Sunday was "Signing Day" at Providence. Copies of Treasure in the Sand were stacked on a table in front of me. My friends could either buy a copy or bring one they had recently purchased online. I signed them all and, along the way, I was reminded of another book signing years ago in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
It was my first book back in 1986. I was seated at a table in a Christian Bookstore five miles from the beach. I looked up to greet a sharp looking guy, probably in his forties. He had a big smile on his face as he handed me a copy of my book. Then he asked, "Do you remember me, Tim?"
I looked again. I didn't really recognize him- not the smile, not the haircut. But there was something vaguely familiar about his eyes. I was about to ask, "Who are you," until I suddenly remembered. Then I thought, "No, this can't be right!"
Two years earlier, I had been actively involved at First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale. The church had a booming evangelism training ministry which sent dozens of teams out all over town to share their faith every Tuesday night. Over several semesters, all those teams had always departed through the rear parking lot, driving right past the home of an unhappy family living just across the street from the church complex. Sometimes the poor man who lived there could be seen sitting on his porch, very drunk. I'm sure some had tried to interact with the people who lived there over the years, but it had apparently never worked. Then one Tuesday night, events took a different direction.
A team had managed to get into the home to meet this addicted man named Rocky along with his wife and kids. I can't remember all the details but, by the end of the evening, the unpleasant man who had lived across the street for years made a shocking decision. He prayed to confess Jesus Christ as Lord- prayed with tears in his eyes. Afterwards he actually accompanied the team back to the Fellowship Hall to share his experience during the report back session.
The very next Sunday Rocky showed up for worship; and the next, and the next. Soon he was baptized. With his deeply creased face reflecting the hard mileage he had endured, he would lead his wife and kids down the aisle to the front pew every Sunday. He didn't look like most of the other upper class professionals who mostly comprised the downtown church, but he never seemed to be aware of all the differences. He was aware of God's grace.
Shortly after Rocky had become a part of FBC, my family and I had been called to serve on staff at another area church. A year or more had passed. My new book had come out. And there I was sitting behind a stack of books signing copies. I took another look at the smiling face across the table, and after a long pause, I asked, "Rocky? Rocky, is it you, buddy?"
Tears welled up in those familiar eyes. Rocky nodded and grinned. The creases and hard edges had melted from his face along with quite a few years. He looked younger and incredibly happy. I learned he was working now, and was involved in the outreach program that had reached him. It had only been a year, but what a year! I gave him a long, joyful hug. I don't really like signing books but I was incredibly happy to sign Rocky's copy!
He was an old friend but a new man. By the grace of God in Christ, the old was gone and the new had come. My name was written in his book, but far, far more importantly, his name was written in Christ's Book of Life. It made all the difference in the world.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
LOL at the Movies
I was hurriedly flipping through a copy of Entertainment Weekly this weekend, when one particular caption reached out and grabbed me! In his column, “The Final Cut,” Mark Harris had written, “Hollywood loves weddings, but ignores marriage.”
“Wow!” I thought, “I couldn’t agree more. Wouldn't it be refreshing and satisfying to catch a movie that treats marriage with respect and admiration?” So I continued to read, and found nuggets like these:
“I couldn’t remember the last time I saw such a good film about being married- a condition that 110 million Americans experience firsthand every day, but almost never at the movies.”
“As I tried to recall films about marriage, I was startled to realize that the best ones that occurred to me... were all about divorce and at least 30 years old.”
I had begun to speculate that Mr. Harris might be some kind of closet Hollywood conservative. I was eager to learn more about this revolutionary movie so pro-marriage in tone that the writer calls it a godsend. Then I came to this confession: “The breakthrough here isn’t simply that the couple in question is gay...”
Sometimes there’s nothing to do but laugh! In Hollywood, only gay marriages or dying ones are interesting.
For most of us, traditional marriage is one of the most practical, beneficial elements of life. It is an endless source of affirmation, partnership, community, joy, and- yes- stability. Most of us don’t really desire that our lives be more theatrical or dramatic. But if you’ve ever been a parent, you know how welcome a little stability can be.
Marriage is so fascinating to God that he opens the Bible with it. Okay, the first chapter is actually about creation, but it builds toward the second chapter which is about marriage. Matrimony is the first institution ordained by God because it is so central to life and so essential for healthy communities and nations. Every child needs the diversity and the personal buy-in of a father who affords wings and a mother who nurtures roots.
Our popular culture insists that money and sex appeal can acquire anything a person really needs. The fact that Hollywood has been unable to describe the blessings and the magic of healthy marriage for more than three decades now only shows you what they’re missing.
“Wow!” I thought, “I couldn’t agree more. Wouldn't it be refreshing and satisfying to catch a movie that treats marriage with respect and admiration?” So I continued to read, and found nuggets like these:
“I couldn’t remember the last time I saw such a good film about being married- a condition that 110 million Americans experience firsthand every day, but almost never at the movies.”
