Community

I have been wanting to write something about community and where it fits into our culture today as believers. Acts 2 gives us our first example of new testament community. The scripture goes on to outline at least 23 different "one another's" we are to participate in. These "one another's" are difficult to accomplish outside of community.

One of my favorite blogs to read is The Assembling of the Church by Alan Knox. Today he blogged You don't know me, I'm your brother. I would still like to do my own post on what community is, but I defer to Alan today. He is much more articulate than I am. Enjoy his post today, and I encourage you to visit his blog often.

Sonship

Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God...1 Jn 3:1

My daughter Marissa called me this afternoon from Oklahoma City. It was her last chance to talk before she leaves the states tomorrow for Uganda. She was all excited about the class that morning about Sonship. She said, "Dad, dad! You've got to hear what they talked about this morning in our training class!" She proceeded to tell me in rapid fire succession about orphans, sons, institutions, and how it all relates to the church. I said, "Slow down slow down, let me write this down before I forget it." We discussed her thoughts for awhile, then I passed the phone to her mother for a few words with her daughter. So my daughter is the inspiration for this post today.

I have heard teachings on sonship, but had never related it to the church like she did. It is amazing what you can learn from your kids. Sonship is an important revelation to understand. It is part of knowing who we are in Christ Jesus.

John 1:12 says, "But as many as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God...".

Gal 4:6 says, "And because you are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father."

So if we understand sonship, we live as sons. If we don't understand it, we may live as orphans. Orphans live in an institution, sons live in their Father's house. Orphans may see God as a task master, sons see God as their Father.

The orphan spirit says I have no father or authority, no home, and no significance. The son loves and honors his father, knows he has place prepared for him, and knows that he is loved and blessed by his father. Sons have relationships and know that that relationship sustains them. Orphans are dependent on the institution for their needs and are powerless.

Could it be that we have a lot of orphans in our institutions called church. Could that be why the church seems so powerless at times. Sons have the full support of their fathers. They know they can go out into the world with all the resources of their father to back them up. An orphan is bound to the institution. Sons are free.

So is all hope lost for the orphan? Not according to His Word. We all were once orphans. The good news, the Gospel, is that we have been adopted. We have "..received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Rom 8:15. Sonship is following Jesus in His humility, servanthood, and as the Lion of Judah. Knowing you are a son of the Living God, who created the universe and set all of the stars in their place will is liberating. It will set you free.

A Fathers Heart

Today I put my oldest daughter(21) on an airplane for a journey to the wilderness of Uganda. She is going to work with the Karamajong, a group of cattle herders in northern Uganda. Her team will spend two months there learning the ins and outs of missionary life. She will specifically be working and learning about the music of these tribesman which can help in witnessing the gospel to them. It is going to be a very tough trip physically, and dad wont be there to help her. A Fathers Heart.

If you are a dad you can imagine the emotions you go through when you send your "little girl" off on a trip of this magnitude. She went to Zambia last year, and has been to Peru with me twice, so she is not a novice. It makes a dad proud to know she has gotten a hold of the vision to spread the gospel to the four corners of the world. A Fathers Heart.

She is so excited to go on this trip, and I am excited for her, but I will miss her tremendously. She is a joy to be around, and we always have great discussions about life's great issues. You see, I have her heart. She trusts me implicitely, and heeds my council. A Fathers Heart.

On the way to airport the clouds were threatening rain and we did drive through some showers on the way. As a pilot, I am thinking, I hope the crew of her airplane realize the precious cargo they are carrying, and navigate around the thunderstorms safely. She is only going to Oklahoma City today, where she will meet her team. She leaves Wednesday for Uganda. As I have gotten older, I seem to cry at the drop of a hat when it comes to my kids. So I know full well that it is not going to pretty at the airport, but at the moment I was under control and doing pretty good. A Fathers Heart.

