John Wayne: Theologian

John Wayne continues to stand as one of the most popular male actors in cinematic history.  His towering presence filled the screen, exuding a type of masculinity that caused adoration and respect by generations of film goers.  Little did people know that John Wayne also served, unbeknownst to him, as a theologian of sorts.  J.I. Packer, C.S. Lewis, John Wayne…wait a second!  

In the movie, The Green Berets, John Wayne is the commander of an elite group of men fighting for victory in the jungles of Vietnam.  At one point in the film, Wayne makes an interesting statement: regarding a future action needing to be taken He says, “We’ll do it…Lord willin’ and if the crick don’t rise.”  Lord willing.  What a humble idea!  This will happen, we will accomplish our mission, if the Lord wills it.

In Matthew 8:1-4, we see a similar message being conveyed.  Jesus is exiting a region and as always the crowds are following Him.  A man with a skin disease, some say leprosy, is following along as well.  As Jesus walks, this man approaches Him, kneels before Him, and says simply and honestly, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Looking down on the submissive and humble man, Jesus compassionately states, “I am willing.”  Immediately the man is cured. With the touch of Jesus his ailment disappears and this restored man takes with him a newly acquired testimony of God’s grace and power.

Many churches today are striving to accomplish a mission and to achieve victory in cities, towns, and regions for the advancement of God’s Kingdom.  As each strives, in one way or another, for a total Gospel saturation in Colorado, it is easy to feel as if the battle is theirs alone…the fight is theirs alone. When those thoughts occur we need to hold onto the lessons of the leper in Matthew 8.  He approached Jesus in humility; he was rightly submissive; he trusted that Jesus had the power to do it; and he acknowledged that God’s will determines the outcome.

Together, as we strive for God’s presence to be made known in the lives of all who would come to the San Luis Valley, let’s remember that we don’t deserve the presence of God…we’re not entitled to His power and ability to change hearts and lives through our ministries.  Instead we need to approach him in humble prayer and adoration; we need to submit to His authority in our lives and in our ministries; we need to fully trust that He alone holds the power to achieve transforming victory in the lives of friends, family, and others we serve. We need to acknowledge that His will for our ministries is not always accomplished in the way we desire but even in that we can be content that His Sovereignty will be expressed in the perfect way He chooses to reveal it. 

We are privileged to be engaged in a fierce battle for the eternal outcomes of the lives of people around us.  We have been included in this fight and we have a role to play.  As we fulfill our calling of "making disciples", I want to encourage us all to embrace the humility of the leper.  Hold onto the submission that speaks of the condition of our souls and our maturing transformation into everything God dreams we could be.  When we do this, we will experience the willingness of God to move in our context in ways we could have never imagined…glorious outcomes where all praise and glory can be given straight back to the “author and finisher of our faith”. Pilgrim, that’s a theology that we can all embrace.

More Than Santa

     So I'm currently looking out the window at snow beginning to gather and listening to the the wind pummel the glass.  I'm also listening to Nat King Cole sing "The Christmas Song", his smoky voice completely capturing the Holidays.  As I look outside I realize the tremendous blessing of being inside and warm right now...there's another part of me however that longs to play in the snow, enjoying winter's chill as I did when I was a child, only to be rewarded with a cup of hot cocoa and a warm hug from my mother.  Many of you can relate to the dichotomy of that idea...the fierce desire for one thing even as another desire is equally, if not more, overpowering.
   
     Now think about our current season:  the excitement of giving proportionately tempered by the thrill of getting.  Many would say it's more important to give then to receive and there's truth to that but if you received absolutely nothing this Christmas, how thrilled would you be?  Now I'm talking nothing...not a card, not a phone call, no gifts, no stocking, not even a lump of coal!  I'd be mad... that sounds horrible but it's true!  I'd feel jilted and angry and betrayed.  Thank God that He never feels that way because far too often He gets nothing from the people who say they care about Him the most.
   
     Romans 5:8 states, "God demonstrated His love towards us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us."  Simply put, when we were still enemies of God He loved us enough to die for us.  For those calling themselves Christians, there's supposedly been a change in that relationship.  No longer enemies, Christ calls us friends.  But too often we don't treat Him as a friend, we treat Him as a genie  in a bottle...as Santa Claus...there to provide good things when we want them.  He's the under-appreciated parent who's there with the cocoa and the hug but once the child's warm He gets left alone and discarded until the next emergency.  He's necessary in hard times but far less in times of peace and quiet.  What He wants, His great desire, is for something more...much more:  "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become Children of God, to those who believe in His name." (John 1:12)  God is not content to be called on only in a time of need...He wants us to realize that we have been adopted as His children with all the blessings that come with that distinction.  There's no dichotomy in this relationship...there's only a need for full commitment because He's already made His commitment...a commitment to love and bring hope and comfort and overarching peace to all who believe and embrace Him as Lord.

