Real Men

Look around your church and I bet you will see with your own eyes what groups like The Barna Group and the Nehemiah Institute are say is true; we are loosing 75 to 88% of our young people after their freshman year of college. Those ages 19 to 25 are absent from our churches. But I find myself asking a serious question. Where do our young people learn it from? The reality is that a parent has 100 times more influence than a Pastor, Youth Pastor or Sunday School teacher. At best a church leader will spend a few hours a week with a teen but a parent has much more time than that.

In addition to absent teens we have absent men in our churches. According to Barna, "Without women, Christianity would have nearly 60% fewer adherents." His research shows that women are 100% more likely than men to be involved i discipleship. They are 57% more likely to participate in Sunday School. Women are 56% more likely to hold a leadership position in a church (don't' believe that one just go and look at who is serving on the committees in your church). There is an absence of real, spiritual men in our churches. No wonder churches are so weak!

Some have offered help in this area. Various books and studies have been written to try to engage men and get them back in church. But to be honest these studies are trying to put band aids over a gaping wound. Most of these books and teachings focus more on being macho and hard core than they do on being biblical. A real man doesn't have to kill things with his bare hands and then eat it. A real man loves his wife and disciples his children.

I could go on and on for days on this issue but I wont. I simply want to ask a question. Where are the real man; the saved men; the biblical men? Where are the guys that are willing to step up and be spiritual leaders? Until these men show up our churches will be doing a doggy paddle in the middle of a vast ocean, dodging as many waves as they can.

A Jesus Box

I just couldn't help myself I had to share this with you guys. This past Sunday night my church observed the Lord's Supper. I wanted to change things up a little and try to make it special for my people so I took a look at The Broadman Minister's Manual that someone got for me when I was ordained. I must admit this is the first time Ive even looked at the thing and to be honest it will probably be the last. I read something that made me sick to my stomach. On page 17 it says this, "The Supper should be a central part of the of the service and the entire service kept within the usual length of an hour." Did you catch that junk? One hour!! So I guess The Spirit quits working and punches out after that time period. And Baptist wonder why our churches are crippled and dieing. We wonder why we loose most of our kids after their freshman year of college.

Most Baptist have a little Jesus box. We pull Him out pray for a moment, sing, listen to a sermon and go home. Then we put Him back in the box. The Bible teaches us that God is a 24/7 God that doesn't sleep yet we only give Him an hour. The whole thing makes me so angry.

What Is Biblical Truth

Women shouldn't be pastors; Parents should be the primary source of their children's discipleship not youth pastors and Sunday School teachers; Homosexuality is wrong. These are a few statements, based upon scripture. How do they make you feel when you read them because your response reveals much about who you are and what you stand for? Many people hear things like this and they cringe because these statements are very much anti-cultural and most Christians are very in to the culture and they do not even realize it.

Why is this such a big deal? Many believers are operating in a worldview that is not biblical. As a result our churches and ministries are not biblical. Let me paint a picture for you that I believe captures the heart of modern-day Christianity. One day a woman came into her pastor's office to speak with him about the message he preached on Sunday. This woman was upset because the pastor said from the pulpit that homosexuality was a sin and that a person living within that lifestyle is not bearing the fruit of true repentance and without repentance we can not be saved. She proceeds to tell the pastor that she disagrees; that a practicing homosexual is loved by God and He would never send them to hell. The pastor asked the woman to back up her claims with scripture. Very heatedly she tells the pastor that her son is a homosexual and she refused the believe that God would send her son to hell. The pastor very patiently encouraged the woman to site a passage of Scripture that validated her belief but she didn't have one. She simply said, "I don't feel in my heart that God would do that."

This little story, that came off the top of my head, is similar to conversations that take place every day. Many Christians are so worldly that they will side with their personal feelings or beliefs over the Word of God. Then, trying to justify their feelings, they twist other verses and create doctrines and theologies that belittle the God that gave them life.

So I ask...What is biblical truth? Is it what the Bible says or is it what the Bible says, as we interpret it? My friends I want to tell you that it is what the Bible says and that's it! Truth is not our feelings or emotions but what the Scripture clearly teaches. And we should be okay with that for if we are not then I would assert we are in trouble at the core of our relationship with Christ. For if we can't take God at His Word what else do we have? The answer is chaos and unfortunately that is what many of our churches are today.

Family Revival

I got home last night around 10:45 after I had been in Valdosta preaching to a group of students at a youth event. I was greeted by Mary Kathryn with a big hug. I could tell she had be crying. She had picked up Family Driven Faith, the book Ive been reading lately. God had used it to break her heart. We sat down for the next few hours and spoke of the rebukes we had both recieved and we spent some time repenting before God. The good news is that repentance leads to revival. God did a glorious work in our family last night and I can't wait to see the fruit it will produce.