“As I tried to recall films about marriage, I was startled to realize that the best ones that occurred to me... were all about divorce and at least 30 years old.”
I had begun to speculate that Mr. Harris might be some kind of closet Hollywood conservative. I was eager to learn more about this revolutionary movie so pro-marriage in tone that the writer calls it a godsend. Then I came to this confession: “The breakthrough here isn’t simply that the couple in question is gay...”
Sometimes there’s nothing to do but laugh! In Hollywood, only gay marriages or dying ones are interesting.
For most of us, traditional marriage is one of the most practical, beneficial elements of life. It is an endless source of affirmation, partnership, community, joy, and- yes- stability. Most of us don’t really desire that our lives be more theatrical or dramatic. But if you’ve ever been a parent, you know how welcome a little stability can be.
Marriage is so fascinating to God that he opens the Bible with it. Okay, the first chapter is actually about creation, but it builds toward the second chapter which is about marriage. Matrimony is the first institution ordained by God because it is so central to life and so essential for healthy communities and nations. Every child needs the diversity and the personal buy-in of a father who affords wings and a mother who nurtures roots.
Our popular culture insists that money and sex appeal can acquire anything a person really needs. The fact that Hollywood has been unable to describe the blessings and the magic of healthy marriage for more than three decades now only shows you what they’re missing.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Excitement Was Never Enough
Today's churches are addicted to excitement. Schedules are chock full of events that are exciting, out of the ordinary, new and improved or easy to advertise. Exclamation points dot our home pages and worship sheet covers. The unspoken rationale is that American Christians in 2010 need frequent booster shots of adrenalin to keep their faith functioning.
I pondered that whole idea recently after a revealing study in John 6. In that text, Christ has just fed 5,000 men and their families, starting with only a small basket of loaves and fishes. By the time everyone has been fed, there are 12 giant agricultural baskets of bread left over! Only hours later, Jesus walks across a storm tossed Sea of Galilee about 3 AM, enables one of his disciples to walk on the water as well, and then joins them all in the boat!
You can't get much more exciting or invigorating than that. But less than 24 hours later, Christ sees a large number of his disciples turn their backs and walk away. By their own admission, the reason for their departure is "a hard teaching" which they have trouble accepting (John 6:60.)
Christ may be saddened to see them walk away, but the Scripture emphasizes that he is not surprised by this outcome. He had always known their hearts, and had realized from the beginning that they had not been enabled by God. Christ explains to those who remain that no one can come to him unless "it is granted to them by the Father." If the personality of Jesus Christ and the astonishing miracles of John 6 could not sustain Adrenalin Seekers in the First Century, what makes anyone think our high tech wizardry and video can sustain them in the 21st Century?
Jesus Christ still requires that his disciples embrace hard teachings. We are told to live simple lives in an extravagant culture; to talk about our faith in office places where people are easily offended; to reject certain popular lifestyles because they defy God's Word, despite the fact that the whole world has gone after them. Christ calls for moral purity in a society that celebrates personal abandon. Our friends and neighbors are prone to argue, "These are hard teachings! Who can keep them?"
Sometimes our current day outreach strategies seem to suggest that we can keep these secular people if we can just get them into a routine. Far from another routine, our postmodern neighbors need guidance getting into a relationship- particularly a relationship with Jesus Christ. When people finally get real with Jesus, getting a rush from religion becomes far less significant.
Is anybody else thinking what I'm thinking?
I pondered that whole idea recently after a revealing study in John 6. In that text, Christ has just fed 5,000 men and their families, starting with only a small basket of loaves and fishes. By the time everyone has been fed, there are 12 giant agricultural baskets of bread left over! Only hours later, Jesus walks across a storm tossed Sea of Galilee about 3 AM, enables one of his disciples to walk on the water as well, and then joins them all in the boat!
You can't get much more exciting or invigorating than that. But less than 24 hours later, Christ sees a large number of his disciples turn their backs and walk away. By their own admission, the reason for their departure is "a hard teaching" which they have trouble accepting (John 6:60.)
Christ may be saddened to see them walk away, but the Scripture emphasizes that he is not surprised by this outcome. He had always known their hearts, and had realized from the beginning that they had not been enabled by God. Christ explains to those who remain that no one can come to him unless "it is granted to them by the Father." If the personality of Jesus Christ and the astonishing miracles of John 6 could not sustain Adrenalin Seekers in the First Century, what makes anyone think our high tech wizardry and video can sustain them in the 21st Century?
Jesus Christ still requires that his disciples embrace hard teachings. We are told to live simple lives in an extravagant culture; to talk about our faith in office places where people are easily offended; to reject certain popular lifestyles because they defy God's Word, despite the fact that the whole world has gone after them. Christ calls for moral purity in a society that celebrates personal abandon. Our friends and neighbors are prone to argue, "These are hard teachings! Who can keep them?"
Sometimes our current day outreach strategies seem to suggest that we can keep these secular people if we can just get them into a routine. Far from another routine, our postmodern neighbors need guidance getting into a relationship- particularly a relationship with Jesus Christ. When people finally get real with Jesus, getting a rush from religion becomes far less significant.
