Amen, I Needed this Today...

“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment.

“Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier.

“Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”

~ Jesus, from Luke 6:37-38 (The Message)

Money Management

We don’t like to talk about money, and contrary to what many people think or believe, most pastors (me included) dread talking about it in worship. But it is such a hot-button issue since most of our lives revolve around the acquiring and spending of money. This being the case, GOD expects us to wrestle with it. Money issues have the propensity to rise above all of our other life issues, and they can contribute to them all – relationship problems, stress/worry/anxiety, and time management problems. For this reason, the Bible has a lot to say about money, wealth, and the way we either manage it or allow it to manage us. Consider this:

• ·        There are approximately 700 verses on prayer
• ·        There are approximately 600 verses on faith
• ·        There are 2320 verses on money and wealth
• ·        And 2/3 of Jesus’ parables deal specifically with money, wealth, and possessions!

The Bible offers us three (among many) cautions about how we are to approach money and wealth. Before moving on to money management, let’s consider them:

• ·        Idolatry: idolatry is giving something god-like status in our lives that is NOT GOD. The first of the 10 Commandments says: You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)

·        Envy: we get envious or jealous about what others have, thinking we deserve it. The last of the 10 Commandments says: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor (Exodus 20:17)

• ·        Distraction: we can lose sight of what is truly important when money occupies a disproportionate spot in our lives. Paul wrote, “The love of money causes all kinds of trouble. Some people want money so much that they have given up their faith and caused themselves a lot of pain. (1 Timothy 6:10)

Think about your own life…I am sure that you can see how all three of these cautions have proven to be tricky for you and the way you either (a) manage your money, or (b) allow your money to manage you.

Considering these three cautions, ultimately, we must make sure that we are worshipping GOD with our whole lives. Jesus spoke about this in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have! You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.” (Matthew 6.19-24, MSG)

I love how Jesus talked about the peril of greed causing us to be squinty-eyed and live in a dank cellar. Since we are about trying to find the living room that comes from the abundant life Jesus came to give (John 10:10b), we must realize that worshipping stuff will get us nowhere, while worshipping GOD opens our eyes to the true treasure of living. And since our worship of GOD does include the way we use our resources, we need to make sure we make use of our money in a way that is consistent with GOD’s plan for abundant life.  Here is a top-ten list, with scripture references, that can help you keep your worship for GOD versus worshipping stuff:

1.      Everything belongs to GOD: Everything belongs to God, and all things were created by his power.  (Heb.2:10)

2.      GOD creates wealth: But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. (Deut.8:18)

3.      Give thanks to GOD for your wealth: This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. (Jer.9:23-24)

4.      Save for your children’s inheritance: If you obey God, you will have something to leave your grandchildren. If you don’t obey God, those who live right will get what you leave. (Prov.13:22)

5.      Get out of debt in order to be free: The poor are ruled by the rich, and those who borrow are slaves of moneylenders. (Prov.22:7)

6.      Guard against greed: “Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Don’t be greedy! Owning a lot of things won’t make your life safe.’” (Luke 12:15)

7.      Money in-and-of itself isn’t evil, but loving it more than GOD is: The love of money causes all kinds of trouble. Some people want money so much that they have given up their faith and caused themselves a lot of pain. (1 Tim.6:10)

8.      Put GOD before money: You cannot be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (Matt.6:24)

9.      Count the cost of your spending: Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. What is the first thing you will do? Won’t you sit down and figure out how much it will cost and if you have enough money to pay for it? (Luke 14:28)

10.  Give back to GOD: Honor the Lord by giving Him your money and the first part of all your crops. (Prov.3:9)

Though it might seem counterintuitive, the last point on that list – giving back to GOD – is the Lord’s ultimate plan for how we are to manage our money. This leads me to the fourth and final key to our living room: generosity! GOD knows that we are inclined to be stingy or greedy with our possessions, so generosity is the solution to stinginess and greediness.