     This Christmas, let's remember who God is.  Let's make Him more than the genie...more than Santa.  As He opens the doors of our lives, embracing us with His warm arms, let's hold on a little tighter and a little longer.  And as we do, let's enjoy being children of the King as we too reach out and love those around us.

Seize the Day

Snow's predicted for tomorrow morning here in the San Luis Valley and the only concern I have is. "Where did September and October go?"  Literally, they just vanished...I've looked everywhere.  I can't even find a remnant!  Now I've found the results of the elusive fall wrapped up in pink and sleeping a little more each night (although two hour stretches of oblivious slumber are not quite enough at this point, if you can imagine).  The fact is that time is fleeting and we are all losing days rather quickly

So as we swiftly move into the Holiday season, I want to encourage you to know where the days are going.  I want us all to follow the advice of Jesus as He spoke about the importance of today:  "Jesus said, 'No procrastination.  No backwards looks.  You can't put God's Kingdom off til tomorrow.  Seize the day" (Luke 9:62, The Message). Seizing the day isn't about making the most of everyday for our own gratification...for our own self-serving, existential well-being...seizing the day is about purpose.  It's about remembering why we exist and who we live to please; it's remembering what the goals of this life should come back to and that is ultimately "Loving Jesus and Loving People".  Seizing the day is about perspective and the intentionality that accompanies purpose; seizing the day is about "big-picture" thinking...realizing the power of small moments leading to big moments and even bigger opportunities.  It's understanding our place in light of God's reality and the mission that He's been on to redeem a world and make all things right for His glory.

So as things get even busier in the next few weeks, I want us all to stop and take a breath.  And as we exhale, to whisper a prayer of solemn commitment to enjoy the moment...to realize the beauty of this fragment of time in the history of the world.  For me, I'm going to kiss the head of one of my four girls...I'm going to let a hug linger for just one second longer.  As I do, I'm going to thank God for right now and realize that as I "seize the day" I am seizing an opportunity to love someone more deeply, to more properly focus on the "big-picture", and to continue forward in the pursuit of a purpose greater than my own.  I'll acknowledge the vastness of God in the day to day events of my small life and commit myself to love Jesus, and love people, more each quickly passing day of my life.  Will you join with me?  Will you "seize the day"?

 

Embracing the Exile

Over the past few weeks, a particular tension has grown in our house.  Now I know exactly what is causing that feeling and there's nothing I can do to change it.  In fact, the cause of that tension is only going to continue to grow.  Right now, the cause is approximately 6 1/2 lbs and causing my very pregnant wife to consistently experience back pain, hip pain, headaches, neck aches, no sleep, heartburn, nausea, shortness of breath, on top of a general feeling of discomfort.  Now yes, contrary to appearances (this will be our fourth baby girl), my wife and I realize what has caused this tension...we are fully aware that we chose to invite this tension into our midst.  But some tensions, some difficulties, are outside of our decision.  Some difficulties are placed upon us and our response to those difficulties are the only things that we can control.

A few weeks ago, I wrote to you about a particular set of verses.   Jeremiah 29:4-7 states,

"This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:  'Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters.  Increase in number there and do not decrease.  Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.  Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers you too will prosper.'"

You see, the people of Israel experiencing exile in Babylon had a difficulty thrust upon them.  Verse four says that God is the one who carried them into exile.  It was His choice as a consequence for the disloyalty of their forefathers.  It wasn't a result of their disloyalty really...they were the recipients of judgment for someone else's actions, someone else's choices.  Now this isn't to say that this second-generation of exiles did not sin or make mistakes...it simply means that the original judgment they lived under, the difficulties of their existence, was the result of someone else's decisions.

Today, we live in a world of chaos.  From Syria to Washington D.C., across our nation and across the world, things just aren't right.  We exists in this world as a result of judgment for the actions of others and our legacy is tension.  We drift between what we inherited and what we do to add to that difficulty...but the original cause of why things are the way they are goes back a long way. Romans 5:16-17 says it in this way...

