Venture All!

We lose nothing by the Gospel, therefore we should venture thereupon all we have.[1]

 When I read the statement above it seems so obvious to me, so plain, simple, straightforward, and true. However, if that is indeed the case, why are we so hesitant? It seems that we should be more bold in our witness. Have we not been entrusted with the words that lead to eternal life? Have we stopped believing that, regardless of the question, when it comes to life’s difficult issues the answer is still, somehow, bound up in the person and work of Jesus Christ?

Yes, we may be rejected a hundred times for every one person who comes to know Christ in a whole and real way. Is that one “Yes” not worth the 99 “No’s”? Is our intact pride to be valued above another person’s soul? Are we that fragile that our Savior cannot restore our shattered self-esteem when we feel the rejection on a personal level?

There is a phrase, popular in some sections of Christianity these days. It is “living into our baptism.” When we were baptized, we made certain promises, or there were promises made for us. If we were baptized as an infant, we went through a confirmation class to join a local congregation. The purpose of this class is to allow us to confirm on our own behalf those promises originally made for us as a child.

The questions asked when a person joins the church include at least one question about involvement in the church and the desire to lead a life in obedience to Christ. How many of us have seriously thought about what full obedience to Jesus Christ actually means? In one sentence, it means recognizing that we are not our own boss anymore. We bend our will to the will of Jesus Christ. If ever we find the Scripture commanding one thing and our desires wanting something else, we set aside our desires and submit to the guidance of Scripture. It’s time to live like the Gospel is true!

Pastor Craig

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[1] Luther, Martin (2006-02-01). Selections from the Table Talk of Martin Luther (p. 67). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Consequences

The question has been raised as to what will be different, what are the consequences for First Presbyterian Church if we join the Fellowship of Presbyterians? Here is the fallout as I see it.

If we take this seriously, including the questions asked of us as a congregation below, we are no longer allowed to come and finish our God responsibility on Sunday morning. It won’t be enough to come and sit and the pew and pay attention. It won’t be enough to preach the sermon and consider the people fed and ministered to. It won’t be enough to serve on the session or teach a Sunday school class.
If we ask these questions of ourselves and not just the church, we will not be able to sit still. This does not mean that everyone will have to go to Joplin, New Orleans, or Reynosa. It does mean that each one seeks God’s place for him/her in the vision and ministry of FPC. It does mean that the session cannot just vote on the color of the carpet or approve a new AC unit or support a missionary or a mission trip. It means the session as a whole must develop a vision for FPC and guide that vision in its formation, activation, and implementation. It means the session must be intimately involved in the recruitment, equipping, training, and encouragement of the saints of God here in FPC. It is a vision that will not stop or end, for the kingdom of God does not stop or end.

We commit ourselves not just to the six tenets of the covenant. We also commit ourselves to transparent accountability with the questions below. I think it is the way the Scripture calls us to encourage one another. This will not be achieved by rules and punishments for failure. It will be achieved by leadership in effort and grace in weakness.

1.             How has the Holy Spirit been evident in your congregation in the past year; through conversions, growth in the fruit of the Spirit, or other transformational experiences that make disciples of Jesus Christ?

2.             How has your congregation extended itself beyond its bounds through the establishment of new communities of worship and discipleship, expanding the Kingdom of God?

3.             In what ways is your congregation seeking the welfare of the community to which you have been called; devoting itself to the poor, seeking justice, and living out the whole of the Great Commission?

4.             How are you encouraging people to allow God’s Word to shape their priorities and actions, and to nurture constant learning and the life of the mind?

5.             How are you helping children and others new to the Christian faith to discover Jesus and grow in their understanding and love of God’s Word?

6.             Describe the moral expression in your congregation – are you more like the world or more like participants in the values of the Kingdom of God?

7.             How is your congregation intentionally unleashing the ministries of women, men, and people of different ethnic groups who are experiencing God’s call?

8.             How is the idea of ministry as the joy and calling of every disciple evident in your congregation? How are you equipping people to represent Jesus more effectively in their respective professions?

