Field of Dreams

As 2006 comes to an end, I ask myself what 2007 will hold for me. I know that this year will be a start of planning for the church plant in Suffolk which makes me think about how I feel churches should be going out to reach the lost. With this in mind, I feel strongly that the church is to be an outreach center reaching the community. That’s why I feel that the last half of the church’s name will be “Outreach Center.”

I think today, some churches have the wrong thinking of reaching the community. They seem to have the “Field of Dreams” mentality. This is based on the movie. They think, “If you build it, they will come.” The leadership of churches feels that if they build a new nice building, the people will come to them. The only people that tend to come are disgruntled members of other churches visiting to see what’s going on. The lost person may see a new building and wonder what’s going on in there but will not visit unless Christians go to them and invite them.

Jesus never said, “If you build it, the people will come to you.” He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” We should have the mindset of going to our family, friends, and co-workers with the good news of Christ. Just invite them to church with you. That’s a start.

Use 2007 as a start of going to your family, friends, and co-workers and share the light that God has given you in His Son, Jesus. Thanks for reading and have a happy and safe new year.

Merry Christmas

When I was a little boy, I truly loved the Christmas season. I still do in my own way. Christmas has changed to me since I’ve grown into a man. My mom told me this would happen when I was in the beginning of my teen years. One reason is that since I’ve been working at Dollar Tree Christmas seems to come faster each year. The demand and volume we have to ship to our stores seems to double, so when it all settles back down its Christmas. Another reason Christmas has changed to me is the way the world looks at it. Heaven forbid that you sing songs that have the word Christ in them or say Merry Christmas. The world has turned this season into “Happy Holiday.” The world is clueless in that when you have holiday, it’s a word meaning “Holy Day.” I do feel that the main reason Christmas has changed to me is me. The more I’ve learned through studying the Bible, the more the truth is clear, and traditions (even though nice) aren’t what Christmas is about as we know it to be.

When I was a child, I enjoyed the traditions of what Christmas brings; the idea of baby Jesus in a barn with the shepherds and wise men with Him. The truth is that Jesus was born in a cave (caves are where people kept their animals safe), and that the wise men weren’t at the birth of Jesus. They came when He was a little child. The Bible is clear on what type of offerings to give, and the type Joseph and Mary offered was for the poor people. If they had the gold from the wise men, they would have done another type of offering. Must likely Jesus was born in early spring (March or April) because the shepherds were keeping their folks by night. In December, the weather in the middle east is too cold to sleep outside. We celebrate Christmas in December because the Catholic church chose this month. The idea of Christmas is what I love the most. Not the traditions or gifts but what Jesus is. Jesus is a gift that God offered to deliver us from an eternity in hell.

Since God gave us His Son, the idea of Christmas is to give and not to get. This year especially, I’ve told my loved ones to not give me anything but to give to others. The real reason for the Christmas season is Jesus and not Santa Claus or any other symbol the world is using these days. Christmas is the spirit of giving.

My final thoughts on Christmas is that Jesus didn’t come to earth for Christmas. He came for Easter. This means that Jesus didn’t come for the manger. He came for the cross. He came to die in our place, and He redeems us.

Have a Merry Christmas, and a safe New Year. Thanks for reading.

Staying Focused

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).

I tend to wondering from time to time in my head (daydreaming is the technical term). As I look to see what God will do through me in the upcoming church plant, it’s getting harder to stay focused on what is I should be focused on. The above verse helps me stay focused on what is important.

My calling to preach the message of Christ overshadows everything around me. It makes me a better husband to Teresa, a better son to my parents, a better brother to my sisters, a better friend to my friends, and a better minister to the people God has me to work with.

The idea of the Philippian verse is that of the races that were held back in the first century A.D. At the end of a racing field, there was a pole with a flag hanging on that the runners would focus on as they ran. It didn’t matter what was going on around them; the only thing that was important was the “mark” which was the finish line. As we do the tasks we are called to do, things tend to come at us to distract us. Some of them are Satan trying to throw you off, and some are just natural things. The key is to put on “Spiritual blinders” to block out the unimportant things. Farmers used to put blinders on their animals (i.e. horses, mules, donkeys, etc) to help them do straight lines while plowing. If the blinders weren’t used, the row that the farmer would use to plant wouldn’t be straight. It’s always easier and quicker to go in a straight line to arrive at a destination, than zig zagging. So if we allow things to distract us from doing our God given tasks, it will take longer to complete.

Billy Graham has a saying, “Keep the Main Thing, The Main Thing.” This helped him stay focused on his calling. As he was developing his ministry, there were distractions left and right. When he was young, Hollywood came a knocking for him to make movies. People wanted him to start schools. All could have distracted him from his true calling of preaching the gospel of Christ. As Billy kept his eyes on the “mark” God has called him to complete, I too must not allow things to keep me from completing the tasks God has called me to complete.

Thanks for reading.