"Again, the gift of God is not like the results of one man's sin (Adam):  The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.  For, if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ."

We exists in chaos because of the chaos created by a decision made thousands of years ago.  When Adam sinned for the very first time all creation was tainted by that choice and we are a living legacy of the judgment placed on Adam.  But Christ, interceding in the history of humanity, broke the cycle; He didn't eliminate all the chaotic consequences (yet), but for those who would believe in Him He radically destroyed the judgment.

Today, in the San Luis Valley as well as in your community, we are surrounded by those who are unaware that they have been freed from judgment.  That although God has placed each of us in our own circumstances of life with all of the accompanying chaos, difficulties, and tensions built in (our own personal exiles), He has provided solace and comfort and peace in the midst of all of it.  For those already following Jesus, He has placed them where they are to become solace and peace and light and life to those they have the opportunity to encourage and love every day.  So this week, embrace the exile...understand that you have been placed there for a reason...know that everyday you have the opportunity to live an example of "God's abundant provision of grace".  As you do that, I'll embrace the chaos of newborn screams, throaty and determined, and I'll thank God for lack of sleep, for messy little diapers, and the knowledge that even in the midst of tension I can extravagantly and recklessly love because I've been loved first.

Going Forward

So it's been almost two months since my last posting and in that time we've seen God do some amazing work.  As a church, we've had the chance to be part of His time-critical plan of invading our communities through the love and service of His people.  Now I'm not saying it's been easy...in fact, I'm exhausted!! At times over the last few months, I've wanted to yell out, "Enough already!!"  You've heard it said, "God never gives us more than we can handle" (which is not in the Bible but does carry an intrinsic Biblical truth verified by Scripture after Scripture):  "My God will supply all your needs"..."The Lord is my strength"..."We are more than successful through the God who loves us and has called us according to His purpose (of
redeeming a lost world)".  God has made His strength known in amazing ways over the past two months in allowing us to host two mission teams who ministered in both South Fork and Monte Vista...who walked alongside of us in our ministry as they reached out to the hurting, the brokenhearted, and the lost around us.  God made His strength known as we reached out as a body to comfort and help those displaced by the West Fork and Papoose Fires.  God made His strength known as we parked car after car after car during Stampede, loving on people through free water and meaningful conversation, and giving the community one more glimpse at what Christ would be like if He lived in the Valley today.  We have been busy in the past two months.

So as we begin to move into a new season, with the advent of August and the culmination of summer events, let's determine in our minds to find new ways to bless the people around us.  Let's be intentional as we reach out in creative and appropriate ways to help people transition from summer to fall.  And I want you to ask yourself this question as August begins:  "Do I feel as if I allowed myself to be used by God this summer to bless people and let them encounter Jesus through my life and actions?"  If the answer is yes, then as this fall approaches keep going forward as God has already led you.  Helping others and walking alongside of people should be the passion of Believers not a burden to carry.  Enjoy the interactions and keep blessing your community.  If the answer is no, then let today be a day of change.  Find a way to plug in at Calvary...look for opportunity to serve.  Don't let the blessing of commitment, fellowship, and service pass you by.  God has commissioned His people to bless their communities and be example of His love to all those around them.  As I conclude, let me leave you with this verse which will hopefully inspire us all to further contentment in the mission God has given us...
in the next few weeks we'll dwell on this passage further.  Jeremiah 29:4-7:

"This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:  'Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters.  Increase in number there and do not decrease.  Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.  Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers you too will prosper.'"

What does God have in store for Calvary Baptist Church?  We will see...

New Growth

I think it is official...summer has finally arrived in the San Luis Valley.  Too often throughout the long winter it feels as if summer will never get here...as if the warmth of the sun will never again radiate across our dead lawns, our lifeless gardens, and our cold porches.  But now, with tomato plants producing small yellow blossoms, with baby birds chirping for worms from nest built in the most amazing of locations, we can see that summer has in fact arrived.  We can smell the rain and feel the deep, dark soil of gardens promising future bounty.  We can bask in morning sun, enjoying our coffee and the absolute joy of being in Colorado in June.