9.             Illustrate the commitment of your congregation to global evangelism and discipleship, including examples of where you are engaging and with whom you are partnering.

10.          How does your congregation understand commitment to the larger church through our connectional relationships within the Body of Christ?

Pastor Craig

The Spiritually Self-Seeking Church

Till we all come. . .to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:13

The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconcilication of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually but also in our lives collectively. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.

from One-Minute Devotions

The Spiritually Vigorous Saint

That I may know Him. . .
            (Philippians 3:10)

A spiritually vigorous saint never believes that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he ever think of his life as being divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him.

The aim of the spiritually vigorous saint is "that I may know Him."

                       from One-Minute Meditations

Is the Gospel Worth It?

Is the Gospel Worth It? Martin Luther is credited with saying “The Gospel cannot be preached without offence and tumult.”[1]

Isn’t the person of Jesus Christ supposed to be the very essence of peace, compassion, forgiveness, and charity? Why then this talk of offence and tumult?

First, it is not the purpose of the preacher or the Christian bearing witness to the person of Jesus Christ at work in their life to cause division or strife. However, any person seeking to proclaim Christ can proclaim no other Christ than the one revealed to us through Scripture.

It is not the disciple who brings strife. Neither is it the Gospel that causes division. It is the presence of the sin of pride, that prince of all other sins, which prompts the one confronted and convicted of their own transgression to hold on to those same transgressions rather than to kneel before the cross of Christ in repentance and plead for mercy.

We reject the righteousness of Christ, which convicts us of sin, which leads us to the cross, which justifies us before our Heavenly Father, which sets us back in a proper relation with our God and Creator. Instead, we claim to be more enlightened, to have a new revelation which nullifies the claim of the Gospel on our life and allows us to set aside that call to righteousness and holiness commanded by the Old and New Testaments. In doing this, we become more tightly bound to our sinful selves and enslaved to a dead end theology with no hope of being made anew!

Thanks be to God for the graciousness of our Heavenly Father, who continually holds before our eyes the person of Christ, calling us to abandon those unfulfilling ways and rest in His forgiveness and peace. We only first need to recognize the emptiness of our efforts and trade our path to destruction for a path of life and peace.

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare![2]

Pastor Craig

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[1] Selections from the Table Talk of Martin Luther

[2] Isaiah 55:1,2

Life As Mission

Life as Mission: How does one describe a week of mission work? Granted a week is a sorry limit to what one can and should do in service to Jesus

Christ and his kingdom.

This year is different than last year’s trip to New Orleans. In New Orleans, the buildings, at least the vast majority of them, were still there. They were just abandoned. In Joplin, there are no buildings. Vast stretches of what used to be neighborhoods are now fields with a few broken trees, some trying to sprout leaves from what remains of their branches. This is all that remains in some places. Oh, in 10 years or so, you won’t recognize the city. One of the reasons we were tagging streets is that some residents already have trouble recognizing it with old landmarks gone and new street signs not in place yet.

Each year we make these trips I come back challenged. I struggle concerning what to do with what the group has seen and learned, what we have done and experienced. I think of mission as a way of life. This year I see something different. I see life as mission. Yes, go back a sentence of two and read those two phrases. Take out a piece of paper and write them down side-by-side if you have to.

Mission as Life involves throwing one’s self into the mission as experience and having that experience invigorate an individual or group. It isn’t a bad thing, no, certainly not. The problem is that it is simply inadequate. The motivation cannot outlive the feeling, the spiritual high of the moment.

Life as Mission involves a total commitment of the self. Not to the mission experience, but to mission itself. Not a mission, but to the mission. Not to a single project, but to a relationship.

“One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”[1]

The following is a daily, life long, journey that will lead you to the greatest life experiences you can ever have.

Pastor Craig

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[1]   (2009-03-19). Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible (NASB 1977 edition) (Kindle Locations 34714-34715). The Lockman Foundation. Kindle Edition.

Mission Trip as Vacation

For this article, we welcome guest blogger, Jennifer Kitchens. She is blogging from Joplin, MO where she is working with Rebuild Joplin.

