Don't Quit

As many of you know I struggle with Post Traumatic Stress from my time in the military and the Iraqi war. I take part in a Veteran’s Therapy Program called Prolonged Exposure. It’s insanely intense. I am coached by a counselor who forces me to relive every traumatic experience over and over and over again. The thought is that thru prolonged exposure to the experiences, I will become desensitized and have fewer nightmares, less anxiety, and fewer tendencies to become depressed. One thing my psychologist told me when we first began is that many veterans quit before they complete the therapy. At first the sessions are so intense that things will get worse before they get better. But if you will hang in there and not quit, the end result will be worth the effort. So I was encouraged to not give up – Don’t quit.

So far I'm hanging in there - and BTW the therapy is working for me. But what I want to talk about today is not PTSD but "not quitting".

Sometimes I have to deal with frustrations and disappointments on a daily - sometimes hourly - basis. And at times, I'll just admit that the obstacles seem overwhelming and insurrmountable. But I've found out that what I may see as an obstacle God sees as an opportunity. Therefore, I can’t give up. Church people can be some of the meanest, nastiest, most hateful people in the world. And not just the members, other pastors and church leaders can be that way as well. If your church begins to grow, they attack. If you stop singing from the hymnals and go to praise songs, they attack. If you get rid of the organ and fire up a rocking band, they attack. But we can’t give up. God didn’t call us to please people. He called us to reach the lost and share hope with the hopeless.

Sometimes we have a tendency to want to give up and walk away because we don’t feel qualified. Or we feel like our past is so littered with failure and disappointment that we just don’t have it together enough to make a difference. Listen, Jesus took a group of unqualified men with severely disturbing pasts and turned the world upside down. Don’t give up.

Satan has a true gift of bringing up your past and throwing it in your face. It’s like your sin may have been drowned in the Sea of Forgetfulness, but Satan is always fishing in the place your sins were drowned. And every time he hooks something and parades it in front of you, you want to walk away because you’re reminded of who you were. Don’t do that. Realize who you are in Christ. 1 Cor. 6:11 says “...you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” And in 2 Cor. 5:17 the Apostle Paul writes, “...if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” So don’t give up. Keep fighting. You are where you are because God has put you there. And as such, there’s a work for you to complete – so don’t quit.

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You Don't Have What It Takes

I remember as a boy being nervous about trying out for the football team. I was in the eighth grade at the time, attending school at Canton Junior High. Since the games for eighth graders were on Wednesdays when we had church, my dad wouldn't let me play for the eight grade team. So, I tried out for the ninth grade team. I wasn't the only one. There were a couple of us that were put thru the ropes that day. Fortunately, I made the cut, but several of the other guys didn't. They just didn't have what it takes. Have you ever been in a situation like that? Have you ever faced a circumstance in your life where no matter how hard you try, you just don't have what it takes to resolve the situation? I'm sure we all have had experiences like that. In fact, although some of us won't admit it, we have exactly that same problem when it comes to living "a good Christian life". You don't have what it takes. I don't have what it takes. On my best days I fall so miserably short of God's standard. I try to fake it sometimes, you know? I act like I've got it all together with this "Christian thing". And I keep up the persona expected of a pastor. But I'm really full of bull when I do that. And the thing is, we don't have to fake it. God knew full well that we didn't have what it takes to have a relationship with Him. That's why He sent Jesus to die on the cross, pay the penalty for our sin, rise again, and give us the gift of eternal life. He had what it takes. And He gave us what it takes. Man, that's so liberating when we believe it, accept it, and live in His grace. You don't have what it takes, but Jesus does. Let that soak in for a little while.

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About Sunday

Hey folks, I believe the services this Sunday were a couple of notches up from any other Sunday we’ve had. I never get tired of sharing the Lord’s Supper, especially when we have folks get saved and then take their first Communion as believers. Such was the case yesterday and that kind of stuff really pumps me up!

