I voted today…

i’ve written a few things over the past couple of months about my perspective on politics and the process that our country has gone through during this current presidential campaign.  in my reading this week, i came across a post by perry noble, a lead pastor of a church in south carolina.  i love how he challenged his audience to face the outcome of this election:

Frustrated With Politics & Christians

I’ve just about had enough…and am so glad I left the country yesterday…that way I don’t have to listen to this crap anymore.

And no, I’m not talking about the politicians and their crazy adds on television that are right in line with a middle school “yo mama” fight!

I’m talking about the Christians who have prostituted themselves with the political process and taken their eyes off of Jesus as their Savior and put them on either McCain or Obama as their Savior.

It’s STUPID!  

Should we have a political opinion as Christians?  HECK YES!  Should we vote?  ABSOLUTELY!  I think a Christian who doesn’t vote is completely missing an opportunity that God has blessed us with as citizens of this country.

BUT…we can’t actually think that the salvation process is tied to who happens to be in the White House!

In reading through the Gospels the other day something HIT ME like a ton of bricks…the Jews missed the fact that Jesus was the Messiah because they were looking for someone to deliver them from the politics of Rome.

Let me say it more clearly–they missed Jesus because of politics!!!  (And religion as well…but that’s another post!)
For a Christian to claim that the world is going to be doomed to hell because a particular party happens to “control” the White House is a slap in the face of a Sovereign God.

He reigns!  Read through Scripture & it is so clear…God has used kings and princes that were sold out to Him…and He’s also used those who had no love for Him at all…all for HIS glory!

So…next Tuesday…go vote!  “For who,” you ask…well, here’s an idea…ask Jesus who to vote for…and then do what He says.  (Yes, it REALLY is that simple.)

Then…whoever gets elected…PRAY FOR THAT MAN OFTEN!  Even if the guy you want to win doesn’t…all the more reason to pray!

One more time…YES, we should have political opinions…and YES, it is OK if they are strong AND we believe in the cause…BUT PLEASE let’s not make the mistake of thinking that God is somehow limited by the policies and philosophies of a particular party!

HE REIGNS!  Always has, always will!

Money crisis

david foster is a pastor-blogger from nashville that i read.  here’s a link to his site.  this week he wrote some thoughts on the current financial crisis we are facing.  i couldn’t have said it better!

7 Benefits of These Good Old Bad Times

Well it’s official.  We’re going through bad times.  When you hear CNN, Fox News, and other major networks use words like “crisis, never seen it this bad before, no one knows what to do, the bail-out isn’t working,” it’s official.  These are bad times.

But remember.  There is always an upside of every down time.  Here are seven I’ve been pondering.  Maybe you can think of more.

1.    These good old bad times give us a chance for group humility.  Let’s face it.  We Americans pride ourselves on our ingenuity, our know-how, and our can-do spirit.  We’re educated and we’re proud of it.  All of our education and organization has led us to this place where we’ve lost trillions of dollars worth of value in markets across the board in a short period of time.  Let’s face it.  It’s time for repentance and acknowledging that we’re not as smart as we thought we were.  This could be a good thing because it helps us appreciate the things that we overlook when we’re going too fast and making too much money.  Humility is a thing God values and places a high priority on.  He says that He raises up the humble and brings down the proud.

2.    These good old bad times explode the illusion of command and control.  It’s an illusion if you think you are in control of the world and that you can command things to right themselves.  It’s the old illusion of power.  Power is a good thing, but it’s a limited thing.

3.    These good old bad times break us of the belief that more money solves all things.  The 700 billion dollar bail-out was supposed to be a cure-all and the markets were bound to turn around and bounce back immediately.  That hasn’t happened.  Money doesn’t solve all things.  The Scriptures teach us that it’s illusive, that it promises one thing and delivers another.  Those who love money and depend on it are always disappointed.  Surely we know this by now, but will we remember it?

4.    These good old bad times provide us a great moment to start over smarter.  Maybe you’ve lost your job, your company, your house, or maybe everything.  And it’s a terrible thing, but it’s not the end of all things.  Remember the Scriptures warn us that we come into this world with nothing and we’ll go out with nothing.  So starting over smarter is not the end of the world.  As a matter of fact, it gives you a chance to free yourself up of a lot of baggage that you gather over the years in building a business, a career, or just about any other thing.  Starting over smarter, leaner, and with a simpler approach can be a blessing.

