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On Sharing My Faith

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I recently went door to door helping others hear about Jesus.  I grew up in a tradition that placed this as one of the highest of Christian virtues, but for the past few years had neglected this practice for a variety of reasons.  I know all the criticisms of this: people won’t listen, this is outdated, you’re wasting your time, relationships should be the priority.  But, I went (thanks to the prodding of a good friend).  Here’s a few things I learned:

  1. There are people who will listen.  I just went to one city block and spent an hour and a half.  While there were many who didn’t want any part of what we were about, there were four people who listened, gave us an opportunity to pray for/with them, and invested their time.  That was encouraging.
  2. All people in my town don’t go to church.  It seems shocking because so much of the culture of where I live is rooted in hard-working, moralistic, and doing good to one another.  But, there were people who didn’t have any connection to church and, in deeper ways, didn’t know much of the life that could be there’s because of Jesus.
  3. This practice helped fire my prayer and my worship.  My desperation for God to work and be with me increased.  My love for God in the Sunday morning gathering was affected.  The air was crisper, the fellowship deeper, the singing more glorious, all because I took and opportunity to share what God’s done in my life.
  4. This exercise encouraged people in my body.  I got comments like “that’s inspiring” and “can you teach me how to do this.”  It was a reminder that local church practices of leadership engage others.  How I live matters in the life of the people God’s entrusted to me.  In fact, God’s wired it to work that way.  Pastors who are just pastors in name only are not only not living up to their calling, but they’re failing to give people direction for living.  I recognize my weakness to live what I believe before and with the people now more than ever.

So, I know this may create more questions than it provides answers.  If you’re wondering what I shared it was simply this: the good news for all the world is that even though we’ve messed everything up (and continue to), God has remedied the mess of this world by sending His Son to live the perfect life we can’t, die in the place of sinners, rise so that they can be right with Him, and live.  Now, by banking all of our hopes and dreams in Jesus, we can really live and glorify God with our lives.  I hope this short post encourages you to engage your faith for the good of others.

 

Caring for Cross-Cultural Partners

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There are many priorities that we can easily build into the life of a local church culture.  As a pastor, I juggle many of these often.  And, I’ve found it difficult over time to clarify which priorities are worthy of my time and which ones aren’t.  Enter God’s Word.  God’s Word is meant to help pastors like me navigate how things are to be ordered in the church (1 Timothy 3:15).  I came to a deep conviction from Scripture recently because an entire book of the Bible encourages churches to care for cross-cultural partners.  Here’s the passage:

You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. [7] For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. [8] Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. (3 John 6-8)

So, we took some steps at our local church to help support these who have gone out for the sake of the Name.  These are ones who, by and large, are working in another culture to advance the good news among those who don’t know it.
Some things we’ve done:

1) Change your domain name so that it’s not “churchy.”  We transitioned from crestviewbiblechurch.org to crestviewhutch.org to serve those who are in “forward” areas.  Recently, I spoke at an agency that supports international partners and they told me that one thing churches could easily do would be to not list names on the website.  I get it, right?  We want our church people to know who these partners are.  We’re assuming that our people are combing over our internet content consistently.  And, for the most part, they’re not.  We can find better ways to connect our people to our partners than through a webpage.

2) Develop relationships.  I’ve tried, as a lead pastor, to visit each of our partners where they serve.  There’s something unique that is stirred up by seeing them serve in their context.  It’s been helpful to me in helping our people in praying, knowing their needs, and caring for them. But, I try to take every opportunity to deepen relationships.  When we travel near then, I try to connect with them.  When I learn that they’ll be in our area, we set up lunch or dinner and rope in our people to these connections.  We try to get them to stay with our people for long stretches.  We connect their hobbies to the hobbies of our people.  You don’t have to overthink this, but you should probably think about this.  Deepen these relationships.

3) Figure out your church’s part of Great Commission work.  The best thing we’ve done as a church is to figure out what God has called us to do (mission) and how we go about doing it (values).  We used my good friend Matthew Ellison and 16:15 to help facilitate this process, building out of Crestview’s history and how God has wired us for this cross-cultural work.  Our people were energized and had a reason to develop relationships.

You’ve been given a role as a church (3 John 6-8 again!) to serve these partners well.  So, consider how you might up your game in this regard.  And, step in to this practice for the sake of His name and His glory among the nations.

Weekend Recap – Gospel Change

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My 6/11/17AM sermon, Gospel Change from Galatians 2:17-21, is now online.  One of the most famliar verses in Galatians is Galatains 2:20.  Being able to see the power this verse holds in context proved a very valuable thing for me.  But, the main point of this section is that the Gospel is able to transform us.  We fight sin differently, we know life, and we are united to Christ.  I hope this sermon encourages you.

