What does a pastor say to his church before he goes in for brain surgery?

Matthew’s “begats”

Andrew Peterson is one of my favorites: gifted as a wordsmith, skilled as a musician, humble in person.

For example…

My Heart is full – I am thankful

Seems like this is the year for gratitude for pain, trust in the sovereignty of a loving and faithful Father, and devotion to his cause.

Matt Chandler is an anointed young pastor in the Dallas area. He writes…

The last seven days have been some of the most interesting of my life. I have felt anxiety, fear, sadness and a deep and unmovable joy simultaneously and in deeper ways than I have felt before. I am grateful for this heightened sense of things.

Today at 10:45 a.m. CST I will have a good portion of my right frontal lobe removed. I head into that surgery with a heart that is filled with gratitude and hope.
Here are some of the things I am thankful for in no particular order:

I am thankful for the thousands of you who have prayed and fasted for my health. It has brought far more tears to Lauren’s and my eyes to receive this kind of attention from the Church universal than this tumor has.

I’m thankful for health insurance because I’m guessing they aren’t doing my five-hour surgery for free!

I am thankful that I have deep, real friendships at The Village with Michael Bleecker, Josh Patterson, Brian Miller, Chris Chavez and Beau Hughes. They have been such a comfort to me and my family this past week. Pastors should have good friends on their staff. It’s risky but worth the risk.

I am grateful for the men of God in my life, namely John Piper who taught me… (click here to read the full statement)

I’m grateful for pain

Tullian Tchividjian is the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. Yes, that Coral Ridge. And he has been through the fire. During Thanksgiving, he penned a reflection on the lessons he has learned from a year of conflict, accusations, division, disunity, and vote.

For various reasons, this past year has been the most painful year of my life by far. As of late, God has graciously given me a mild reprieve, but I still spend a lot of time thinking about all that happened this year and the way God used trials and tribulations to remold and reshape me.

As crazy as this might sound, I have finally come to the place where I am genuinely thankful for all of the pain and difficulty and loss I experienced this year. As much as my family and I suffered, I look back on the way God used our desperation to make us more dependent on him and I am deeply grateful. In fact, I told a friend the other day that I wouldn’t trade one desperate, difficult day for all the dollars in the world. Seriously!

I’ve discovered that being thankful for pain is such a hard concept to grasp because many of us live in a country which has convinced us that the pursuit of happiness and comfort is our “inalienable right.” Therefore, when our comforts, conveniences, and cushions are threatened, we cry “foul.” This has deeply affected our understanding of what it means to give thanks and the types of things we are to be thankful for.

I love reading biographies. And one of the things I’ve discovered in reading them is that the greatest people in history have been just as thankful for their pains as they have been for their pleasures. They’ve given gratitude for their desperations as much as their deliverances; their grief as much as their glory.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “Health is a gift from God, but sickness is a gift greater still.” Throughout his time in this world, Spurgeon suffered with various physical ailments that eventually took his life prematurely. He longed to be well but he recognized the supreme value of being sick and he thanked God for it because it was his pain that caused him to desperately draw near to God.

Similarly, David Brainerd was a young missionary to American Indians who died in 1747 at 29 years old from tuberculosis. Toward the end of his struggle, he was on his deathbed coughing up blood and coming in and out of consciousness saying out loud, “Oh for Holiness! Oh, for more of God in my soul! Oh, this pleasing pain! It makes my soul press after God.”

The Puritans used to say that this life was the gymnasium, the dressing room, for the life to come and if suffering here and now better prepared them for the next world then it was welcomed.

To be thankful for our comforts only is to make an idol of this life. “God-sent afflictions”, says Maurice Roberts, “have a health-giving effect upon the soul” because they are the medicine used to purge the soul of self-centeredness and this world’s vanities. Pain, in other words, sharpens us, matures us, and gives us clear “eye-sight.” Pain transforms us like nothing else can. It turns us into “solid” people. Roberts continues, “Those who have been in the crucible have lost more of their scum.” All of this should cause us to be deeply thankful.

It’s been said that pain is the second best thing because it leads us to the Best Thing (God). For, it is only when we come to the end of ourselves that we come to the beginning of God. And it is only when we come to the beginning of God that we come to the beginning of life.

The paradox of Christianity is that if you want to find your life, you must lose it (Matthew 10:39). In the world’s economy, life precedes death. In God’s economy, death precedes life–the cross always precedes the crown. The good news, however–the thing that should cause us to be supremely thankful–is that when we lose our worldly comforts, we gain heavenly ones.

Thank God!

TUPELO CHRISTMAS EXPERIENCE

Tupelo Christmas Experience is coming. As a matter of fact, its this weekend!

