U2- Where the Streets Have No Name

What can I say. I'm feeling a little homesick lately. The scene from this video makes me long for the day when multitudes will stand together that place where the streets have no name, and we will sing together. It's going to be awesome.

WNC Meeting Debacle

I posted the following on a message board, concerning the WNC meeting tonight to decide whether we should go ahead and buy a building, or stick with the original plan of leasing until a prime location for offices is worked out:

Partially in agreement. I think it needs to at least be considered. However, come Thursday, at our conventiently scheduled meeting Rolling Eyes , the pastors will vote to buy the property that the AB has found. His presentation will be good, and there will be little time for good discussion on the matter. And once again, the men will feel compelled to blindly follow the AB and SC reccomendation, and then in a few months everyone will be complaining about how bad of an idea it was.

BUT, we keep putting the same guys on the SC, and we keep voting for everything they recommend.. so its a vicious cycle. Then, when the body actually reccomends something, like the "Vision and Steering Commitee" for Whittier, they make sure that doesn't happen.

I just hope everyone is thinking about these things before we go into this meeting. Let's stand up and talk, and don't be a bunch of wussies (or in the words of one of my retired minister friends: "You know what you are!")

Today I am still very anxious about how this meeting will go. I dread the idea that we might vote to buy this building- WHEN there are BIGGER issues at hand. WNC is falling behind- we have no youth camp, and no real plan to actually have one. We already have properties that could be used- in Kannapolis, Paw Creek, Whittier, etc. There has long been discussions of moving to a more central location.

But, now we might buy a building stuck in Charlotte. A building that needs repairs- roofing and carpet. And, there is no word yet on where the money left over from this purchase will go. Unfortunately it is the generations behind even mine that will suffer. How much will the kingdom suffer in WNC with no youth camp? The sacred event in which many of us were saved, sanctified, spirit baptized, and called into ministry.

I was told by a leading official in our state (not the YCE director), that Youth Camp was a thing of the past, and WNC needs to move on to the future. Then I look at the others states who are doing awesome things, even moving to the future by streaming their camp meetings. And WNC sits on the sidelines, making decisions to buy buildings that will still not provide the needed ministry for the people of this state. I say, if we want to look to the future, then we need to invest in our youth- YOUTH CAMP IN WNC MUST BECOME A PRIORITY AGAIN!! I am so tore up in my spirit about the flippant way that WNC has been approaching these matters that I am actually dreading the possible outcome of this meeting tonight.

Procrastination

One of my favorite quotes ever is from Ellen Degeneres. On her HBO special "Here and Now", she says:

"Lets say we could save up a whole chunk of time and set it aside, you know what we’d do with it? Nothing. Nothing at all, isn’t that the point? To be able to do nothing at all? But we’re not guaranteed that later chunk of time. All we’ve got is here and now. And that's why procrastination feels so right. Procrastination is not the problem, my friends. It’s the solution. Its God’s way of saying, stop. Slow down. You move too fast."

How true that is. So, it's Monday, the first day of all your weekly procrastination endeavors, and I say balance your procrastination with your priorities, but remember nothing is more important than the here and now- and that's why procrastination feels so right!

Confession: I Am Terrified of Myself

First, a word about confession is in order. I know I'm breaking all the rules. I'm Protestant, and I'm a Bishop, and as a Christian my relationship with Jesus is supposed to be personal. To confess would be totally, well, just wrong. At least that's what we're taught within our modern Protestant churches here in America. I mean, confession is for the Catholics, right? And, preachers and Bishops should definitely never confess their faults; way too risky! Furthermore, Christians' relationships with Jesus are supposed to be personal- because, that's what Billy Graham says. For sure, the whole concept of confession within our Christian culture has been discarded- throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. Despite countless New Testament exhortations to confess our sins and faults one to another- as well as the historical and doctrinal treatment that confession has received through the centuries. So brace yourself- because, as formerly stated: I am going to break those rules. I have needed to get this off of my chest for some time now. While I am becoming more honest with Jesus about this personal struggle, I need to be honest with his presently incarnated body, the church.

Perhaps the confession in my title line gives it away. However, I need to be real with you. To understand my fears, I need to make some confessions about myself. I am a horrifying creature! Violent, lustful, jealous, idolatrous, covetous... There's no punch line, or moral to this story. It's just who I am. I and scares me! I often find myself restless, and disconnected to others. I avoid contact with Jesus, and fear ever becoming too deep spiritually because that means I will have to face these dark and miserable tendencies of mine. I rather enjoy shallow living and weak spirituality- you know, the kind of bumper-sticker religion we all seem to embrace: silly sayings that we call profound, and sentimental Christianity that can easily be picked up on your local "Christian Music" radio station. While my soul despairs of these comforts, my flesh has an insatiable craving for such piety. I am one twisted individual! More than Satan, more than evil men, more than the pain and sickness in this world- I am afraid of myself. Afraid, because I know what I am capable of- and even what I crave to do.

My flesh is whack! A perverted mess of filth and waste. I cringe even typing out these admissions. But it's true. The Apostle Paul was well aware of I am capable of, he wrote: "The works of the flesh are sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like". I am told that this is a healthy fear, and I am sure that it is; but, that doesn't take away the sting. As I try to live this life in God, through Christ, I must deal with myself. I have to look in the mirror- there are times where I fight against me. Sweaty hands, dry mouth, speeding pulse... resisting the urge to just be me, the miserable wretch that I am. When the guy cuts me off at the light. When the swimsuit model walks across the screen of the TV. When the colleague at work gets recognition, and I don't. The monster rears its ugly head. The beast within tries to resurface.