Weekend Recap – Ben Cornish Visit

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This weekend, I was privileged to benefit from Ben Cornish visiting Crestview as he served at our body.  During Sunday School, Ben updated us on the work he does with Teaching Truth International, equipping international pastors with the basics of the faith.  Then, during the AM service, Ben preached Galatians 2:15-16 on The Gospel and Legalism.  The sermon really was encouraging, helpful, and stirring.  There were great depths of application explored and I’m still figuring out where legalism may exist in my heart and life.

I hope you had a great weekend, as well.  Connect with Ben’s sermon if you’d like to continue in our Galatians series.

Weekend Preview – Meal, Ben Cornish

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Crestview had a new ENews come out today with lots of happenings.  In particular, though, there’s a lot of activity this weekend.

Ben Cornish will be updating us on his ministry during the Sunday School hour.  And, he’ll be preaching Galatians 2:15-16 during the AM service.  We’ll follow this amazing morning with a Noon Meal.  BBQ meat has been purchased and we’re asking everyone to bring sides and desserts (although we’ll have plenty of food).

Join us this Sunday to hear updates from Ben and to enjoy some fellowship together.

Weekend Recap – Family & Ben Cornish

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On 5/28/17 at Crestview, my Sunday School lesson got in to some good application about how the rhythms of Ephesians 6:1-4 can be applied in to lives.  This lesson helped press our need to raise children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

During the AM service, I was privileged to lead a Q & A with Ben Cornish.  Here’s the questions I asked:

– begin with a quick update on what you’ve been up to in life and ministry
– how did God lead you to TTI?  How is your work like your father’s / different?  (How do your gifts complement one another)
– We’ve heard the emphasis on “relieving the theological famine” that exists in the world.  How does this relate to the work you all do?
– How do you balance the Gospel needs that exist in the places you travel to with the need for theological development/discipleship?  What might churches learn from this?
– What is the prosperity gospel?  Why is this such a big issue in the world today?  What resources might help us understand this?  How might an American be tempted to embrace this (even at a local Bible church)
– Tell us about what happened in Sierra Leone earlier this year?
– What’s a big, God-sized dream that you have for your ministry and what are some areas of prayer for your ministry in these days?

Memorial Day 2017 Weekend Preview

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We’re preparing for a good final push of the month of May at Crestview.  In Sunday School, we’ll think of the role of families in establishing habits of the heart (looking at Ephesians 6:1-4).  During the AM Worhip Service, we’ll take the Lord’s Supper together and enjoy a conversation about Gospel progress with Ben Cornish.  We hope to see you there (Sunday School at 9AM/Worship at 10:15AM).

Weekend Recap – Gospel Conduct

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My 5/21/17AM sermon, Gospel Conduct from Galatians 2:11-14, is now online.  This sermon unpacked the scrum between Paul and Peter.  Specifically, what was in view was conduct in keeping with the Gospel.  I hope this sermon encourages you and helps you move forward.

And, in Sunday School, we thought about what it looks like to cultivate individual habits of the heart by setting our minds on things above, putting on the new self, and allowing God’s Word to richly dwell in us (from Colossians 3:1-17).

Weekend Preview – Gospel Conduct

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I hope to see you at Crestview tomorrow (5/21).  During the morning worship service (10:15AM), we’ll continue working our way through the book of Galatians.  Specifically, tomorrow we’ll be in Galatians 2:11-14 and seeing Paul confront Peter.  Gospel conduct is in view.  Why does it matter?  And, what is the importance for you and me?  These are the directions we’ll head.

And, I’ll continue teaching the Adult/Student Sunday School class at 9AM.  This particular lesson will have us digging in to Colossians 3:1-17 and what habits of the heart need nurtured as we set our minds on the things above.

Before all of this, though, will you pray for God to act?  It’s all in vain without His work. Hope to see you then.

First Principles – Cultivating Habits of the Heart

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This past Sunday, I began teaching BILD International’s First Principles, Series 1, Book 4, Cultivating Habits of the Heart.  (I’m teaching this to students and adults at 9AM on Sundays at Crestview).  The description of the class is challenging:

In this booklet, participants will take a radically different approach to the habits of the heart. God never intended our lives to be based on a set of individual daily habits, but rather on a whole life orientation that grows out of family and community life. We are not to gain insights from the Word fundamentally in isolation but from disciplines in all spheres of our lives. God carefully designed these habits to guide each believer into a life in which Christ can richly dwell in our hearts, resulting in our entire lives being transformed by our calling.

It’s particularly challenging for those who aren’t resisting the rugged individualism thrust upon them by our culture.  Because, in American church life, in particular, we believe that if it’s meant to be, it’s up to me.  But, the New Testament speaks of a different way: people who have denied themselves, taken up their cross, and followed Jesus.  These people follow Jesus in community with others.  We hope this curriculum helps build a heart for disciplined living.