Giving and generosity is part of our individual and corporate worship. As individuals, we are called to give, and as a church we are called to do the same. This is part of our all-encompassing mission statement to make new and better followers of Jesus Christ to help transform the world! Our generosity changes us, individually AND as a church, so we can help others see how good GOD is.

The standard for giving in the Bible is the tithe. The tithe, or 10% giving off the top of our gross income, was what was used to support the ministry of the Temple, the priests and servants in the Temple, as well as the needs of the poor. In fact, those who took the tithe so legalistically were even known to give one out of every ten leaves from a plant or bush! They never wanted to be accused of not giving GOD His due.

The tithe was indeed the standard for giving, but somewhere along the way we lost sight of that standard. Nowadays, we look at the tithe as a goal as opposed to the standard. According to one study, the average committed Christian gives 2.58% of his/her income to the work of the Lord…this is a far cry from 10%, and churches all over are living with the implications. GOD knows we can struggle with our ministry of generosity, so He allows us to test Him in this one regard, and this one regard only. Check out Malachi 3:8-10:

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

This is a challenging thought to be sure…no doubt about it…but generosity is GOD’s solution to the peril of greediness and stinginess. I know it isn’t something that’s fun and easy to think about, because giving can be hard. I think to when I was a child and needed to tithe off my $2 allowance and 20-cents wasn’t a big deal. But as I have gotten older, and the numbers have gotten larger, I tend to think about all the things I could do with that check that we write to the church. And I will be honest – there have been times when I have gotten squinty-eyed and not followed-though in my ministry of generosity as I should have. But as our family considers our need to be generous, we once again are striving to be generous based on GOD’s standard of the tithe.

As I close out the themes from this Living Room series, I want to leave you with this one last verse. Check out Proverbs 11.24-25:

The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.

May we all be in serious prayerful contemplation about your own personal ministry of generosity!

Have a great week!

Pastor Mark 

Time Management

This past Sunday we had the third installment of our September message series, Living Room: Managing Life so it Doesn't Manage You. This week’s topic was time management.

In our modern society, technology and modern achievements have helped us develop the notion that we have more time. Microwaves help us prepare food in a matter of minutes versus hours. Computers help us with word processing, paying bills, and research in a fraction of the time it took previously. These advancements should help us maximize our time, but in reality, we tend to try to cram more into our already overloaded lives, propagating a cycle of busyness and burnout. This type of living only further closes in on our living room and isn’t what GOD wants for us; after all, GOD sent us Jesus so we can have life and have it abundantly! (John 10:10).

Our Christian faith is one of action; we hear the Lord say things like: come, follow, give, serve, love, share, etc. We also come to know that there are times when the best action the Lord calls us to are things like: rest, recover, listen, be still, etc. In order for us to enjoy the living room that GOD has planned for us, we must realize that balance is essential!

Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that GOD has placed eternity in the human heart, but we cannot understand it. This verse comes right after the lines that remind us we need balance in our lives as it pertains to time management. Read again these words from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace. (NIV)

These verses speak to us of balance, but also about knowing when it is time to do what. This is where our connection to GOD comes in so powerfully! Filling our lives with busyness and distraction only inhibits the necessary time for rest and recovery by being present for GOD. When we make ourselves available to the Lord, then we find the direction and vision we need to be engaged in the world. And making time for GOD helps us make better time with the others He has placed in our lives. We know this to be true, but we also know that the allure and demands of busyness can get in the way, so we need a strategy.

Peter Druker, who is business and management guru, did a study on the most efficient and effective CEOs. What he learned is that these leaders took a different approach to time management than most people. Where some might look first at their schedules to figure out everything that has to do be done in a given period of time, the CEOs tend to look first for their discretionary time, or the time when they have the ability to choose what to do and when. This discretionary time becomes the buffer around which everything else is scheduled. I know that since I learned this, I have been endeavoring to carve out the time I need for my own physical, emotional, and spiritual health (this includes my family time) and then plan the things I have to do for work around those. When I began managing my schedule in this way, I learned there was plenty of time for everything, whereas before, I always felt like time was in too short of supply.