As we begin the new service at 9:30 am next week, I want to challenge you to begin serving in either the 9:30 slot or the 11:00 slot. I believe we are going to experience some tremendous growth and we need you to pick up the slack and serve. You’ve heard me say this before: “We have too many consumer-minded Christians in the church today. God has called us to give, to serve, to contribute, not to sit in our “spiritual highchairs” and expect the world to revolve around us. I want you to be committed to doing whatever it takes to see our church reach our city and all of Western North Carolina. Listen, if God took the time to create you, He has a place for you to be serving. You have far too many gifts and talents to sit idly by and wait for Jesus to come.

I am so grateful for those of you who tirelessly serve each week at Mountain View without any desire for reward or recognition. There will be a special place in God’s kingdom for you. God is using us to reach many people in many places because you are willing to give of your time, treasure and talents. I am so incredibly proud of all of you and am humbled at the privilege to serve along side you.

My prayer is that all of us would take the challenge and plug in to what God is doing in and thru this family of faith. The result will be that more people hear the Good News of Jesus’ love and become a part of the family of faith. I love you guys. Let’s keep on keeping on!

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A Verbal Witness

Over the past few weeks I’ve been talking about sharing your faith or giving a verbal witness to others about the difference Christ has made in our lives. I realize that for many of you, that is a very difficult thing to do. If you’re like me, you probably struggle with being transparent about your life before Christ. Questions like, “What will people think? How can I come clean about the mess in my past?” creep into our mind and often keep us from opening up our lives and giving a testimony. For myself, I know that my life hasn’t always been one of fidelity and purity before the Lord. And I still struggle today with a lot of stuff. But I’m thankful that Christ is faithful even when I am unfaithful to Him. After I became a believer, for quite a while I struggled with sins and habits that were difficult to break. But one day I reached a point where I totally committed my life to Christ and walked away from the crap that I had been carrying around for so long. When that happened, I was thankful for the fact that no one knew about the junk I had been holding on to. I figured that I would just forget the past and keep all that stuff a secret. But then I believe God began to lead me to think in a different way. All that stuff in my past is a part of my testimony. And the deliverance I experienced thru Christ’s love, grace and forgiveness is the verbal witness I should be sharing. The truth of the matter is that although my past does not define who I am today, it has shaped me to be the man I am today. And regardless of whether or not I knew it, Christ was there with me thru every struggle. He preserved me thru it all so that I might be able to tell others about the hope which can be found in a relationship with Him. So the next time you’re tempted not to share your testimony with a person who is struggling, remember this: Your past does not define who you are today but it is a part of your story. And the victory you have experienced may just be the verbal witness that leads another person to find hope in Christ.

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Steve Furtick on Church Growth

Pastor Steve Furtick of Elevation Church wrote the following in his blog concerning church growth. I unashamedly ripped it off so you could also read it.

This is how Growth happens at Elevation Church...

We enable experiences and interactions that leave our people saying:
I love my church

So they’ll tell their friends:
You’ve got to come check out my church

The friends come.
We worship Jesus and preach the Gospel with excellence.

The friends leave saying:
I really like this church

Inspiring them to come back again and again until they say:
I love my church

And tell their friends:
You’ve got to come check out my church…

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Did You Get The Letter?

I know that several of you received a letter from a Dr. C which stated that he witnessed an incident between two members of the church that “was so vulgar and bold that [he] has had to be under a doctor’s care for serious hypertension ever since.” He also goes on to compare Mountain View to “The Mormon’s and other cult-like groups...” and warns the members of a dangerous trend at Mountain View, whereby “we have become organizationally and administratively derailed.” Folks, ignore this maniac. The Spiritual Leadership Team of our church has reached out in love to this crazed person and he has simply refused to admit his sin and repent. I probably shouldn’t even be using up space on my blog to address this situation, but I don’t want you to be alarmed. He has made some very serious accusations against certain members of our church that were intended to hurt and seriously injure their reputation and character. It’s very obvious, even from the letter he sent to many of you, that his intentions were nothing short of maniacal and certainly not that of bringing peace and restoring unity. I am sure the majority of you will be able to see straight thru this person’s attempt to bring discord to the body and dismiss his comments. I assure you that the deacons and Spiritual Leadership Team were very much involved in investigating this dude’s accusations and found them to be utterly false. However, if anyone has a question, you can ask. When I talked to my dad about the letter being sent to several members, his response was, “You ought to be rejoicing son! The devil wouldn’t be attacking if you weren’t doing something right!” Guess that’s the way we need to look at this. God is doing something extraordinary in this faith family. I refuse to give Satan or any of his assistants a “toe-hold” on what is taking place. Count it all joy. It’s not the first time we’ve been attacked. It won’t be the last.