5.    These good old bad times call us back to the basics.  We have two epic struggles going on: greed and fear at war with faith and hope.  There are those who believe the economy runs on greed and when it won’t run on greed, it runs on fear.  And yet there are those of us who believe that God created the world to respond to two more epic important and redemptive forces: faith and hope.  Faith in our God, not in our institutions, or the value of the dollar; and hope that God isn’t done with us; that He is still here working, bringing about His purposes, building His Kingdom which has as its themes, redemption, restoration, reconciliation, and renewal.  These are our marching orders.  These are the basics of a life well-lived.  Each and every day, faith and hope always win.

6.    These good old bad times give us a chance to recognize that we need each other.  There aren’t enough assets, money, insurance, or securities to make us islands all to ourselves. It’s during bad times and down times, it’s at the time of loss that the tribe of the Christian faith is at its best.  Christianity has always faltered in prosperity and always blossomed in tragedy.  This is our opportunity as Christians, instead of forcing our way through political mandate, winning the day by standing up as a voice of sanity, love, grace, hope, and redemption.  Will we seize it?

7.    These good old bad times give us a chance to read what we’ve written on our money, “In God We Trust.”  At the end of the day, that’s what this is all about – trust.  Can you trust your institutions? No.  Can you trust your government?  No.  Can you trust your investments?  No.  Can you trust your 401k, that it will be there when you need it?  No.  Can you trust your health?  No.  Can you trust the ebb and flow of financial markets?  No.  But can you trust God, the creator and sustainer of all things?  And to that we say a resounding, “Yes.”

 

Money…off limits

i know i’ve talked about this before, but i think i’m going to revisit it today…

in the midst of really healthy, bro to bro, deep, committed, godly friendships, there are still some subjects that are almost completely off limits in our conversations.  even when we know that a couple is struggling in their marriage, we have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” relationship.  it is not socially, or even spiritually, acceptable to ask, “hey, how’s your sex life?” or “are you being sexually satisfied?”.  are you kidding me?!  we’d rather watch a couple go down in flames before we bring that subject up!!  but real friends aren’t afraid to wade out into deeper waters.

we also stay away from ever offering our help or suggestions to parents, even if we see mistakes being made.  we con ourselves into believing that it’s none of our business, because we don’t want anybody evaluating our parenting, either.  so the fear of risking our friendship paralyzes us and we sit by and say nothing.

that brings me to the money issue.  other than sex and parenting, there isn’t another topic that causes believers to wig out more than talking about money.  it makes grown men and women shrink in fear and otherwise spiritually mature followers of christ react with defensiveness, self-consciousness, or even some form of retaliation against the church or church leadership.

so why is this?

Psalm 85

from this morning’s bible reading:

“i am listening carefully to all the lord is saying…for he speaks peace to his people, his saints, if they will only stop their sinning.  surely his salvation is near to those who reverence him: our land will be filled with his glory.”  psalm 85:8-9 (tlb)

experiencing the peace of god is directly related to our sin.  it’s a fact we can ignore, but we can’t avoid.  we want to live in the grace of god, but we don’t want to give up our freedom to sin.  this is a problem.

we applaud ourselves for not having the “big sins” in our lives.  i don’t murder.  i don’t steal.  i’m not like those lying politicians.  i don’t make and sell meth.  i’m not in a gang.  i’m not going to jail…yet, we silently allow the “quieter sins” to lurk in our lives.

sins like greed and subtle prejudice and sexual lust (the private kind) and pride and judgment and laziness and overeating and not listening and not caring and not sharing and all of those other similar little indiscretions that take up residence with us.

those sins are like cancer.  not easily recognized or defined in their infancy, but fester and grow deep inside of us nonetheless.  we just sit back and ignore the damage they are doing…oblivious to the slow, methodical erosion of our souls.  we are blind to the destruction of the sacred.  we learn to justify their presence and even comfortable with their unholy friendship…until they explode into the full-blown destruction of our relationships to others and to god.

be careful.  be very, very careful.  sin is a manipulative enemy.  may god speak peace to us today.

