‘There is nothing we can do.’
‘I don’t want to be associated with those people.’
‘We can’t change the laws.’

Thoughts like these resonate within our minds.  I see pastors and leaders around me (that believe abortion is wrong), doing nothing on the topic.  It is almost like it is a ‘late 80s/early 90s’ topic.  We don’t see it fitting in our glossy sermon series.  We don’t want to be controversial.  We don’t know how to talk about it in a practical way. We might not even care.

Over the last 39 years, over 54 million people have lost their lives to abortion.  These individuals were not respected with a choice of life or death.  We made it for them.  We can be passionate about poverty, slavery, and injustice all over the world because it is religiously cool to do so in modern Christian circles while 1.3 million kids will die in the USA this calendar year.

President Barak Obama issued an official statement supporting abortion this week.

“As we mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we must remember that this Supreme Court decision not only protects a woman’s health and reproductive freedom, but also affirms a broader principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose and this fundamental constitutional right.”

Let’s stop for a second and make sure we understand what he is saying.

He is saying that the decision to legalize abortions protects women’s health.  How? It is completely ignorant to say that allowing abortions has saved women’s lives.  Look at the birth/pregnancy related illness and death before and after the legal decision.  He fails to mention that abortions can be extremely dangerous to the mother’s body.  As to reproductive freedom, this is also erroneous.  If you are ending your pregnancy you are NOT reproducing.  The facts are that abortions can limit your ability to become pregnant in the future, therefore restricting your reproductive freedom.

However, the deeper philosophical and moral question is: “Why is a woman’s right to choose a higher priority than the child’s right to life?”  The government should not interfere with a family’s decision unless the family’s decision is to eliminate one of their own family members (and that family member has no voice in the decision-making process).  The government does not seem to have a problem making laws against murder, stealing, or perjury when it involves families.  His premise is like saying, “Well, we can’t have a law on the books about killing your mother, because that is a family matter and the government can’t get involved in private family matters.”

He goes on to say:

“While this is a sensitive and often divisive issue — no matter what our views, we must stay united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, support pregnant woman and mothers, reduce the need for abortion, encourage healthy relationships, and promote adoption. And as we remember this historic anniversary, we must also continue our efforts to ensure that our daughters have the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.“

I completely support some of his thoughts here: we need to support pregnant women and mothers, reduce the need for abortion, encourage healthy relationships, and promote adoptions.  YES!

I have some serious problems with the other parts of this statement.  The problem isn’t necessarily what he says, but what he implies.  It seems as though he wants to use ‘any means necessary’ to prevent unintended pregnancies.  This point of view says that the baby is the worst thing that can happen.  When discussing this issue, one must not reduce the language to ‘a pregnancy’ or ‘fetus’ or ’tissue’.  When using that vocabulary it dehumanizes and only describes a certain time frame in the life of that PERSON.  It is a person that is in the womb and a part of the discussion.  It is though President Obama is saying we must use whatever means necessary to eliminate this unborn person from life, from the future of our country.

He ends by bringing up the issue of broken homes.  Men leave.  Women are left to raise children alone.  This is a huge social problem in America.  Instead of dealing with the men or the women, his solution is to eliminate the life of the child.  As with the previous issue, when we use terms such as ‘pregnancy’ instead of ‘person’, it is much easier to swallow the reality of loss of life.

A Huffington Post article quotes Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood’s president, “Obama’s pro-choice and pro-contraception decision on Friday will likely be a major reason for women to rally around him in November.”  Right, but it is interesting that the only women supporting him in November are the ones that were born.  There will be an eiry silence from around 24 million women that were never born.

As President Reagan once stated, “With regard to the freedom of the individual for choice with regard to abortion, there’s one individual who’s not being considered at all. That’s the one who is being aborted. And I’ve noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born.“

+robin

See her philosophy that created this multi-million dollar industry that eliminates life.