When we pulled up to the departure area I was still in control. I planned on helping her take her big duffle bag in and help her check in. Everything was going fine until she started hugging her siblings goodbye and she started crying. I bit my lip and helped her carry her bag in and got her through the check-in process. As we walked over to the security area, I looked at her face and it was all red with tears flowing down her sweet cheeks. We embraced. I couldn't say anything, for no words would come out with any clarity. We hugged some more in silence, released, and I helped her find the proper documents to get through security. And then she was gone, walking away from me. With a big lump in my throat I turned and walked back outside to the van. Tears were streaming down my face. A Fathers Heart.

As I write this, tears glisten in my eyes and another lump forms in my throat. I am just a mere man. I love my daughter and all my children. Just a small glimpse of the love the Father in heaven has for us. Can you imagine? A Fathers Heart!

International Cultural Exchange

Back in April I blogged about a ministry that connects families with international students in the Houston area. We signed up to adopt a student. We were assigned our student several weeks ago, and due to the busyness of our schedules we were unable to get together until last night.

We had him over for dinner and cooked steaks, played Mexican train dominoes and introduced him to homemade brownies with Blue Bell ice cream. He is from The Ivory Coast or Côte d'Ivoire. He speaks french and is learning english. His english was good enough so we were able to communicate pretty good.

It was a great experience for the kids. James, my seven year old adopted him as another big brother and was his partner and teacher during Mexican Train. It was fun watching the interaction. My older boys enjoyed talking music and sports(soccer) with him. He had tried out for the Houston pro soccer team (the name escapes me right now) earlier this year.

We invited him to come to our home fellowship this week and he said he would come. So I guess we did not overwhelm him with our family. He wants to come back! We are excited to have this opportunity to meet and develop relationship with him. It will be a great time to have him as part of our family for a season.

Here is a link to International Cultural Exchange.

Servanthood Musings

I don't know how those who blog everyday do it. I have been wanting to write for the last week but have been so very busy. There have been graduations, piano recitals, missions fund raisers, baseball games, and a plethora of other activities in our family the past week. We took on the project of finally ripping up the 26 year old carpet in our living room and hallway and installing laminate flooring. Thanks to my two older sons and a couple of their friends who did most of the work.

We have had two home fellowships since I last posted. We had moved this past weeks gathering to Friday because of a conflict on Thursday. Only one family was able to make it. We had a good time of sharing and singing a few songs that I was able to bang out on the guitar.

I have been doing a lot of meditating on serving. Alan at The Assembling of the Church has several posts about servanthood I recommend.

Jesus said something interesting in Luke 22:25-27.

25 And he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors.
26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.
27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. (ESV)

So how does that fit our paradigm of who is most important? Jesus in verse 27 asked the rhetorical question of who is greater. He answered with a question, "Is it not the one who reclines at table?" Then followed with a radical statement, "...I am among you as the one who serves." Why is that a radical statement? Because it flew in the face of what was the standard of the times. Great men were served, not servants. How is that different from today? It is not. The heart of man has not changed. We still exalt men in the world and the church who are most visible. Those who are charismatic, the nicest looking etc. Who is most important in the church today? The pastor? Elders? Deacons? How about the lowliest member?

1 Cor 12:23 - " and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty."

1 Cor 12;24b - "....But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,"

So what does this all mean to me? I am being charged to be more of a servant. Serve my wife. Serve my children. Serve my brethren. The light of the scripture exposes me. I am not sure how all of this looks yet, but believe the Holy Spirit will be faithful to teach me.

??????????More Questions????????????

Here are some more questions to ponder. Some of the questions are leading. They may have some wrong assumptions. To find the true answers you must look at them from a biblical lens and not the lens of tradition or church history. Have fun!

What is a worship leader?

What does the bible say about worship leaders?

Is it important for worship leaders to be talented?

Is preaching part of the worship service?

What does the bible say about the sermon?

Is there such a thing as a teaching elder?

What does the bible say about laity? clergy?

What is the laity supposed to do during a church service?

What is the clergy supposed to do during a church service?