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Kingdom Work

Here lately, every time I sit down to start working on my sermon I get so excited I can hardly contain myself! I am so fired up about what I believe God is doing thru Mountain View right now and even more fired up about what the future holds! It's incredible that He allows us to partner with Him to do the work of His heavenly kingdom. God's plan for history is to one day bring the age of this world to a close and establish His kingdom for the rest of eternity. When will that happen? Who knows when the date will be, but Jesus said in Matthew 24 that it will happen "when the good news of the kingdom is preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations..." So the work we are doing, when we're sharing the love of Christ with the world, is helping bring about the time when God's eternal kingdom will be established. That's so cool! God could have done that in a hundred thousand other ways, but He chose to invite us to be His co-laborers. When I look back over the past 8 years I can see God's finger prints all over the ministries that have taken place thru our faith family. The work in Central America with the planting of the churches there. The plans for constructing a school during this fiscal year in the village of Trojilo. The Bible College and the completion of the training facility in Bethel. Our partnership with the church of Morocon and Pastor Pedro. Not to mention all the thousands that have been ministered to with the message of God's love and grace. Do you realize that God has been delaying His return so that we can be involved in sharing the gospel with more and more people? It's not His will that anyone should perish without knowing Him. That's what makes the work we do so important. We are involved in making a difference for all eternity - a difference of life and death. Who do you know that will be in heaven because you shared, cared, prayed and/or served? I hope there are literally hundreds there because of you.

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Be Happy

Roger Miller sang an old song that went like this:

You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd

You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd

You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd

But you can be happy if you've a mind to.

You can't take a shower in a parakeet cage

You can't take a shower in a parakeet cage

You can't take a shower in a parakeet cage

But you can be happy if you've a mind to.

All you gotta do is put your mind to it

Knuckle down, buckle down, and do it do it do it.

Happiness is a choice. If you find yourself singing the blues, chances are about 99% that you have chosen to be there. It's always easy to choose to be unhappy. It's easy to choose to be irritable. It's easy to choose to feel sorry for yourself. But you don't have to. Decide before you even begin your day that you're going to respond to the tough situations you encounter with a joyful, plesant attitude no matter how upset you may feel. "All you gotta do is put your mind to it. Knuckle down, buckle down, and do it do it do it."

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Pass It On

I went to the Deli at BiLo's a few minutes ago to pick up something for lunch. After I had ordered the 2 piece combo, I went to the cashier to pay. The charge was $5.15. I handed the lady a $20, saying that I had no change. She said, "I think I have 15 cents." Then she went to her purse and took out a dime and a nickle and paid the change for me. I couldn't believe it. I didn't expect her to do that, but after she did, I told her "thanks!" To which she said, "Pass it on."

As I thought about that act of kindness, I was reminded that we should all "pass it on" when it comes to the love and favor we've experienced thru Jesus Christ. If you know Him, you've experienced hope and peace like the world cannot know. He has given us this treasure in "clay jars", our human bodies. When we are broken for the things Christ is broken for, we will share the treasure. With whom have you "passed it on" today?

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Thoughts on Sunday

What a great day Sunday! It's always a good day when people put their faith and trust in Christ. I also enjoy the process of casting vision and dreaming about the plan God has for Mountain View. I realize that for some of you the vision I talked about is overwhelming, but I believe it is entirely possible. I believe we can see the church grow by 1500 new believers. How fast do I think that will take place? That's up to the Lord - Christ is the One that grows His church. But I do believe it's entirely possible to see our current membership double over the next 2-3 years. I also believe there is land somewhere in the Eastern part of Buncombe County that will allow us to relocate and build the facilities I talked about yesterday. I'm not sure where it is but God does. And as we combine our efforts to make the good news of Christ's love known in our area, we will share in the blessings of the Gospel. The Bible is full of times when God's blessings followed the obedience of His children. I've got to tell you, I'm totally excited and freaked out over what I believe God will do when we follow the mission He has for us. And I'm also fired up beyond all control that we all get to take this journey together. There's no place I'd rather be than right here, right now, with all of you. Let's all commit to joining our hearts, our hands and our prayers in talking the next steps towards God's dream for Mountain View.