On a typical Wednesday, I am up at 5. I work out, shower, blow-dry and flat-iron my hair and put on make-up - all before 7:15. After breakfast I scramble off to work from 8-4, then run errands and do other chores before winding down for the night in preparation for the next day.

But this was no ordinary Wednesday. I'm on vacation, and that means I'm recharging. Ah, yes. The joys of vacation. Road-tripping over 400 miles with rap music blasting; sleeping on a sleeping bag; subsisting on teen-designed meals (PB&J, Oreos, orange Gatorade, pizza, pasta, hamburgers); convincing teenagers to do sweaty work, share games, or drink water when soda sounds better. Best recharge ever.

Disagree? Hear me out, because, all sarcasm aside, this IS a total recharge. It's not the typical - of the spiritual kind. Today is only Thursday, and already I feel my spirit coming clean.

First, I have faced my awful, yucky, no-good sinful tendencies head-on. When we got the less-than-glorious tasks to do to help the citizens of Joplin, I found myself groaning selfishly. "I came here to make a difference!" I thought to myself. "Not to pick up trash or guard spray paint on the street! Those jobs aren't big enough. If I'm going to sweat, I want to be doing something physically demanding or ministering directly to people! I want to SEE the results of my work!" But, biting my tongue, I tried to be positive and give the students the gratifying work that I wanted to do. I also find myself selfishly comparing everyone to everyone else and judging who is "good" and who is "bad." That was especially obvious on Tuesday, when I saw some "good" kids have to be disciplined, and later learned how much pain some of the "bad" kids have already faced in this life (it's much more than I've ever known). These are just a few of my sinful tendencies. They have come out in such sharp relief this week, so I can see very clearly how much I truly need God's love and forgiveness.

But wait! There's more. This trip has already reminded me why I got into Youth Ministry in the first place. Kids - babies, toddlers, children, preteens and yes, teenagers - are so much fun to be around! They're not perfect at any age - they definitely need discipline and get grumpy when they're hot, tired and dripping in sweat (but then, so do adults!). But kids have such great qualities that seem to fade in adults. They are so quick to forgive, for instance. They don't hold it against you forever if you forget their names, give them hard work to do, separate them from their friends, turn down their music or lay down the law. Kids are also much faster to make friends. Here in Joplin there are students from Mexia, Ennis and Desert, Texas as well as Guymon, Oklahoma. By now, though, a total stranger would never know who came from where. Girls from Guymon and Ennis work side-by-side, guys from Desert and Guymon team up during games, and photos can include guys and girls from all 4 church groups. Even inside jokes have sprung up, and none are confined to kids from just one church. Still more, kids are so willing to open up. Just a few hours after getting here, the girls started really talking to me, and I am amazed simultaneously at the beauty and pain in their stories. It's not just about who plays which sport or has a boyfriend or lives in a really nice house - the real stories are how much they have already experienced, how much they need Christ, how very human they are. We as adults tend to emphasize the differences between youth and adults. As I sit among them, I cannot help but see how very similar is all humanity. We have all sinned and fallen short of God's perfection. We all face personal failure and much pain as a result of our sin and others' sin. We all have no way out of the sin-pain-sin-pain cycle we try to use to heal ourselves. We all need Christ to truly bind up our wounds. We are all human.

Last but not least, this trip is filling me with hope. The people and community of Joplin are truly amazing. Everyone we meet has been so gracious, welcoming and appreciative of our coming here. Members of Bethany Presbyterian Church have asked if we needed anything - this in addition to the church facility they've already offered! People driving past our work sites have slowed down just to thank us. To top it off, last night some Bethany Church members even had us out to their property and grilled hot dogs and hamburgers for all 29 of us! From the stories we've heard to the pictures we've seen, everything here speaks of destruction, but instead they all have hope and love and joy and peace. The true fruits of the spirit flow freely from the natives of Joplin. I can't help but pick up on it!

I could go on, but I need to eat breakfast and make my lunch. We're about to head out to work another day. I can't wait.

Jenn Kitchens