Our Palm Sunday King is Near!

The Psalmist declared the coming of the King of Glory to Jerusalem, and He came:

Psalm 24:7-8 -- “Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and might, the LORD mighty in battle.”

This whole Psalm was likely penned during the time of the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem (Zion). Yet, it speaks forth a great prophecy that was true in the day of the Ark of the Covenant’s journey into Jerusalem and the presence of Yahweh (God), was true when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey 2,000 years ago, and will soon be true again at the 2^nd Coming of Christ.

“The LORD mighty in battle,” speaks unashamedly of a warrior-God, who went out and fought for His people, who subdued the nations, and spread His name that His glory might be known all across the earth. Christ is “the LORD mighty in battle.” It is also true that He is the Prince of Peace, but He is also the better Joshua, the victorious warrior, in whom dwells the powerful and conquering might of the living God. Christ is the Commander of all the forces of the universe.

Revelation 1:7 – “Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him.”

Christ is coming! Our King draws near!

What if we disappeared?

The Great Commandment to love God and love people is a powerful and foundational statement from Jesus. 

If the people of God faithfully obey this Great Commandment the unchurched in our communities will take notice. Loving God with ALL our heart, and loving others as profoundly as we love ourselves…yes…that makes a powerful statement in a community.

Church congregations see themselves as placed by God into particular communities. Our Pearland churches worship together, learn and serve together, and try to teach others to be more like Jesus. But, what if we disappeared? What if Shadycrest disappeared?

If we disappeared, would our community miss us? If we disappeared, would our community grieve? Would they feel a deep loss? These are good and profound questions to ask. The Great Commandment from our Lord Jesus Christ, upon which “all of the Law and the Prophets hangs,” compels us to ask such questions.

I wish to challenge you this week to pray about loving your neighbors. I want to challenge us all to dig deep and evaluate where we are with this profound command to love our neighbors. I want to continually challenge us to identify those in our personal sphere of influence whom God is inviting us to reach. Truly, we might be the only Jesus some will ever meet. God is moving!

Will you let Him move in you?

Confessing Christ

God’s plans to save mankind from their sins includes the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. The lost in the world identify us as followers of Christ not only by the fruit of our lives, but also by the repeated confession of our mouth the Jesus is our Lord.

In Jesus’ day, people were not sure He was the Messiah. This is why Jesus asked His disciples, “who do men say that I am?” (Matt 16:13-19). The disciples’ answers proved there was great confusion then concerning who Jesus was. Likewise, there is great confusion today about who Jesus is.

Some people today say Jesus was a great leader and teacher. Some say following Jesus is one of many ways to get to heaven. Some say Jesus was a fake and a phony--just a man. Some say He was a prophet, like Moses, or Muhammad, or Joseph Smith. Why is there so much confusion still today concerning who Jesus is??? How do we help clear up the confusion?

The answer to these questions is the same as it was the day Jesus asked His disciples to identify who He was. Peter said it right that day, and He kept on saying it boldly and courageously with his life and his words, every day. And, Peter and the disciples did it in a place and a time that was oppositional to the truth that Jesus is truly the King!

So how do we respond? How do we answer? We MUST do likewise. We must be Peter, James, and John to our generation. A person cannot become a Christian unless he/she confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Rom 10:9-10). One day, everyone will confess Christ (Rom 14:11-12; Phil 2:9-11), but if people wait till that day it will be too late. There is an urgency here we must not ignore. We must lay aside our fears, open our mouths, and confess Christ. We must be His witnesses…for lives are on the line…eternity is at stake!

Stay on Target...Stay on Target

Yes…for all you Star Wars fans…the title of this blog is a reference from the movie! These encouraging words helped Luke Skywalker to stay focused on his mission: to drop a bomb into the belly of the Death Star and destroy it, stopping the evil plot of the Empire.

Our mission is quite different in many regards, but the focus we need to stay on target is just as pronounced as it was that day for a young Skywalker. Most people generally feel that the condition of the world is not getting any better and that conditions are actually worsening each year. I would agree. For Christians especially, recent months have recorded stories of Christian persecution that feel more like pages ripped out of the book of Exodus than modern-day news reports.

A Christian couple beaten to death and then burned in a kiln…more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria…a mother forced to give birth in chains in Sudan…the mass exodus (millions) of families forced from their homes in Syria, driven out by the brutality of ISIS…the violence and cruelty seem to know no bounds.

If we don’t understand it, we are certainly starting to feel it, even as we are “safe” in our nice homes here in the US. The news reports are getting closer and closer to home each day. Christ will be the only solid rock that will supply us with hope in trying times. Mark 13:31 says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

We live in a lost and dying world!!! And, we possess the only cure…the hope of the gospel!!! It is too precious a gift to hold for ourselves…we must share it! Focus now…let’s stay on target!

Making Disciples—Youth 101

Some of the most common questions pastors and youth pastors discuss when we conference together are:

“How can we equip teenagers to truly live out their faith in today’s world?”

“What is the secret to mentoring kids to own their faith by the time they leave home?”

“How should we actually disciple teens today?”

The truth is, we can use words like “disciple” and “mentor” all day long, but that doesn’t mean we are truly making a difference in their lives and increasing their faith.

I’m proud of youth leaders in our church like Galen Beck, Bre’anne Northcutt, Tyler McKinney, and Danny Himmel that are investing significant time to build relationships with our youth…for relationships are key! Youth Pastors have known for decades that the biggest players in a young person’s spiritual development are their parents. The reasons for this are simple—relationships, relationships, relationships.

