ” thing). Conformity to these “rules” was practically a requirement for church membership anywhere you went. Unfortunately, many Christians around this time turned far more people away from God than closer to Him!

They were consumed with outward appearance, rather than how “the lost” perceived them to be.

What’s the point in all of this? That God doesn’t care about “looks”, but our heart instead!

1 Samuel 16 tells us:

⁶ When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.”

⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Eliab (King David’s older brother) was noticeably “fair and tall”, yet God knew His heart and deemed him to be unfit to be King of Israel. He pointed this out to Samuel, who had thought Eliab surely must’ve been “the one” on his appearance alone!

What does that say for us? That not only can looks be deceiving, but the heart is what is most important! It shows who we truly are!

If your heart is pure, displaying love for God and His children (yes, all of them!), then people are going to take notice and desire for themselves whatever made you that way!

So while it’s perfectly alright to wear your “Sunday best”, what matters more is how your heart looks! Is it dirty? Prideful? Ugly? Not very appealing? Then it’s probably time to ask for the Holy Spirit to change it!

The same goes for the Christian church! Both God and our fellow man don’t care as much about how nice the building is, but rather what’s on the inside! If we show love and acceptance of people (not the sins that get dragged with them!) then that’s when we’re truly doing the Lord’s work and we start changing lives!

Remember that in God’s eyes, purity beats vanity EVERY TIME! “Putting up a front” will only get you so far, before you’re found out to be a fraud or worse… a misrepresentation of the God you serve!

Lastly, my apologies go out to the Bishop who was last seen at “Bob’s Country Chicken & Fish” somewhere on U.S. 1.  He loves that place!

What a cool service we had today!

After opening up with the third letter of John, I was ambushed… tied up, handcuffed, and my mouth was taped over!

You read correctly… (those handcuffs kind of hurt too!)

Hopefully it’s the first and last time folks see a pastor get such treatment on stage!

The point of this “stunt” (although us pastors refer to them as “illustrations”), is that we either support the ministry or we don’t!

But when we do support it, guess what? We become ministers in our own way… by helping make it happen!

John writes:

5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; 6 and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.

Always keep in mind that when you give, through tithes & offerings, volunteering, etc., you are spreading the Gospel! It’s no longer simply on the shoulders of the pastor or the church leaders, but everyone in the church!

However, we can hold back great things from being done in the lives of others when we fail to support the church. We can either be like Gaius, who gave shelter to the “brethren” who traveled around spreading the Gospel and growing the church… OR we can be like Dietrephes (another church leader, by the way) who discouraged others from showing such hospitality, much less display that himself!

If we’re like the latter, that means:
- We’re handcuffing the hands that reach out!
- We’re tying down the feet that go beyond ourselves and into the community!
- We’re silencing the voices that speak the Word of God to those who need to hear it!

So by all means… GIVE! Give like you should (as the Bible instructs us and the same manner that God gives to us)! We have plenty of great things coming up with TLC, but we need your support to pull it off!

Don’t restrain the work of the ministry! Instead, be a “fellow worker with the truth”!

This weekend our LIVING youth will be heading to one of my favorite places… Walt Disney World! But this is by no means your typical, “magic filled” trip! They’re going to be camping at Fort Wilderness Campground. Tents, sleeping bags, bugs, and all!

Now I’m not sure if you know of the summer climate there in central Florida, but let me tell you… it’s not exactly ideal. Instead, it will be hot, humid, and probably a bit rainy. (but I’m sure the kids will survive!)

Regardless of what the weather entails, fun will still be had and they’ll even get to see a costumed mouse or two! Aside from the theme park will be an opportunity for our youth to further connect with each other and grow deeper spiritually. Imagine if our students were to be solid, faith-filled believers at this point in their lives, what they could be like when they’re “all grown up”? This is the future of the church, we’re talking about… and if we can get them excited about their relationship with Jesus Christ right now, the church will be a long way off from dying!

In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, we see that “youth” are not second-class citizens in the ministry world, but potential equals! Paul instructs Timothy in chapter 4, verse 12:

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”

That is our approach to youth ministry… to make the next generation as authentic of examples in God’s love and righteousness as they can be! When we do that, we don’t have fear of what’s to come, but rather hope for the future! They can make their way into places, filled with the lost and hurting, that us pastors can only dream of impacting!

So, in some small way a camping trip at Disney World is a big step towards building His church! (just a really fun way to do it!) Instead of us adults being envious of the opportunity being given to our students (who worked long, hard, but happily many weekends this summer to help pay for the trip), we should be rejoicing in knowing that this will benefit them spiritually and later on, influence every person they encounter for the rest of their life!

