Faith Like A Child

Faith Like A Child

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom 

of God like a child shall not enter it.

Luke 18:17

My daughter, Mackenzie, is a three-year-old who is full of life, energy and excitement.  It is amazing to watch her learn new things and oftentimes quite humorous to see how she processes them.  Before every meal and at bedtime each night we end each of our prayers with “Amen, To God Be All the Glory”.  This has become a standard to her on how one is supposed to end a prayer.  It is has been humorous to see her correct her Sunday School teachers saying, that they forgot to say, “To God Be All the Glory”.  Meanwhile they try to figure out what this three-year-old is saying, since it is not always completely understandable.  

Mackenzie attends the preschool held at the Methodist Church in the town where we live.  A few weeks ago, she came home concerned, worried, and upset.  When my wife and I asked her what was wrong, she said, “Pastor David does not know how to end a prayer”.  I assumed she meant that he had simply forgotten to say, “To God Be All the Glory”, however she continued, he ended his prayers saying, “(Ahh-men)" instead of "(Ae-men)."  She was worried how someone who was a pastor could miss this simple task.  So Mackenzie, with the mind of a child begin to pray for Pastor David every night, that God would teach him how to correctly end a prayer.  

Yesterday, when I picked Mackenzie up from pre-school, it was all Mackenzie could do to contain her excitement as she told me, that “God had taught Pastor David to end his prayers correctly with "(Ae-men)."  Being an adult and not particularly in the believing mode, I tried to interpret what she was saying by asking, “So did you bug him to say that?”, or “Was he trying to make you happy?”.  Mackenzie continued, that, no God had been the one who had taught Pastor David this; He had answered her prayer.  It then hit me, this was Faith Like a Child.  Even though I don’t know what caused Pastor David to end his prayers like this, in my daughters mind, this was God doing exactly what we had been teaching her - answering her prayers.  

I wonder how many of us would have callused hearts in this situation, to think well God didn’t truly answer this prayer, trying to rationalize what had happened, instead of simply exclaiming that God had answered a prayer.  In this moment, my daughter became the teacher and I became the student; she reminded me of a child-like faith that doesn’t reason, or try to explain, but that trusts in God.   

Be encouraged today that the Lord does indeed hear your prayers, and He is at work in answering them.  

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer,

believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11:24

Life is Uncertain, God is Not.

The Monday before Thanksgiving the President of the Southern Baptist Convention announced that he has prostate cancer and will undergo surgery in January. On Thanksgiving Day, a young 35 year old pastor in Flower Mound, whom I look up to greatly, suffered a seizure which led to them finding a mass on his frontal lobe and will undergo brain surgery this Friday to remove the mass and discover whether it is malignant or not. Two days after Thanksgiving a former president of the SBC and the current VP of the North American Mission Board, tragically lost his 32 year old daughter. On the same day a church planter in the Houston area had a marital dispute with his wife and “made a bad choice how to settle it, and took his own life”. These are all leaders that are very close to home in the Baptist realm and local area. They have all been on my mind and in my prayers all week especially the young pastor from Flower Mound.

When I woke up this morning it was snowing. Just a week or so ago we had the a/c on in our house and this morning I cannot get warm enough. It dawned on my through these events, life is unpredictable. We never know what tomorrow holds. Last week the young pastor in Flower Mound was getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family and this week He is having brain surgery unsure of the results. Last week Frank Page was spending time with his daughter at thanksgiving, this week she is gone. Last Sunday a church in Houston had a young, vibrant, Pastor; this week they are confused and hurting. Life is unpredictable and we are never guaranteed tomorrow.

Each one of us makes many decisions and has many conversations every day. Some of these we are particularly passionate about. Through our decisions and conversations what if we weighed everything in an eternal perspective? Is everything that we do during the week eternally uplifting? Are the discussions or conversations that we have degrading or uplifting to the body of Christ? We must think of all things in their eternal value. As a young man of 25 I recognize that I do not have much time and when I look back over my week I have wasted so much time in conversations that were not of eternal value. I repent of this. Our time here on earth is short, each moment must be lived to Glorify God as we are not promised tomorrow. In our lives and church, we must move past our own agendas and desires and to eternal ones.

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

SENT 2009: An Urgency for the Gospel

I had the opportunity to go to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention's SENT Conference this past weekend in Houston. I had opportunity to meet many people who work with college students all over Texas as well as people who work with missionaries all over the world. A question that I heard over and over is how do we get people to live missional or on mission? According to much of what I heard it's is not a great problem to get people to give money for missions or to get people who will go on short-term mission trips away from where they live, but getting people to share the love of Christ with people that they come into contact with daily is almost impossible. Thus living missionally, or on mission in our day to day surroundings is not being accomplished.

There must be an urgency for the Gospel. In a society where it is more and more common not to talk to people you come into contact with even in the marketplace, where we keep to ourselves, as Christians we must be the odd-balls and be exceptionally open and reaching out daily to those around us. It is uncomfortable - especially in our society where we can live a totally anonymous lifestyle.

Think about it we can go to the ATM to bank, pay-at-the-pump gas, and self-checkout at the market. We can go all day without having to come into contact with someone who we don't know. Through this process that we have found ourselves in it has become increasingly "awkward" in society to talk to someone and get any deeper then where is a product; if you ask how someone's day is going they flip out because it is just totally absurd now. The larger society/metroplex you find yourself in the more true this statement becomes.

There must be an urgency for the Gospel - your neighbors are going to hell - the people checking you out in the market are going to hell - the person you just cut off because you were reading this on your iPhone is going to hell - we must have an urgency for the Gospel and can no longer be casual Christians who have our "fire-insurance".