Over 85 percent of Christians in America send their children to public schools (The Harsh Truth About Public Schools by Bruce Short, page 199). Imagine the alarm that would sound in these Christian homes if parents learned their children had graduated from High School without learning how to read, write, or to calculate simple math problems. I imagine you wouldn’t be able to hold back the flood of parents working to overhaul the education system. In the same way, imagine how the alarm should sound in the church and in Christian homes today with the knowledge that over 70 percent of our Christian youth are graduating High School without the ability to clearly articulate their own faith and belief system. In fact, studies show most of them (70-88% depending on which region they attend college in) will drop completely out of church by the end of their freshmen year of college (Battle Cry for a Generation by Ron Luce, page 34).

Most churches and Christian homes today are producing “moralists” but not “followers” of Jesus Christ. This means that our students may be successful at identifying right and wrong behaviors; however, when asked to articulate the fundamentals of our Christian faith, their answers are unimpressive and sometimes simply wrong. Christian Smith, a sociologist and expert on America’s Christian youth, argues that this inability to articulate their faith is crucial to discovering why so many Christian youth are deserting their faith upon leaving their homes (Soul Searching by Christian Smith, page 131).

The bottom line is: we need more people spending time with our youth, loving on them and earning trust through relationship. We must be proactive and tackle this problem head-on and urgently. And, we must pray for, support, and encourage all you parents to set a godly example for your teens at home. For, it is certainly true that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” (quote from every grandparent who has ever quoted anything)!

What are you doing to make disciples of our youth?

Oh Yes, God is Faithful

Thomas Chisholm wrote “Great is Thy Faithfulness” as a testimonial song about his life. Thomas was born in a log cabin in Franklin, Kentucky. He became a Christian when he was 27 years old and at age 36 he entered the gospel ministry. Unfortunately, poor health forced him to retire from ministry after just 1 year. Throughout the rest of his life he worked as an insurance agent and wrote nearly 1,200 poems, including several hymns.

Chisholm explained near the end of his life, “My income has not been large at any time due to impaired health in the early years which has followed me on until now. Although I must not fail to record here the unfailing faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God and that He has given me many wonderful displays of His providing care, for which I am filled with astonishing gratefulness.”

Maybe you are a little like me. Life has thrown you some ups and downs; you’ve been knocked down a few times but you still found a way to recover and climb to newer and higher heights. Maybe you’ve truly seen some struggles that I haven’t yet seen, but one thing we do have in common is that God has been faithful to each of us. His consistent support and steady hands have guided our lives.

I pray my children learn of God’s faithfulness as they hear me tell them stories from my life. I pray they remember the song from their mother’s lips (and heart) as she sang over them this song of God’s faithfulness as she put them to bed as small children. I pray the LORD finds us faithful here at Shadycrest to follow Jesus, accomplish His will, surrender our wills, and serve Him with a passion for faithfulness.

Every new day is the opportunity to prove God’s faithfulness. His mercies are new every morning…for HE is faithful! 

I AM KIND…what is your superpower?

Galatians 5:22-23 teaches us about the fruit of the Spirit. One of the fruits is kindness…”but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,  goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Last year our church began a partnership with a mentoring ministry—Kids Hope USA (http://www.kidshopeusa.org/). It is an exciting program and has caused Wednesdays to be a favorite day for me each week. Now, on Wednesdays I have the privilege of mentoring a 1^st grade student at Shadycrest Elementary School and we are having a great time of learning and growing together. Each trip I see a sign outside a teacher’s door that says, “I’m a teacher, what is your superpower!”

I love it…but it provoked me to thinking about the literal supernatural powers that Christ gives us through the empowering work of HIS SPIRIT in us. It’s the “Grace Fruit” we have been talking about in our current sermon series at Shadycrest. Have you ever thought about the fact that you have been given SUPERPOWERS! Praise the LORD; yes you have!

Can you think of someone right now who has been mean to you? They have mistreated you in the past? Your easiest response is to have nothing to do with them; however, I suggest that you do  something kind for them, especially if this person is in your family or is someone you see often. The purpose of kindness is not to make them burn with shame, but to bless them. If you do, God will reward your kindness. It is hard to do, and you may have to pray hard and long before being truly ready to do it…but do it anyway!

Booker T. Washington, the first President of Tuskegee Institute faced a great deal of hatred and abuse as he worked to educate African-Americans during the time of Jim Crow laws in the south. Through it all, he demonstrated the kindness of Christ to his enemies. He once wrote: “I will not allow any man to make me lower myself by hating him. The only way I can destroy my enemy is to make him my friend.”

In August 1998 when George H. W. Bush accepted the Republican nomination for President, he said, “I want a kinder, gentler nation.” Five months later he was inaugurated as our 41st President. Do you recall what his first official act was as Chief Executive? He led us in prayer. May God give us more leaders who lead us in prayer.

It’s amazing that President Bush said that one of our greatest needs is to become a kinder, gentler

nation. If it’s true of our nation, it’s also true of our churches, and our homes, and of each of us. We certainly need a kinder, gentler culture, and a kinder, gentler world.

Unfortunately, it is too common for “good, religious people” to be as mean as a snake. I’ve had more than one server in a restaurant tell me the rudest folks are the church people who eat out for Sunday lunch—and they say, “they’re the worse tippers!” OUCH! I agree with the little girl who had spent all day with some of these “good, religious people.” During her bedtime prayer she prayed, “Dear God, please make all the bad people good; and make all the good people kind.”

We must be kind to one another. Yes, we must be much kinder to one another than we presently are. One thing we say around here a lot is the phrase, “I might need to change.” It is a reminder that we haven’t arrived yet and Jesus is still working out His will and good pleasure in each of us who believe in Him. Kindness isn’t natural. It is supernatural, and we need to rely on Him to create kindness within us each and every day.

In Jesus name and for His glory I will be kind…what is your superpower?