Although, the first 6 months was a bit rough.  We weren’t necessarily only dating each other.  I was slow to make that dating commitment.  Looking back on that whole scenario, I don’t know how right that was.  I think the whole dating paradigm in our culture is messed up.  However, we are conditioning our kids from kindergarden to follow in our footsteps.  (but I digress)

Erica and I have a fantastic marriage.  We love each other deeply.  God has created in us a relationship that is authentic, raw, intimate.  We are best friends.  When I want to spend time with one person, it is Erica.

Over 13 years, we have traveled up and down on the path of relationship.   We have seen amazing personal success, friendships, God move in miracles.  We have received difficult phone calls, bad diagnosis, and tough conversations with parents.

We enjoy great conversation over delicious coffee.  We also wade through honest discussion on our insecurities and temptations.  Many days we laugh so hard that it hurts.  We pray together often as a couple and family.  There are times during some days that we really don’t like each other or want to talk to each other.  Sometimes, we raise our voice at each other.  We allow for some ‘cooling’ time and we always reconcile our differences and respect one another’s opinion.

I am sure that when we look back after 20 years or 30 years, I could read this blog and realize that I had ‘so much more to learn’.  I know that will happen. However, if I am going to travel that road and learn so much more, I want to go with Erica by my side.

+robin

God gave King Saul a very specific directive in

1 Samuel 15:3 “ Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”

Saul gets to Amalek and makes an executive change decision.  In essence, Saul says, “Let’s destroy all the worthless things/people and save all the good animals and people (like the king, “Agag”)  He uses human thinking and reasoning and actually thinks his idea is better than God’s.

When Samuel catches up to the army, Saul says, “Hey, what’s up Samuel…I did what you said and destroyed everything.”  Then, Samuel says something that gives me chills every time I read it.

I Samuel 15:14 But Samuel said, What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

Samuel is having none of this mess.  He rebukes Saul, and basically, says his ‘day’ is over.

The details of our disobedience matters.  What seems insignificant in our eyes glares in the face of God.

The heart of obedience matters more than the actual duty or works.  Obedience has 2 parts: motive and duty.  Duty without the right motive or heart is legalism.  The ‘horse’ is a heart for God and the ‘cart’ is your duty or work for God.  Don’t get the cart before the horse.  In fact, Samuel goes on to tell Saul that ‘obedience is greater than sacrifice’.  Don’t think that you can just do stuff and please God.  Singing particular songs, reading scripture, giving financially, going to church, helping the needy…however you want to fill in that blank (even if you do it sacrificially) is not as important as simply doing what God has asked WITH the right intent.

Saul admits in (v24) that he was persuaded by ‘the people’.  They urged him to save certain things.  I am sure it sounded similar to “We really don’t need to do that. Let’s save the livestock and use them for our families.”  It sounds eerily similar to the lie in the garden of eden.  The same lie was believed by lucifer when he was ushered out of heaven, then by Adam and Eve as they were ushered out of the garden of eden, then Saul as he was ushered out of the kingdom. The same lie is believed by many of us and as a result it is ushering many out of the will and plan of God.

Because we live in the ‘New Testament’ era, it changes the redemption plan for humanity.  However, I do not believe it changes the concept of God giving directives and humans having the choice to obey or not.  Most Christians don’t blatantly disobey, but we tweak the plan and make it a little more safe or appealing.  We make it make a little more sense.

There is so much in the Bible that we need to follow.  I’m thinking it is pointless to ask God for specific or personal directives until we grasp the ones He has already established in His word.  In fact, step one is not asking what the directives are.  Step one is…well you need to be at church on Sunday to find out…

robin

Every ‘first week’ of the year, I hear church leaders make bold statements about how the upcoming year ‘is THE year of destiny, blessing, purpose, fulfillment, etc…’.  I’m starting to see a cycle.  Most of them say the same thing every new year, and most fail to be accountable to the claim they made last year and the failure that was in the midst of last year.  Whew… I said it.

It brings me to the question: Does God care about our calendar?  When the clock strikes midnight, does it really ‘release God’ to do something different or better for us?