I am so excited to invite the community out for this event. Here is a snapshot into what the night will look like. This will be a 2 night outreach event that will seek to minister to the community on several levels. Imagine something like Disneyland, scaled to fit the Hope Church facility – several events happening at once, so much to see and do. We begin at 6:30pm each night and we’ll conclude around 9:30. Each family can participate in all the events of the night, or ust come to one or two then leave.

Here are a few things that the two nights would include:

1. Kids Zone- This includes crafts, bounce house, face painting etc.
2. Living Outdoor Nativity Scene
3. Kids Movie Theatre (popcorn included)
4. Worship Times/Performances from local artists
5. Admission is a can of food per person to go to a local charity or our food bank to feed the poor.
6. Refreshments (cider, hot chocolate, cookies)
7. This is very “come and go”.

Friday night will feature local band “the Embrace” in concert from 8:30-9:30 in the Worship Center. Saturday night, Memphis worship leader, Jeremy Horn, will be in concert from 8:00-9:30 in the worship center.

If you are in Tupelo, hope to see you Friday or Saturday!

Wonderful Testimony

Check out John MacArthur’s story of sharing Christ with his former football coach – 50 years later.

Six Promises of God

God has promised to supply every need we have. Phil 4:19.

God has promised that His grace is sufficient for every situation. 2 Cor 12:9

God has promised to make a way of escape in temptation. 2 Cor 10:13; Jude 24.

God has promised us victory over death. 1 Cor 15

God has promised that all things work together for the good of His people. Rom 8:28.

God has promised His people eternal life. John 10:27,28

Gospel Hope in a World of Grief

Rose Kennedy buried four of her own children–all of whom met tragic ends. Her oldest son Joe was killed in action in World War 2. Her daughter Kathleen died in a plane crash in Europe. Her sons John and Bobby died by the assassin’s bullet.

At the end of her life she wrote this:

It has been said that time heals all wounds. I don’t agree. The wounds remain. Time—the mind, protecting its sanity—covers them with some scar tissue and the pain lessens, but it is never gone.

I have never known that kind of grief. It is hard to imagine. And I would not dare gainsay her experience. Nevertheless, I am thankful today that there is more to the human story than this.

I have been listening this week to Steven Curtis Chapman’s testimony that this is indeed not the end of the story. His new album “Beauty Will Rise” is a meditation on his family’s experience since the tragic death of his little girl Maria last year. His words are anguished, yet filled with gospel-soaked hope in Christ.

In the song “Beauty Will Rise,” he testifies that one day the pain will be gone.

Out of these ashes beauty will rise
And we will dance among the ruins
We will see it with our own eyes
Out of these ashes beauty will rise
For we know joy is coming in the morning
In the morning
I can hear it in the distance
And it’s not too far away
It’s the music and the laughter
Of a wedding and a feast
I can almost feel the hand of God
Reaching for my face to wipe the tears away
You say it’s time to make everything new
Make it all new

There is coming a day when God will make all things new. He will wipe every tear away and grief will be banished forever (Revelation 21:4-5).
From Denny Burk

Can We Negotiate?

There is a sermon illustration here somewhere.

Behind the debris – one gigantic figure!

I read Malcolm Muggeridge when I was in college. He was a humorist, satirist, intellectual, agnostic (if not atheist). Then he came to Christ – and became an ardent defender of the faith. He wrote this about 30 years ago – and it is still a relevant word:

We look back upon history, and what do we see? Empires rising and falling, revolutions and counterrevolutions, wealth accumulated and wealth disbursed. Shakespeare has written of the rise and fall of great ones, that ebb and flow with the moon.

I look back upon my own fellow countrymen (Great Britain), once upon a time dominating a quarter of the world, most of them convinced, in the words of what is still a popular song, that ‘the God who made them mighty, shall make them mightier yet.’

I’ve heard a crazed, cracked Austrian (Hitler) announce to the world the establishment of a Reich that would last a thousand years. I have seen an Italian clown (Mussolini) say he was going to stop and restart the calendar with his own ascension to power. I’ve heard a murderous Georgian brigand in the Kremlin (Stalin), acclaimed by the intellectual elite of the world as being wiser than Solomon, more humane than Marcus Aurelius, more enlightened than Ashoka.

I have seen America wealthier and, in terms of military weaponry, more powerful than the rest of the world put together–so that had the American people so desired, they could have outdone a Caesar, or an Alexander in the range and scale of their conquests.

All in one lifetime, all in one lifetime, all gone. Gone with the wind.

England, now part of a tiny island off the coast of Europe, threatened with dismemberment and even bankruptcy. Hitler and Mussolini dead, remembered only in infamy. Stalin a forbidden name in the regime he helped found and dominate for some three decades. America haunted by fears of running out of those precious fluids that keeps their motorways roaring, and the smog settling, with troubled memories of a disastrous campaign in Vietnam, and the victories of the Don Quixotes of the media as they charged the windmills of Watergate.