Is anybody else thinking what I'm thinking?
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Missions: When Love is Blind
Friday the Wall Street Journal featured a column entitled "How the Missionaries Lost their Chariots of Fire." ("Houses of Worship;" July 2, 2010.) Columnist Brad Greenberg documents that even as more Christians are traveling to international locations for the purpose of "missions," evangelism has been quickly demoted to the back of the plane. Comparing the zeal of missionaries a generation ago to the attitudes of the church today, he quotes a seminary dean at a recent missions conference: "[They] thought they were going to take over the world, and now many of our students wonder if they should even try."
American Christians still do mission trips- probably more than ever- but instead of proclaiming the Good news, they now prefer fighting poverty, working against human trafficking, doing things in the interest of "justice" rather than "redemption." But when it comes to choosing between evangelization and social ministry, Greenberg leaves no doubt about his priorities: "The reality is the church should be doing both."
I know that tension that is experienced by so many postmodern missionaries. You arrive on some distant mission field fully determined to teach and preach the Gospel, but you are quickly distracted by the hunger, the hopeless economy, the broken families, the squalid living conditions. And while you're leading a Bible Study, you realize that in a place this desperate, even the money you spend on coffee back home could make a real difference here.
Seeing the elation that spills over the face of a man in Africa when you buy him a cold orange soda, it's easy to fantasize about the change your American dollars and bright ideas could engender in a tragic land. But it's a seduction, not a vision: the biggest change wrought by easy money is the dependency it quickly fosters in the hearts of desperate people who will treat you like a Hollywood star if it seems you might have a few more dollars tomorrow!
Most of us simply aren't smart enough to fight human trafficking, except by giving some money to a reputable ministry that does. And we don't really need to travel to Bangkok to see it happening: we can pray from home and give the money we would have wasted on airfare to that ministry as well.
Our church has carried on a relationship with Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe for seven years. Zimbabwe is one of the three most desperate nations in the world, and conditions seem to worsen every year. So our work there has been multifaceted. We have done AIDS education and women's conferences. We have distributed truck loads of food, and have fitted hundreds of locals with reading glasses. But every trip requires that we work 24/7. Because in addition to showing the love of Jesus, it's our priority to preach it and teach it as well.
We have organized and grown circles of small group Bible Studies. We preach and teach in churches. Our disciples actually launched a brand new church three years ago, and it's still growing and thriving. We teach Bible Studies in a crowded curio market, and see the spiritual atmosphere improve every year.
Brad Greenberg quotes one group that explains their missionaries believe in Christ, "But do NOT want to limit themselves in any way." But frankly, doing social work alone is an extremely limited approach to ministry. We emphasize the Gospel for a better reason- we do NOT want to limit God in any way.
American Christians still do mission trips- probably more than ever- but instead of proclaiming the Good news, they now prefer fighting poverty, working against human trafficking, doing things in the interest of "justice" rather than "redemption." But when it comes to choosing between evangelization and social ministry, Greenberg leaves no doubt about his priorities: "The reality is the church should be doing both."
I know that tension that is experienced by so many postmodern missionaries. You arrive on some distant mission field fully determined to teach and preach the Gospel, but you are quickly distracted by the hunger, the hopeless economy, the broken families, the squalid living conditions. And while you're leading a Bible Study, you realize that in a place this desperate, even the money you spend on coffee back home could make a real difference here.
Seeing the elation that spills over the face of a man in Africa when you buy him a cold orange soda, it's easy to fantasize about the change your American dollars and bright ideas could engender in a tragic land. But it's a seduction, not a vision: the biggest change wrought by easy money is the dependency it quickly fosters in the hearts of desperate people who will treat you like a Hollywood star if it seems you might have a few more dollars tomorrow!
Most of us simply aren't smart enough to fight human trafficking, except by giving some money to a reputable ministry that does. And we don't really need to travel to Bangkok to see it happening: we can pray from home and give the money we would have wasted on airfare to that ministry as well.
Our church has carried on a relationship with Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe for seven years. Zimbabwe is one of the three most desperate nations in the world, and conditions seem to worsen every year. So our work there has been multifaceted. We have done AIDS education and women's conferences. We have distributed truck loads of food, and have fitted hundreds of locals with reading glasses. But every trip requires that we work 24/7. Because in addition to showing the love of Jesus, it's our priority to preach it and teach it as well.
We have organized and grown circles of small group Bible Studies. We preach and teach in churches. Our disciples actually launched a brand new church three years ago, and it's still growing and thriving. We teach Bible Studies in a crowded curio market, and see the spiritual atmosphere improve every year.
Brad Greenberg quotes one group that explains their missionaries believe in Christ, "But do NOT want to limit themselves in any way." But frankly, doing social work alone is an extremely limited approach to ministry. We emphasize the Gospel for a better reason- we do NOT want to limit God in any way.
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