Money and vision

i’m going to spend some time talking about money in the days ahead.  i hope you’ll read and then give your two cents.  it will be about the cheapest thing you can do these days.  

it’s time to lift our heads.  it’s time to be inspired.  it’s time to look up and beyond our economic mess…whether personal or corporate.  we are in tough times.  they will probably get tougher.  i’m going to pass on some new insight.  i’m going to link you to new ideas.  i’m going to challenge you think different, act different, plan different, believe different.  it’s time.

here’s a quote to start things off:

“people give money to a compelling cause with a clear vision.  when economic times are hard leaders are tempted to reduce the budget and the vision. NO!  increase the vision and money will follow.  never forget – god is always at work and vision is free!” – perry noble

do you think the vision for ministry we have at north point is compelling enough to cause people to dig deeper and give more?

a thought on danger

here’s a quote from messy spirituality, by mike yaconelli:

“the church needs to become a gloriously dangerous place where nothing is safe in god’s presence except us.  nothing…including our plans, our agendas, our priorities, our politics, our money, our security, our comfort, our possessions, our needs.”

mike had a way with words.  more than that, he had a way with theology.  danger is not the first word we normally think of when we consider church.  and when we do, it’s usually for all the wrong reasons.  this quote brings it all into perspective, tho.

if we truly believe that god is living and active and isn’t just some deity that set the world in motion and now sits back and impotently watches from a distance, then we must believe that he can (and does) interact with his creation…with purpose, with design, with intention…and even unpredictability.  and that’s where the danger comes in.

just when we think we’ve got our plans and agendas and goals and finances and comforts all lined up, the movement of god can bust down our doors, rearrange our priorities, redirect our energy, remove our comfort and upset our agendas…and the question is “what is our response going to be?”

do we run away…back to our flimsy plan built with our own best interests in mind?  or do we run directly into the arms of the dangerous god who is really the source of agitation in the first place?

interesting predicament…

BYOF – a final thought

(my apologies…but i am posting this same thing on my other blog for today…just to make sure it gets read.  it’s that important)

for the uninitiated, “byof” stands for “bring your own fork” and that was the title and content of my most recent sermon series.

…and it was a good series.  i see more and more people opening their bibles during the sermon and a new awareness of the need for taking personal responsibility for feeding oneself.  mission accomplished.

i am continually amazed at our ability to understand (and even act on) the concept of taking responsibility for our marriages, for our personal health and well being, for our education, for our front lawns, for our baseball swings, for…well, pretty much anything…

except our personal spiritual lives and our experience with god.

we are so quick to complain about how boring church is…or how we aren’t feeling close to god…or how we are struggling with sin or doubt or anger or forgiveness or lust or temptation or any number of other things…but we won’t do anything about it.

people just drift away into ambivalence about their faith.  or they go looking for a better church.  or they complain about not being fed well enough.

why doesn’t it occur to people that the answer is sitting right on their nightstand?  why the reluctance to open the book, take out a fork and start shoving it in?

man, it’s time to wake up!

we start a new series next week.  i’m pumped.  don’t forget you can listen to the sermons online at www.npcc.cc (click on resources).  pass it on to a friend.

Yessss…

wake up and pay attention!

http://asbojesus.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/555/

the mission

this week i read a quote that was attributed to andy stanley at a recent conference:

“become preoccupied with those you want to reach rather than those you are trying to keep.”

i wrestle with this concept.  this is the playing field of the church.  this is the battleground where our mission and purpose are forged.  frankly, sometimes it’s just the battlefield.

the other night, i found myself being preoccupied with the thought of losing people from our church family.  honestly, i wasn’t just preoccupied…i was in full blown obsession!  i was worried about the loss of friendship…the loss of manpower…the loss of momentum…the loss of income…the loss of reputation.  i couldn’t stop thinking about it.  i prayed about it.  i wrote about it.  i strategized.  i theorized.  i justified.  i compensated.  i over-compensated.  i analyzed.  i blamed.  i assumed blame.  then i got tired of wasting time, so i tried not to think about it.  that lasted about five minutes.

preoccupation is not a bad thing, unless you are preoccupied with the wrong thing.  in the church, we need to care for people.  we need to educated people.  we need to inspire people.  we need to equip people for service.  we need to lead…guide…direct…shepherd…rebuke…discipline…exhort…edify…and disciple people.  it is our calling and service.  

but the preoccupation and obsession (if there’s going to be any) needs to be with those who aren’t with us…those who are far from god…those who are lost and live apart from the grace and love of christ.  

it seems to me that if the church became preoccupied with seeking and saving the lost (just like jesus), our churches would be a lot better off.

where’s the love?

okay…it’s been almost two days and nobody has any love to pass on to me?  sheesh…

chargers 30

new england 10

yesssssss…