Be Awkward. Care. Share.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience......
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?....
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:18-39

Spring Christians

I am hot-natured. You know this if you've been around me for any period of time. Therefore I love spring - 65 to 70 degrees - it is near perfect weather for me. Apart from the weather I also think that spring days are more beautiful than any other time of the year. The beauty and great weather cause me to want to be lazy and lay around outside all day, however as this usually occurs simultaneously with the grunt-work portion of school, this has got me in trouble more then once.

Spring is beautiful. I can't figure out if the skies actually come bluer, or if the new growth of the green grass and green trees just cause the skies to seem more vivid. Regardless this combination of beauty with the newfound warmth of the sun (not to hot though), causes me to love Spring.

We should be Spring Christians. Now I know I've lost you, so allow me to explain. New growth, and warmth is attractive to people - people want to be stick around and be in its presence. If you are not growing as a Christian with your walk in the faith then you are dying or dead - If your spirit is not warm - then it is cold. People do not want to be around a dying cold person - they however are attracted and even magnetized to a person is is growing and warm.

Lets not be cold people anymore. I am convicted of this everyday - we should be the pursuers of people, wanting to spill the good news all over them, however many times we hoard the good news as if its a cup of 4 dollar coffee which we don't want anyone to spoil.

Lets be Spring Christians.

Overnight Hero

Pilot C.B. "Sully" Sullenberger. By now I am sure you have heard of this man. A simple pilot, who is now referred to as the Miracle on the Hudson man, did a miraculous feat of landing a plane which engines failed into the Hudson river without killing a single person. I'm sure when "Sully" left his house that morning it was business as usual. When he took off on the plane it was business as usual - this was just another day at the office; little did "Sully" know that the decisions he made this day on at "the office" would prevail him as a hero.

This was an ordinary man who for is being praised for being meticulous in his job, even to the point of being the last person off the plane after making two walk throughs to make sure no one was left on. Now I don't know "Sully" but from the sound of what is being told about him, he is the type of man that doesn't really want any appreciation or recognition because he just did his job the best he knew how. He had done the same things for years upon years with no recognition of being meticulous in his taking off and landings yet every time he landed the plan on pavement people took for granted the job that he was doing.

In our Christian walk day in and day out are we as meticulous? Do we always do the right thing even when we know no one will praise us for the job that we do? Or do we thrive off the recognition of others? Everyone likes praise and recognition sometimes in a while for a job well done - and as Christians the final judgement day we will receive our recognition; but this should never become our purpose for our actions.


We don't ever do what is right to be recognized but yet we do all for the Glory of God. We do everything so that others will look at us and will say How Great God is, not so that they look at us and say how great we are. The chief end of man is to bring glory to God. So making the right choices, glorifying God, and making decisions that honor God should be just "another day in the office" for us as Christians, not just a rare occurrence that happens when we are around certain people or certain places.

Do I think that the day will ever come when I will be praised as an over night hero for doing the right thing, something that I have done over and over before? Probably Not. But if it does I will, and I challenge you also, to say, "All Glory Be to God and God Alone".

jbc

Some Old Posts I

The Uncomfortable Church - Generational Discipleship

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…..When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-7;11

In our society adulthood has been called into question. Adults adolescence, as I will term it (which literally means the adult child), is prevailing in our culture with adults well into their 30’s and sometimes even as high as middle 40’s. These adults avoid responsibility and by the culture we live in 18 – 30 year olds are given a grace period of in which they are just allowed to have fun with no responsibility. When did this began to occur? Why does this occur? When did the definition of manhood and womanhood become blurred? What can we do and what is our responsibility to take action to uphold the definition of a biblical manhood and womanhood?

Older men are to be sober minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanders or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that he word of God may not be reviled. Likewise urge the younger men to be self controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
Titus 2:2-8

Who is the older man? Who is the older woman? I think many times our society lends us to blur these lines. If we look at God’s definition of an adult it is someone who is not a child. I would began to quit defining someone as a child at the age of 17 or 18 - not that these "young adults" will not make mistakes but older adults must urge all who are younger to lives that are as such as a biblical man or a biblical woman – while at the same time being mentored by someone who is older.
I've said it many times before and I will continue to say it, it is apparent how I feel - I believe 100% in generational discipleship in the church. I believe it is biblical and a characteristic of a healthy church. If at any time you are not being mentored by someone older and mentoring someone younger in the ways of a biblical man or biblical woman, I believe you are not benefiting the church. It is how God created the church - a constant cycle. Not one of us will live forever, we cannot hold onto the life and wisdom that we have received but yet must pass it down. Would God allow you to learn so much knowing that you will pass away? No, He intends for you to pass down your wisdom to others. This is how the church will continue to thrive, if we are not being discipled by someone older and discipleing someone younger, then the church dies when we die. Who is to pass on the church? You are. I am. The 17 year old adult is to the younger 14 year old youth. The 24 year old adult is to the 17 year old adult. The 40 year old adult is to the 24 year old adult. The 65 year old adult is to the 40 year adult. It is all of our job.
Find someone today to learn from who is older - find someone who is younger to pass it along to. The church cannot exist within our generational cliques but it will only thrive outside of our comfort zones, where old passes wisdom and life to the young. This is one way that the church is "alive", ever growing spiritually and a close knit generational web.
I charge to you today to exist outside of your generational clique, we are all guilty of it. It will be uncomfortable, but I am convicted that the true church, is not a comfortable one.