I've come to the humiliating conclusion that I am incapable of dealing with my own self. It is now apparent that I must have continual supervision by living in the very shadow of Jesus. Around that eternal kind of life, it is the only place that I feel safe from myself. Like when I was 4 and I would grab a hold of my Mom in the presence of strangers. I cower away from myself and gravitate towards Him. Like a timid child, I cling to His legs and hold on for dear life. It's the only way. I can't be trusted, but He can.

There now, that feels better! I admit that I am weak, and scared. I admit that I am afraid of the horrible creature that I am. I admit that I cling to Jesus' ankles in an attempt to get away from myself. He makes me feel safe- and in a strange way, being close to His life brings transformation to mine. He causes me to be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

A Unique Sunday Recap

• So this week, apparently, our church has been cursed with a plague! We had lots of sickness and disease this week for sure. But God kept those who love him from being affected. All you sick people need to repent! Just kidding!
• So the setup was good this morning, the church looked great. Even though Eric did it ninja style. I never even saw him come and go; but, he had sick family this morning he had to be with.
• Our nursery and kidz church was rocking. You can always depend our kids to be there, and to be ready to worship! Kudos to Stefanie for pastoring this kids and cultivating a spiritual atmosphere for our children.
• Worship was bare bones acoustic this morning- which I thought was much needed. As I'll explain later, our church really had a rough week this week. It seemed like everyone and every family was going through something. Probably the last thing everyone wanted was loud music.
• It was nice to just relax and worship in the presence of Jesus. It was much needed for me, and everyone I think.
• As I have pointed out, our church had a really rough week last week. We had those who had death, sickness, family issues, etc... I felt very strongly that I needed to break off of the "Essentials" series for today and preach a word of comfort to my flock.
• I spoke very pastorally on Ecclesiastes 1 and 2 Corinthians 4.
• Life is filled with deficits- there is always a lack of money, time, happiness. Even when you have lots of it- it's not enough.
• Life is filled with pain, confusion, persecution. But the bigger picture must be embraced. The temporary situation may be filled with despair; but what is God doing in the bigger picture.
• Paul endured the rough spots in life, because he knew that his life was making a difference in others. He tells the Corinthians, "I live on the edge of death, so that you can have life".
• Everyone was really encouraged, and we had a powerful time of prayer and reflection at the end.
• I just want my entire NHC family to know, that I LOVE YOU so much. Hang in there, guys, God has great plans for us.
  

Essentials: Worship Recap

• First of all, I would like to thank the God of the universe for finally allowing warm weather to set in on the mountains of NC.
• We had a great looking crowd again this morning. It is pretty clear that we have broken into some serious growth here at NHC.
• All of our volunteers were on their game. Setup, hospitality, compliments, and our media team- you all are doing a great job.
  
• We started off with a brief presentation by Brittany concerning the upcoming mission trip to Mexico. Everything is coming together so well! Now, we just need to pray that swine flu away- I heard today that the US State Dept. has stopped all US travels to Mexico.
• Karen rocked, again, on an opening trumpet solo.
• Worship was nothing short of stellar. On a Sunday where I was I was going to preach on worship, it was great to experience the shekinah before actually talking about it.
• One quote used in our responsive reading stood out to me: "When we're alone with God, there are no more distractions to the development of intimacy. It is just us and Him. The rest of the world must wait." -Wellington Boone.
• We resumed our Essentials series this week, and we talked about worship.
• Worship is our response to divinely initiated communion. God seeks worshipers (John 4), he is looking for people to worship Him.
• Worship is physical. Jesus came in bodily form. God reveals himself to humanity, not despite the human body, but through it. It is only logical that our worship should be bodily- using hands, feet, lips, and tongues.
• Worship is emotional. Only in our North American white church is emotive worship so strongly opposed. There are places you will not go with God if you are filled with emotional inhibitions in worship.
• 2 major hindrances to worship:

1. Sin- In Isaiah 6, when God fills the temple with His glory, and Isaiah is left alone to face the righteous judge of the cosmos- he becomes acutely aware of his sin. As he cries "woe is me", God provides a burning coal to his lips that cleanses him from all unrighteousness. God was prepared to deal with Isaiah's sin- he had the coals, the tongs, and the angel to do the work. We often stop in worship because we don't want God to deal with our sin- or we feel like because of our sin we should stop worshiping. But God is well equipped to deal with our sin- he comes prepared. He knows exactly where to touch us, and how to deal with our sin.
2. Sincerity- Yes, sincerity. The curse of our age is the notion that whatever you do, whether sacred or profane, just be yourself. We are indoctrinated to never be fake, to never do anything that feels weird or out of character. This pursuit of sincerity will wreck your worship. Worship involves physical elements that may be out of character: raising hands, crying, dancing, etc. Sincerity is not an excuse to skip worship. Imagine if you were in the Marines, and you told your drill instructor that running just wasn't your thing; or that you didn't sincerely feel like the few or the proud. The analogy carries over- if you want to be a worshiper of Jesus, then its absurd not to practice the physical elements of worship just because you feel it is out of character.

• We ended by practicing worship. We were challenged to do something in worship we had never done- to do something out of character. I saw hands go up all over the sanctuary, and God's presence flooded our midst. It was a really powerful time of worship!
  
• Its always so encouraging to see people really experience the tangible presence of God for the first times in their lives. It is such a blessing.
• During the closing moments several came down for prayer and encouragement. The Lord ministered to them, and I know that God is going to do a continued work in their lives.
  

I am now able to blog from my phone? Are you kidding me? Well, stay tuned to the blog for more updates.