Drucker offered some suggestions, in the form of three questions, that can be extremely helpful in dealing with the tasks that come to us in our non-discretionary time. These questions are:

1)      What would happen if this task were not done at all?

Ø  If the answer is nothing, then don’t do it!

2)      Which of the activities on my schedule could be done by someone else just as well or better?

Ø  Once you know, then delegate!

3)      What do I do that wastes someone else’s time without contributing to their effectiveness?

Ø  Don’t take advantage of others, because you can help them better manage their time, too, without putting any unnecessary pressure on them.

This leads me to the third key for our living room: simplicity! Simplifying our lives and schedules isn’t always easy, but it is always worth it! It is about carving out the time we need to be present with GOD to rest, pray, and recover so we can be present and effective for the people in life who need us.

As we seek the abundant living room that Jesus wants to give, may balance, simplicity, and these simple time management questions help you make the most of your time. You need balance and simplicity when it comes to managing your time, because if you don’t have it, your time will certainly manage you!

Stress Management

I continued our Living Room message series this past Sunday, talking about stress management from a biblical point of view. I got a lot of positive feedback from folks about how helpful the material was, so I thought I’d share the highlights in my weekly blog.

GOD created us to deal with stress. Deep within our hardwiring, we have the “fight or flight” mechanism, which helps prepare us to deal with a stressful stimulus. Within our hardwiring, we have tendencies that drive our natural reaction as well, to either fight or flee. Sometimes we can experience stress when we realize that we need to respond in a way that is contrary to our natural tendencies. For example, if you naturally want to take on a challenge, sometimes it is better to take a step back, assess, and evaluate the situation. On the other hand, if like me, you tend to want to want to withdraw, then perhaps you face a situation where you need to engage a challenge.

Since we all are going to face stress in our life – and not all stress is negative – problems can arise when we begin to project stress into a situation where it might not warrant it. Projecting stress is something that we all do when we try to discern if we are going to need to fight or flee. When we aim to project ourselves into a situation, we are not able to see all of the scenarios, so our minds fill in the blanks with the worst case scenario. As this happens, a cycle of stress is born where we are not only anticipating something stressful, but we are typically stressing over things that might not even happen. This projection of stress creates worry and anxiety.

The words ‘worry’ and ‘anxiety’ carry some unique significance in this concept of living room in the abundant life Jesus came to give (John 10.10). I have said in the past two messages that when life happens, it restricts and constricts our inner world. This is stress. This is worry and anxiety. The etymology of the word ‘worry’ in our Anglo Saxon language means, to choke. And ‘worry’ in the biblical languages means to divide one’s mind. So when we are worrying and experiencing anxiety, our minds are divided and spirits choked. This prevents us from being able to maintain perspective. The cycle continues.

Regarding worry and anxiety, a study revealed the way that we often worry. Check out these statistics:

• 40% of what we worry about never happens 
• 30% of what we worry about has already happened and cannot be changed 
• 22% of what we worry about regards problems which are beyond our control 
• 8% of what we worry about are situations over which we have any influence

Do you find this to be true? I know I do! A simple rule of thumb to remember is the 90/10 rule: life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond.

Since we are all going to experience stress, and we are all going to respond in one way or another, then reason stands that our response to stress is really what makes the difference. When we can learn to respond in a way that is consistent with GOD’s plan of abundant living for us, then we will truly be able to manage stress so it does not manage us. Check out this passage from The Message version of Philippians 4.6-9: Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.” 

As you pray to GOD for assistance in your stressful circumstances, know that Jesus indeed wants to come in and displace worry at the center of your life. Carrying your concerns to GOD and then focusing on His character attributes that are directly opposite to your stressors, worries, and anxiety is a perfect way to experience the relief from a divided and choked off mind. This is also essential in keeping the proper perspective when it comes to dealing with the things in life you can control (8%) versus the things you cannot (92%).

The Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

(Reinhold Niebuhr, 1943)

The Power of Music

A major rite of passage, at least of sorts, occurred in our home last Friday…Ethan got his saxophone for middle school band. When we went to meet the band director, she encouraged Ethan to play the trumpet, but he was not interested. You see, I was a trumpet player myself, and though he didn’t want to offend me, he wanted his own experience. After some contemplation, he chose the saxophone. With eager anticipation, we ordered him a rental saxophone and waited with baited breath for its delivery.