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Ministry Strategy or Not?

So I was reading Tony Morgan's blog at TonyMorganLive.com and happened to come across a top 10 list that I had to steal. Since I'm talking about vision this Sunday, I thought this was very appropriate.

10 Advantages of Doing Ministry Without a Ministry Strategy

1. You give the loudest person the opportunity to decide what happens at your church.

2. Sharp leaders who are accustomed to serving in organizations with clearly defined plans for future growth won’t stick around your church. That means more ministry for you!

3. You’ll get to hone your debating skills as people argue about what to do next.

4. More meetings! Where there’s no strategy, the meetings flourish.

5. Some people call them church splits. We like to call them church plants. More mother churches!

6. You don’t have to worry about celebrating success, because no one even knows what success looks like. It’s just better to keep that a secret.

7. Rather than trying to discern God’s will for your ministry, you can just rely on dumb luck.

8. You don’t have to pray as much, because there’s nothing to pray for. As an added bonus, that means you don’t have to develop as much faith either—whatever happens…happens.

9. You can count your offerings a lot faster, because people will save their financial gifts for organizations that actually have a plan for the money they receive.

10. Your lack of ministry strategy, which is a ministry strategy, will do just fine in Nothing, Arizona.

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Vision For Mountain View Church

I want to share the vision I believe God has for us as a family of faith. I don’t want to blow your mind... but it's a huge dream...

It’s the dream of a place where lost, hurting, hopeless, broken people can find love, hope, acceptance, forgiveness & encouragement.

The dream of seeing hundreds of residents from all over Western North Carolina come to faith in Christ.

The dream of welcoming 1500 new members into the family of faith of Mountain View and seeing them grow to be developing followers of Christ thru active involvement in small groups & ministry teams.

The dream of sending hundreds of our members to Central America to be involved in short term missions

The dream of planting numerous churches in Central America & building a school in Trohillo, Nicaragua.

The dream of some day purchasing a piece of property on which we can construct a regional church with simple, practical facilities including a worship center that seats 1500, a prayer center, a gymnasium, a youth center, classrooms for study & training lay ministers.

The dream of substantially providing for the poor & having a crisis pregnancy center for unwed mothers.

The dream of reaching our maximum redemptive potential as a church. And thru the focused principles of Worship, Nurture, Evangilism, and Service, to develop disciples that are equipped and released into ministry..

I believe this dream can & will come true. We’ve already seen part of it happen. My prayer is that we will continue to pursue the vision God has for us. The Bible says “all things are possible for those who believe.” And "Our God is able to do immeasurably more than all that we are able to ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us."

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Focused VIsion

The famous sculptor, Henry Moore and the literary critic Donald Hall were talking one day when Hall asked Moore, "Now that you're 80 years old, you must know the secret of life. What is it?"

Moore thought for a moment and said, "The secret of life is to have a task, something you do your entire life, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day, for your whole life. And the most important thing is: It must be something you cannot possibly do."

That’s a good description of a God given vision. Do you have a vision like that for your life? What is your aim in life? What do you hope to accomplish? If you’re a child of God, your vision comes from Him. He wants you to commit yourself to a dream that is always just beyond your grasp. And then, when the impossible is attained you can do nothing but glorify Him with thanksgiving for what He has done.

As a church, God has given us a vision. And it’s a focused vision. He has called us to a mission of doing everything we do thru the filter of “Exalting Christ and Sharing His Love”. Our vision is a defined dream as we are engaged in accomplishing our mission. I will expand upon our vision in my next blog, but the bottom line is this: Whatever we do as a church must have the end goal of introducing the world to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. If we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, encourage the hopeless, minister to the sick, build homes for the homeless, whatever... The reason we do these things is not just so we can be involved in humanitarian activities, but because we have a vision – a focus – of building relationships with others so that they might discover the wonderful, eternal vision that God has for their lives.

Has God given you a vision that has that kind of resounding influence? If He hasn’t, He will. Ask Him what focused vision He has in mind for you.

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