What really gets me going is when preachers relate the actual date to God’s blessing.  For example, the 12 in 2012 represents the number of God, therefore this year will be different!  (I made that up. I’m not sure what the significance of 12 is in scripture.)  What is interesting to me is that most of the pastors that speak like this are relatively versed in Jewish culture and should realize that our calendar is different from the official Jewish calendar.  Therefore, our 12 would really have been like 7 years ago.  It gets confusing.

Anyway, it brings me back to the issue of a NEW YEAR.  What does it mean? I believe that the new day and new year can be extremely beneficial to our human mind.  Since we are so calendar based, I think we can look at the new year and use it for a fresh start.  This seems to be the theme of new year’s resolutions. We can use the new calendar to inspire new levels of commitment, work, prayer, exercise, etc.  I believe the new year is great inspiration to get you going for 4-6 weeks and then if the fire hasn’t ‘caught on’, then you will go back to last year’s habits.

However, I don’t believe that God works in blanket “new year” seasons.  I understand that in Old Testament times, God worked through a specific calendar for spiritual issues, government, and harvest, but when we read the New Testament, it seems like God works in each region and group differently, separate from a mass calendar plan.  Not only do we see this New Testament difference, but we also have a distinctly different calendar (as mentioned above).

After 8.5 years of pastoring, I see that years are good for some and tough for others, and those ‘years’ aren’t necessarily Jan-Dec.  Sometimes, it is May-April.  I have seen themes and spirits and seasons ebb and flow and these can affect multiple people at one time.  Yes, I definitely believe in ‘seed time and harvest’ and that God works through us in seasons.  I just struggle that those seasons are directly tied into our man-made calendar.

Your thoughts?

+robin

What are we going to do next? What are we going to do with all the things we just did? What went well? What do we need to improve on? Where is God leading me next?

The last two weeks of the year make me feel (from a business/pastor point of view) a lot of pressure.  It feels like from now until Jan 1, I have to figure everything out, solve all the problems and start the next year perfectly on Jan 1.  All the leadership teams need to be neat and pretty.  New leaders in place. Old leaders retired (and honored properly).  The budget has to be scrutinized and 2012 needs to be financially planned out.  Did we celebrate enough?  Are we ready for the next big thing?  Are we praying enough? What sermons are the congregations needing to hear from the Bible?

Of course, I work on all these things in Nov and Dec, but it seems like it never gets worked out by now.  And then, there is pressure to wrap it all up like a present and have it ready when the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31.  After all, it’s Sunday the next day.

To top it all off…I’m supposed to be ‘off’ these two weeks.  I’m supposed to be with my family and friends, reading books, playing games, sleeping in.  All the while, the church is looming.  Not looming in a bad, scary way; but looming in a very exciting way.  Almost like a mistress.  ”Look how good I am going to be next year”.  ”You need to come work with the next few weeks”.  ”You need to fix those few things dangling out there, send those emails, make those charts, spend 3 days fasting and praying for the spiritual direction…”

It seems like the worst time for me to break from the work is when everything is going well.  I am addicted to the process because it is clicking along fine and rewarding at every turn.  However, when things are tough, I can’t seem to break away either.  Because ‘one more email’ might fix it all, ‘one more meeting’, ‘a little more hard work’ and everything will turn around.

At the END of creation, God looked back and said, “It is good”…and then He was out.

Rest.

Rest is one of the most important and productive things we can do to prepare for 2012.

Go. Do. Nothing.

It will all be there on Jan 1, and it won’t all have failed if you left it for a bit.  You will gain a whole lot of memories with your family, and you will restore a lot of needed physical and spiritual energy.

+robin

Kennadythanks

The worship team is loud (in a good way).  The songs are ‘modern worship’.  The singers and musicians are extremely talented.  (It’s Nashville after all).  My kids really enjoyed the children’s ministry after they were dismissed to their classes.  There is a great sense of unity among the believers and authentic connectivity to God.  I was the guest speaker and the topic was Acts 3-4, Living Boldly in the Midst of Everyday Life.