We got home with the sax on Friday after school, and with all the excitement of a Christmas morning, he unpacked his horn and carefully assembled it. After moistening his reed, he placed it in the mouthpiece and blew, producing a pretty decent tone for his first time. Within a couple hours, and without any formal training, he was playing noticeable parts of the theme song to The Pink Panther and The Streets of Cairo, which you might recognize as the stereotypical snake charming song.

There was a sense of pride Tiffany and I detected in Ethan as he began to get the hang of this new passion. The more he played, the more I could see something happening in him…the music wasn’t just emanating from the horn, it was coming from his soul. I know personally there have been numerous times when I have gotten lost in a powerful song in a worship service, a great concert, while in my car, and even while vacuuming my living room. This brings to life a great quote from Heinrich Heine that attempts to define this transcendental shift, “Where words leave off, music begins.”

Music has a power that penetrates parts of the soul in ways words alone cannot reach; this is the reason we use music in worship services. Once music breaks through some of those inner barriers, the Word of GOD is able work its way deep within and do its transformational work of changing us from the inside out. Sure we may not know, or even like, all the songs we sing in worship, but if we allow worship to do its job, we are preparing ourselves to receive the word of GOD as it is read and proclaimed.

Music is very important in the Bible. Throughout Scripture we see instances where music was used to prepare people for battle, call people for ministry, comfort people in pain, inspire people for great works, and challenge people out of their self-defined comfort zones. Music was, and still is, used in a myriad of ways to help us devote our entire life in worship to GOD! One of my favorite images in all of Scripture comes from Zephaniah 3 when we get a glimpse of how life will be when all of GOD’s people turn back to Him. Then we read verse 17, and it’s one I doubt I could ever reflect over enough, “For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (Zephaniah 3:17, NLT, emphasis mine)

Friends, this is an image I absolutely love! Think about GOD singing over you and how that heavenly lullaby must sound. Think about the LORD, the Creator of an ever-expanding universe, who wants to cradle and sing songs over you, songs that only He knows! Like Ethan moving into a transcendental state while playing his new saxophone for the first time, I can scarcely imagine the glory of GOD’s singing over me, lovingly calming my fears, and sharing with me His holy gladness.

So next time you hear or sing a powerful song lifted up to GOD, think about GOD also singing over you. Imagine the melody. Imagine the lyrics. And imagine the life-changing power of GOD’s own song, penetrating deep within your soul, changing you from the inside-out. This is the power of music…this is the power of GOD. So let’s lift our lives as songs to the LORD, and listen for the songs being sung over us. 

You're Invited!

As a child, I remember few things as exhilarating as an invitation to a birthday party! The feeling of being included and my presence being requested to celebrate a friend’s life was always a highlight. Having a young son, I see this over-and-over again as he receives birthday party invitations and Tiffany and I have to play some schedule hop-scotch in order to meet all of our commitments. Knowing how important this is to him, as well as the child having the birthday party, we do everything we can.

I saw this play out last week as Ethan hosted a pool party for some neighborhood kids to celebrate the start of the new school year. We have a child who is new to the neighborhood who Ethan invited to come and participate. This literally made the child’s day, week, and maybe even his year! He must have thanked us a dozen times for inviting and including him. We then extended an invitation for him to join in a slumber party with three other boys and we received another dozen or so thank-yous. This got me thinking about just how important it is to include people in our plans.

We are relational creatures. In fact, this is why GOD created human beings in the first place…for the purpose of relationship. From the study of Psychology, we have learned that one of the most important needs of the human soul is to belong. We see this play out on the playgrounds, in classrooms, boardrooms, sanctuaries, and places wherever people gather. We have an innate and internal need to belong. This applies to the here-and-now as well as the eternal. To hear that you are welcome and wanted just does something to the human psyche and spirit. Whether you are marking a life-defining watershed moment, or sharing in a simple cup of coffee, no one wants to feel as though he/she isn’t wanted or special.