All in one lifetime, all in one lifetime, all gone. Gone with the wind.

Behind the debris of these solemn supermen, and self-styled imperial diplomatists, there stands the gigantic figure of one, because of whom, by whom, in whom and through whom alone, mankind may still have peace: the person of Jesus Christ.

I present him as the way, the truth, and the life.

Lessons from a Razor — reflections from an attack and slashing of the face

Joey writes

On November 8, 2009 in South Asia, I and two other pastors from The Austin Stone, were robbed and attacked by a small gang of South Asian youth. Unexpectedly, one of these youth sliced my left cheek with a straight razor. The wound was 5 inches long and an inch deep. It spanned from about my left sideburn to the left corner of my mouth. Fortunately, the two other men with me were physically unharmed. We ran for safety in the middle of the city, pleaded with locals for help, and finally ended up in the emergency room at a local hospital where a doctor stitched up my face with three layers of stitches.

After arriving back home, I realized that this attack was a catalyst to great spiritual and emotional growth. After a week long of reflection, I have outlined below the lessons that I have learned. I hope my story and these lessons will encourage others to radical obedience to Jesus and mobilize them to the mission of God.

1. The straight razor that scarred my face has become an altar of intercession for those South Asian youth who attacked us. My face is the sacrifice that was put on this alter. I doubt if any prayers have ever been lifted to the Father for those youth, that is, until they attacked us. Almost immediately, we began praying for them. Since then, thousands of people have interceded for them, for their joy. In this way, therefore, God turned their sin of unjustly attackingus into a great blessing for them.

The Lord brought me to Psalm 97:11 a few days after the attack: “Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.” I realized that the straight razor was not only an altar of intercession for those youth, but it was also a plow, tilling the soil of my body and prepping it for sowing. The straight razor plow opened the way for … (read the rest of the lessons here

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“I am already the beloved”

There are many other voices speaking — loudly:

“Prove you’re worth something.”

“Prove you have any contribution to make.”

“Do something relevant.”

These are the voices Jesus heard right after he heard, “You are my beloved.”

Another voice said, “Prove you are the beloved.

Do something.

Change these stones into bread.

Be sure you’re famous.

Jump from the temple, and you will be known.

Grab some power so you have real influence.”

Jesus said, “No, I don’t have to prove anything. I am already the beloved.”

(Quoted from Henri Nouwen, Leadership Magazine, Spring 1995.)

The gospel tells us that we have been credited with Jesus’ obedience and righteousness. We, too, can answer the voices in the same way…

“I have nothing to prove. I am already significant. I”m already famous in heaven. I am known. I am already the beloved.”

Joey – stitches and post-stitches

On Sunday, November 8, 2009, my son Joey was attacked by a group of young men in a large city in India. Joey, in the country for a Christian conference, was slashed in the face by a straight-razor. After fighting off his attacker and running away (along with two of his fellow pastors), he was taken to a hospital, where his cheek was sewn together. Thanks to his church , he was able to return to his home in Austin on Tuesday.

We are very grateful to our Lord that he did not lose an eye or have his throat cut.

We are grateful for the fine stitching job done by a doctor in India.

We are grateful that he is recovering emotionally, and has learned so many lessons from this incident.

In a few days, I’ll post his reflections from the last few days.

Lessons from the finger

Yesterday the owner of the Titans, Bud Adams, turned around and gave the finger to a stadium full of people – and was fined $250,000!

What can you learn from Mr. Adams?

1. You are never too old (86 years old) to do something stupid.

2. Power and riches can rob you of common sense.

3. Just because you own something does not mean you have the right to do anything you want, whenever you want.

4. Wisdom is learning from your mistakes (this is not the first time Adams has disrespected both his fans and other teams)

5. Someday soon, we’ll face our Creator – and all of us need our sins covered by another. Rejection of a Substitute is tantamount to using Adam’s gesture toward the Creator – a chilling thought.

6. You should always have your lawyer at your side if you feel like doing something stupid. (Contributed by Lewis Trippett, Attorney at Law and friend)

7. Even the deaf, who communicate with their fingers, know better than to use certain fingers in certain positions. (Contributed by Bill Berry)

Science – omnipotent?

This is a really interesting riff by William Lane Craig from a 1998 debate. It gets really good 1 minute and 20 seconds in.

The point: Science is critically important. But it is a fallacy to think that the only beliefs that are rational are those that can be demonstrated scientifically. For many beliefs that we all accept as rational are not demonstrable on scientific grounds. Therefore science cannot be the sole criteria for determining truth.

You know you’re in trouble in a debate when your opponent answers you with “I’ve got five reasons why you are wrong.”

From What’s Best Next