I ask you to be in prayer for safe travel and for the students themselves as they enjoy the fellowship and time away from home, that their faith will be challenged and stretched to a point of genuine strength!

As a chaperone and leader of this trip, pray that I’ll get some sleep!

Like many other churches, we have “home groups” during the summertime and the one we have at our house is always a tough act to follow. Why? Because we make homemade ice cream!

Now, for anyone who’s ever had ice cream made in a wooden churn machine (and not one of those table-top contraptions), it’s pretty darn tasty! Not necessarily healthy, but hey… this is ice cream we’re talking about! It’s the perfect remedy for this hot weather we’ve been having (103 degrees!).

We shamefully promote this as a way to draw people in to our home groups. The ice cream itself doesn’t necessarily bring the people in… but the fellowship surrounding it is hard to miss!

Why is this nice Christianese term “fellowship” so important? Because it emphasizes conversation, support, and maybe even a little bit of fun for good measure. Christians don’t often “get out” as much as the rest of the world, because the world tends to socialize in unhealthy ways. This is why it’s such a need for the church to come together, whenever possible, and “hang out”.

God created man to be in community. That means we weren’t meant to be alone! Psychologically and spiritually speaking, we crave the company of others. Think of the prisoner in “solitary confinement”… they almost always go crazy and start talking to themselves!

It is also no surprise that most of the “big sins” people struggle with involve other people! Adultery, alcohol/drug abuse, crimes of all sorts, typically involve more than one person! So on the other side of the aisle, it’s a safe assumption that finding good company meets this need in a much more productive way.

In Genesis 2:18, God said,

“It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

The Lord recognized that Adam needed a helper. Notice it uses that word for a reason… that despite having paradise all to himself, Adam needed some help! (duh!) That’s what we as human beings should always remember that despite how “independent” we think we can be, sometime, somewhere down the road in life we will need a shoulder to cry on, a lending hand, thoughtful advice, and many other things that we simply can’t provide for ourselves!

Instead of being an island floating around alone in a vast ocean, we as a church body should be together and united in supporting one another! This needs to take place not only during “tough times”, but in times of personal peace/prosperity as well (in order to help prevent struggles!). So what are some ways we can grow as a group?

- Pray hard! Sounds simple enough, huh? Well, more than likely we don’t engage in prayer as much or as deep as we should! We should be lifting each other up and helping them fend off attacks from the enemy! Also, when we engage into an active lifestyle of prayer (not just sticking to a regimented schedule), we’ll be pleased at how well it works in our lives and for those we’re praying for! Praying = results!

- Study hard! If we don’t have the “answers”, we’re of little help to those with questions! (including the ones we have!) One of the best ways to grow stronger in your faith is to grow in your knowledge of God through His Word!

- Be transparent! No, not everyone has to know your “business”, but be open with those you know you can trust (not just in keeping secrets, but with providing good, experienced support). How can our brothers and sisters in Christ know what to pray for if you don’t tell them?

- Communication! This follows transparency, in that you need to let those you know what’s going on in your life when it happens. Don’t wait for days or weeks to pass by without telling someone what you’re dealing with! Firefighters don’t wait for a building to burn down before they try putting out the blaze! Neither should we stall in trying to answer life’s problems that come our way.

- Find a home group or Bible study! Our church offers several options for fellowship and discipleship, so find something that fits your schedule! If your workplace or school offers a Bible study, that works too!

- Invite someone out for lunch/dinner/bowling/golf/whatever! Take the time and get to know someone that’s new in town, or maybe someone that’s new to you! (Eating/playing by yourself stinks!)

- GO TO CHURCH! This would seem pretty obvious coming from a pastor, but a lot of times when we’re “down” we just don’t feel like “being social” and going to a place where other people are at! We also don’t want to “praise the Lord” and sit through a sermon. But you know what? The majority of the time when we go ahead anyways, we end up enjoying it! (imagine that, right?) So make it a point to attend services as much as you can, because it’s never a waste of time!

- Availability! Why attend a home group, Bible study, or worship service? Because someone there may very well need to see YOU for something… and that means you need to be available to them! Keep an open heart, mind, and schedule for those that want you in their daily lives! Lying to yourself by saying you’re “too busy” may make you miss a golden opportunity to bless or be blessed!

So while homemade ice cream has it’s share of fans, on it’s own it doesn’t have any real “power”. But what we do with it certainly does! (and I’m not talking about what it does to our body!) The ice cream is a lot like us… by ourselves we’re pretty insignificant, but when surrounded by a group of people, you really have something special!

Make it a point to spend time with your church family… believe it or not, they need you just as much as you need them!