Many of us realize that the Bible has a lot to say about gardening and farming...about planting and harvest.  Now I've recently begun to take more and more interest in the subject...in fact, after recently building several raised bed planters I've actually gotten kind of excited about tomatoes and onions, potatoes and celery.  I've enjoyed building compost bins and discovering how stealthy squirrels can be when stealing old lettuce and corn cobs.  Planting and growing for Christians carries an intrinsic double meaning, an integrous understanding of that which is most important...for Christian gardeners this truth is even more so.  1 Corinthians speaks directly to this idea of growth.  Paul is talking to the church in Corinth as they wrestle with issues bogging down the potential of this body.  In Chapter 3, Paul addresses the misplaced loyalty found among the people; in a desire to maintain allegiance to spiritual leaders, some to Paul and some to Apollos, the church has begun to choose sides.  Paul states in verse five, "What, after all, is Apollos?  And what is Paul?  Only servants, through whom you came to believe-as the Lord has assigned to each his task."  Then Paul breaks down his role as a human in verses six and seven:  "I planted the seed.  Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."

Beloved, as we move forward deeper into the Project 160 vision God has given us, dreaming of seeing satellite campuses of Calvary spread throughout the Valley, we need to hold onto the fact that no matter what we do...no matter how much we work and toil and prepare the soil...God is the one who will make things grow.  God is the one who will build His church.  God is the one who will draw people to Himself and introduce them to His love, grace, and beauty.  This doesn't diminish the fact that we still have a job to do, it simply emphasizes that this is all about the mission of God...it is not about us but rather it has ALWAYS been about Him.  Help me to remember, as I help you, that our mission as Followers of Jesus is to plant and water and fertilize but ultimately God will be responsible for the growth.

 

The Jerusalem Council

In Acts 15, we can see that an issue began to develop within the scattered church. Some men of influence were moving about, floating from church to church, and were attempting to sway local church leaders into returning to a form of legalism...into returning to the Judeistic beginnings from which Christianity had originally sprung.  Now, Paul and Barnabas sharply disagreed with this potential return and as representatives of the churches in that particular region, they were sent to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about the issue.  Understand that this group of men in Jerusalem were the originals...many had known Jesus personally, others had been brought on later but only after exhibiting some serious spiritual leadership.  This was the Jerusalem Council and they were the remnant...they had outlasted the fear and persecution that had driven the inaugural church to her "Great Commission" exodus into the far reaches of the world.  So after arriving in Jerusalem, and after being warmly greeted, Paul and Barnabas began to describe what was happening.  Both sides of the issue were represented and the council of overseers and apostles separated themselves for a time of consideration and prayer.  After that time, a judgment was rendered and in unity it was decided that a letter should be taken explaining the position of the council to the churches spread throughout Judea and Asia Minor.  This letter was delivered by Paul and Barnabas as well as two members of the council.  Acts 15:30-35 describes the process in this way:

"The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter.  The people (the church) read it and were glad for its encouraging message.  (The council members)...said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.  After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them (in Jerusalem)."

These men were not there to "lower the boom" on the church of Antioch...they didn't come to micromanage and control this body.  Instead, they came to support this church, answering questions and encouraging them to continue on the path.  They were supporters, strengtheners, allowing the church in Antioch to know that they were not alone and that others, even those far away in Jerusalem, were there in spirit and in sincere prayer that God's best would be seen in His church and for His glory.

As Project 160 has taken shape, one of the questions frequently asked has been why begin works as "satellite campuses" rather than autonomous bodies?  Bodies that would be free from the manipulating hands of those far off...those unfamiliar with particular uniqueness or cultural intricacies of a region?  From an urban church planting perspective, this question holds great validity.  It only makes sense to attempt to build church bodies intent on independence, prepared to reach out to an abundant population.  But when observed from a rural outlook, with small bodies separated by vast amounts of territory, one of the biggest obstacles to church development extends from the pure isolation of the region and the feelings of being "all alone" in a work, without help and without support.  The idea of the Jerusalem Council, and the role which they played in assisting, modeling, supporting, and discipling other bodies truly stands as the representation for what Calvary is trying to accomplish.  The leaders of Calvary stand less as oversight, although in the circumstance of theological dispute (as seen in Acts 15) it would be a prudent for the leaders to provide assistance; in reality the hope is for a far-reaching system of support and assistance branching out like spokes on a wheel, extending from a central hub of leadership and development.  The Jerusalem Council is the model for Project 160 and the hope that even today believers will work together for Kingdom purposes and Kingdom goals.  And as they do, the opportunity to get distracted from the mission will fade, allowing this body to grab hold of all that God has for us, and continuing to make an impact in the San Luis Valley, Colorado, and the world as a whole.