As we get ready for a BIG weekend of celebration, I hope that you will reflect over this need to belong and consider who you might invite to join you for what promises to be a special time. On Sunday, we will celebrate the 7^th birthday of The Lighthouse and the 4^th anniversary of the ministry unification between Lighthouse and Cokes Chapel. We will have wonderful worship with special elements as well as a covered dish luncheon following the 11am service. We want YOU there in order to help us celebrate! We also want you to invite a friend to help US celebrate these milestones. It won’t be the same if you aren’t there, so please, make every effort to be present and help us fill both of our worship spaces as well as the lunch.

I know how busy people are this time of year. I also know how Tiffany and I can feel when Ethan receives a birthday party invitation for what is always a jam-packed weekend. What we have learned, though, is these parties are so important for Ethan and his friends, that we do what we can to make it work. If this is the case for you this weekend, I hope you will do the same and make every effort to attend. It is a Sunday you will not want to miss.

You are welcome. YOU are wanted. YOU belong! So come and help us celebrate. And let’s make the party even bigger and grander by inviting someone else to come with you.

Back to School with the Golden Rule

The dog days of summer seem to get shorter and shorter, don’t they? Since the local school systems made adjusts to the calendar, students get out earlier but go back earlier, too. This really hit me one day last week while doing a little grocery shopping.

I was passing by the stationary and office supply aisle when my attention was caught by a noticeable buzz. There was a sort of feeding frenzy taking place as parents and children were rustling through bins and baskets to pick out the best folders, pencils, crayons, and paper. It brought back all sorts of memories of picking out the tools that would accompany me into a new campaign in the classrooms of my local school. I wanted to be well equipped. So as a parent, I definitely want the same for Ethan as he begin middle school this year.

Tiffany did a great job of helping get Ethan ready for school this year. A week or so before we left on vacation, she and Ethan went and purchased the equipment he would need for the sixth grade. As a side note, it is a whole new world from what it took to get ready for elementary school, but I sense that’s a blog for another time. As they picked out the requisite paper, folders, binders, lunchbox, and book bag, a new item made its way into the shopping cart that had Ethan particularly excited: a combination ruler and 3-hole punch that fits snugly in the spine of his binder. Talk about multitasking…he will be able to punch holes in things AND measure them at the same time! That ruler punch is something for which he is quite proud.

School is a vital aspect of young people learning to become adults. School is so much more than just reading, writing, and arithmetic; it is about facing challenges, persevering, making friends, and accomplishing the seemingly impossible. So when we think about measuring up and keeping a straight line, a ruler is a huge help! Beyond the centimeters and inches, we need to make sure we are sending our children and their teachers in to a school year with the best possible chance for success. They need a standard, a “ruler” if you will, to help provide an answer in a world that is slow to give them.

Jesus gives some timeless advice that I am sure you have heard before. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  (Luke 6.31) Many know this as the “Golden Rule” and work to live their life by this timeless principle. It helps when we think of the potential consequences of our actions and how we might personally be impacted if those same consequences were to come our way. Thinking this way can help prevent quick tempered and shortsighted reactions to very real circumstances.

If we were able to completely follow this golden rule, the world would be a different place, let alone our local schools. Treat others like you would want to be treated whether you are in the classroom, lunchroom, bathroom, locker room, music room, or art room. Wherever you might come face to face with someone else, remember Jesus’ timeless advice. You could do much worse than to arm yourself with this powerful piece of wisdom and advice to make a difference in the world around you.

We are not but just a few days into the new school year here in Coweta County, and our neighbors in Fayette, as well as some private schools, resume next week. There is no doubt it will present all sorts of challenges. But if we can remember to treat our neighbors as we would want to be treated ourselves, then we are making great strides toward a wonderfully constructive and educational experience. We need all the help we can get to measure up and keep a straight line. So as you pack your backpacks and briefcases for another day, remember to pack one item you can stand to have in abundance: The Golden Rule! Have a great year.