And boy did it come at a good time. Today is our 5-year anniversary!

Season of Repentance

Sometimes we look at repentance as the one time thing that happens in the blink of an eye; a time when a person does a complete 180. However I have learned something new about repentance in my own life. For the past few weeks I have found myself in a season of repentance; not just a one day type of thing but daily hitting my face and telling God how sorry I am for being wrong. I have realized that my views on family, church and evangelism have been severely misguided and even unbiblical.

My journey began a little over a year ago when my good friend Chase put a book my hands entitle Way of The Master by Ray Comfort. God used that book and the prayers of my friend to bring some serious conviction in my life about evangelism. The Gospel I preached was watered-down, weak and even worldly. I didn't help a person confront the reality that they were a sinner that had offended God.

During some recent bible study and sermon preparation God again brought me to my knees with conviction. As a believer in Christ I have always believed and taught that we should be most concerned about the things that God is most concerned about. However, my actions have not been lining up with my preaching. God is most concerned about His glory. Even in salvation the God is most concerned with His glory than He is our fire insurance. So I've been repenting for making evangelism more about an eternity free from hell than the glory of an awesome God who loved us enough to save us.

But wait there is more, much more. It has come to my attention that I've been a lousy husband and father. Before God ordained the church He ordained marriage and family. Mary Kathryn and Cooper should be coming before my church but that has not been the case. Once again my good friend Chase gave me a book and to him I say "keep them coming buddy". This book is entitled Family Driven Faith. God has used this book, that I am not even finished with, to rock my world. I have to repent and change everything I have ever thought about discipleship; to get it from the church and back into the home where it belongs.

Now you would think the past few weeks would have been horrible with all this conviction and repenting but nothing could be further from the truth. I feel great; like a 100 pound weight has been removed from my chest. I look at my wife and daughter in a new and wonderful light and our family time has reached a new and much deeper place than ever before. And as a result I actually feel like a more effective pastor. I know that sounds weird but it's true. I pray that my church and my friends and complete strangers would get a hold of the truth I have found and find themselves in a season of repentance.

Like a Pro

I am concerned about the professionalization of discipleship and Christian growth in our churches today. Many are under the assumption that seminary and other courses are required before one is "qualified" to preach, teach and disciple. This is why many parents are not taking responsibility for teaching their children; they let the Sunday school teacher or youth pastor take care of that. (See the blog below this one for more). Many wrongly assume that higher education is required in order to have a deeper understanding of God; His ways and His will. Let me give you an example.

Yesterday I spoke with a young man that couldn't have been much older than 21. As we spoke he revealed to me his future plans which involved some education. Then he asked me a question. "How much education do you have to have to be a preacher?" When I told him none the look on his face was priceless. Then I gave him a John Piper quote. "We are fools for Christ's sake. But professionals are wise. We are weak. But professionals are strong. Professionals are held in honor. We are in disrepute. We do not try to secure a professional lifestyle, but we are ready to hunger and thirst and be ill-clad and homeless."

What a message for the church today that seeks education for status or for possessions. Believers are called and equipped by God not by education and based upon that divine calling and equipping we are capable of teaching our children and discipling new believers. The key and unfortunately the missing ingredient for most believers in the 66 books that God has given us; The Bible. The reason many are not prepared and empowered is because they are not in The Word of God.

If there is one thing this pastor wants his people to know it is that we have all we need in our Savior. He can give us what we need to be a God-honoring, biblical church.

Family Focus

Over the past few weeks God has been speaking to me, in volume, about family; specifically the importance of being the spiritual leader to my wife and daughter. After studying the scripture, in preparation for my Mother's-Day sermon, It has become so clear to me that family is much more important than church;something I think the Southern Baptist Convention and the Church at large has lost sight of. The reason for this is due to the fact that when families are strong the church is strong and when families are weak the church is weak. The single greatest contribution that anyone could ever make to their local church and community, for the glory of God, is not to serve on every committee or teach a class but to be godly at home and raise children that are passionate about Christ. Yet in most churches the responsibility of discipleship has been placed on the ministers, the professionals, the leaders. We bring our families to church and we attend different classes and sometimes different worship services then we meet back up and go home. The average parent spends more time taking their kids to baseball games than they do studying the Word of God. My heart is just so heavy for this problem in our churches. I want to empower parents to lead their children.

To validate the things Ive been learning in scripture God provided a new book for me today and I'm already a few chapter into it. I had to tear myself away to come and write this blog. Its entitled Family Driven Faith by Dr. Voddie Baucham. Why is family so important? According to Baucham "my family is the primary place where my walk with Christ takes on flesh. It is my relationship with my wife and children that gives my walk with Christ legitimacy." I love this guy!! His mission is life is to give the privilege and duty of discipling children back into the hands of moms and dads. Ive added a short video of Dr. Baucham. He says it much better then I ever could.