I have a message to the believers at The Hills Fellowship as sort of an “after the service” thought.

The book of Acts gives us a thorough look of church life after Jesus ascended into heaven.  There are 28 chapters of detailed church life described.  Ordinary faith-filled decisions, miracles where God showed up, and persecution suffered for the cause of Christ.  I pray that when we get to heaven we will see another chapter that could be included in the book of Acts.  This one dedicated to the followers in Nashville.  Maybe it would say something like…

Acts 29:1 …There were a group of believers in Nashville and one disciple named, John Ragsdale, who spoke the word of God with great authority.  The believers lived for God with great boldness and many were added to the church daily.  Thousands were baptized and when the apostles laid their hands on them, they received the Holy Ghost.  Some people suffered persecution from the non-believers.  Some lost their income and others fell away from the truth.  The core group was quick to respond to God’s word and were faithful to the work of God…  

Paul Tweeted About Bad Stuff Too.

I go to conferences, follow high profile ministers on twitter and Facebook, read blogs, and see folks on TV.  Yet most of them only give me status updates on the miracles and places where God shows up.  Every time I hear from them, it is revival!  As much as I want to say it is always encouraging…it is not.  The problem is that it doesn’t represent real life.  When I look to my life and the ebbs and flows of ministry, there are so many more challenges and simply ordinary scenarios.

If Jesus were like us, he would have tweeted about feeding the five thousand, but not when the disciples struggled with their faith or couldn’t perform a miracle.  He would have posted on Facebook about healing the lepers.  However, He would have been so embarrassed when Peter fell into the water that he would have quietly left that out.

There is something so refreshing about reading scripture and getting a full balanced look at how life really is.  When we read the New Testament scripture, we find 3 core events happening over and over.  In no particular order we see: God Show Up, People Obedient to God, and Trials.

God Shows Up

Though out scripture, God shows up in a supernatural way.  Miracles, signs, wonders.  Seas part, people healed, sin forgiven, eternal life given, mercy, grace, blessing, favor.  These events are unexplainable and often unpredictable.  We love these moments.  We believe and preach about these moments.  We have no problem sharing with everyone.  We love to give God glory (and we should)!  However, the danger is when these moments make us feel validated.  They should not make us feel validated at all because at that moment, we start taking credit for them.  There is a temptation to spin every church situation into this supernatural event so that we can ‘keep up with the Joneses’ (no offense Scott and Brett).

People Are Obedient To God

In the book of Acts, we see countless men and women showing their obedience to God.  Going to prayer meetings, traveling to other churches, working a real job, preaching, teaching, living in community, sharing.  It is cool just to DO the work of God.  Obedience is often not glamorous but is as valid as any other part of the kingdom.  There is no need in building this into something it is not.  I am so thankful that it is mentioned in scripture that Peter and John did normal things just like me.  Paul worked a job and was bi-vocational.  Luke let us know some common things about Paul.  Often God shows up during these ordinary obedient times of everyday life.

Trials

As much as there are miracles and obedience in scripture, innocent people of God were blasted by life.  Jailed, sick, betrayed, went months unaccounted for, people left Jesus, people left Paul, ship wrecks, pain, death.  These people that suffered through these ailments were not discredited and excuses were not offered.  They simply were a part of God’s plan.  In fact, Paul boasted in those weaknesses.  He was tweeting all about how bad things happened, because in those events, God was going to show up.

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, ”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

We as ministers are afraid to reveal when we ‘lose’.  Like when our marriage is not as good as it should be or when no one showed up for church.  When you had to end a small group because the leaders left your church or you don’t feel like preaching.  Our pride says, “If you show weakness, then you are failing.”  We immediately start saying “I’m not doing enough. I did wrong. I will work harder. I…I…I…”  We think we can hide the problems until they pass over or we deal with them.  No one needs to know.  Personally, I think this is one of the most dangerous places to be in.  This is a self-centered wasteland.  We become bitter at those who are doing better.  We harbor our feelings and turn inward.  Our families suffer and God is not given the opportunity to show up.

As a pastor, one of the most frustrating parts of my life has been living my life and leading my church in a way that is not represented in scripture.  I have wanted my church to grow at a constant pace forever. I have wanted people to never leave or betray me.  I have desired for offerings to always be more than last week.  I cherry pick miracles out of Jesus’ life and the stories of Acts. I have wanted all the miracles of scripture without the trials of scripture.  Now, instead of trying to eliminate trials, I have learned how to live through them.  If Jesus and ALL the apostles couldn’t shake trials, then lets realize that we will see them until our death or rapture.  They are great places and opportunities for…God.

 A Great Resource
One of the best things I did three years ago was invest in relationships with local pastors.  My purpose was friendship, but what developed was brotherhood.  I found 6 other local pastors from different theological backgrounds and did everything I could to get to know them.  I asked them to dinner, prayer, church, meetings, whatever it took. Whatever interested them.  Like little scared rabbits, we carefully opened up to each other.  We are now intentional about it.  All seven of us meet the final Thursday of every month (for about 3 hours) and spill our guts.  We talk about our personal and ministry adventures.  We share about God showing up. We laugh about daily routines, and we cry with each other about failures.

Take a risk and make sure others know all the details of how God is showing up both in your obedience and trials!

To bring people into an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and each other.

The last two Sundays, Harry Fleming has preached on important parts of this statement.  Week one was all about ‘bringing people‘ and week 2 was all about the forgiving power of ‘Jesus Christ‘.  You can watch those messages here.  The sermon series is called, “The Skinny on PromiseLand” and it explores ‘the why’ behind ‘the what’ of everything we do.

This week, I will tackle one word…’intimate’.

Each prayer we pray is important.  Filling up a building is great.  Creating religious habits has value.  However, at PromiseLand, we spend a whole lot of time, effort, energy, and money on going beyond a single prayer, experience, or tradition.  Our ultimate goal is for individuals to personally know Jesus on an intimate level.  This is beyond the salvation experience.

Intimacy has four criteria:

• Close Association/Familiarity – To know as a close friend.  To anticipate actions
  James 2:23   ”Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.  The relationship between Abraham started when God called him.  Then, Abraham responded with faith and works. Over time, they related in familiarity.

• Detailed Knowledge - To know all about the data and details.  To know as much as possible.  Always wanting to know more.  A hunger for more.  We find all the knowledge we need of God in his written word.
  2 Peter 1:2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

• Deep Understanding – For the ‘detailed knowledge’ to be put to use.  To know WHY the knowledge is important and relevant.
  Completely understanding God is impossible.  However, when we are familiar with God, know God’s word, and communicate with Him regularly, He brings understanding to us. All of Proverbs 2 brings truth to this subject, but verse 6 highlights it. “6  For the Lord gives wisdom;from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; ”

• Affectionate/Loving – This is the part of intimacy in which most are familiar.  Unfortunately, Intimacy from a world’s perpective has been shaped by media to mean sexual connectivity. Indeed that is a part or type of intimacy.  We, as a culture, are starting to equate intimacy almost as a dirty word.  We have even had some people question the use of it in our mission statement.  Without a doubt, to be intimate means to be affectionate and loving.  Song of Solomon reveals the potential of affectionate love.

Intimacy does not just happen.  It is not an emotion.  Jesus gave the disciples distinct instruction before His ascension.  Go make disciples.  Why ‘make disciples’?  God was not interested in having a bunch of robots walking around that had a lot of knowledge or followed tradition perfectly.  He also did not want people that were forgiven and then continued to live a life for themselves.  I believe that the discipline was the path to intimacy as described in the 4 points above.  Intimacy is a beautiful baby of systematic discipline.  That doesn’t sound very romantic or Hollywood.  However, I believe many people are mistaken when they think that they will have a relationship with God by following after a mythical religious experience.

Just as intimacy with my spouse comes after vulnerability, faith, work, perseverance, and romance so does my intimacy with God.  Invest. Sow seed. Reap…

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robin