Something well said

I wish I had the gift of communication like Steven Furtick, senior pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. In a recent post - "God's Glory or Grandma's Tradition", he wrote the following...

He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it.

2 Kings 18:4

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

The bronze snake had at one time been an instrument of transformation. It healed people. Saved them from the consequences of their sin. But then the people turned it into an object of worship. And thereby ruined it and robbed it of its power.

This is the essence of traditionalism. It’s not simply holding onto Grandma’s preferences. It’s when we take things. Good things. Effective things. And we end up worshipping them instead of the God who used them for a season. And it can happen to anything.

Hymns. Or modern worship.
Live preaching. Or video preaching.
One campus. Or multiple campuses.
Sunday School. Or small groups.

None of these are bad things, but they’re also not the ultimate thing. And therefore we shouldn’t treat them as such. Otherwise we run a dangerous risk.The very thing that you hold up as a tool for transformation today can easily become an idol of tradition tomorrow.

And God has a way of smashing our idols. Or rendering them powerless.

Don’t get me wrong. We should never lose our appreciation or respect for the things God uses to reach people and transform their lives. But we should also never allow them to steal God’s glory by becoming a greater object of our affections than God or the new ways He wants to work among us.

God’s glory is greater than Grandma’s traditions.
And our own as well.

Read More

Inward or Outward?

I had a couple of dear friends that left the church a while back because they don’t agree with our vision to reach outwardly in ministry and missions. Their preference is a church that ministers inwardly as a priority. I wonder how many of us would have never had the opportunity to be saved if all churches held that philosophy? I like what Perry Noble, the pastor of Newspring Church in Anderson SC says: “Churches aren’t called to contain Christ rather proclaim Christ.” Jesus himself proclaimed that “[He] had come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 He also told the disciples “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:37-38 I’m not upset at my friends’ decision, however it does cause me to wonder how many other believers are content to reach inwardly to the Christian world, and pay little attention to reaching the outside world. What about you? How committed are you to reaching outside the walls of organized religion? What are you willing to see happen in the church in order to reach the lost? Every now and then I have someone approach me at church to ask why we can’t go back to a church choir and hymns. Why can’t things be the way they used to be? Well, look at the fruit. There are churches all over the valley that continue to stay trapped in a 1950’s style of worship and refuse to change in order to reach more people. And guess what? They’re dying on the vine. And listen, it’s not just about a style… it’s about a heart condition. Is our heart to placate to the religious folks or see the lost come to salvation? Time for a heart check?

Also, I would like to express my sincere appreciate to all of you that participated in the Sourwood festival this past weekend. We made many new friends, handed out lots of bibles and literature, and shared hundreds of cups of cool Mountain Dew in Jesus’ name. This is a wonderful expression of reaching out to the community around us. I love my church.

Read More

Exceeding Joy

I can’t even begin to describe to you the joy I experienced this Sunday as I was privileged to baptize ten new believers in Christ!!! As I looked around the auditorium, I was very much aware that many of our folks are on vacation and visiting family during the summer months. However, I could almost sense the presence of a heavenly host of angels, gathered together, worshiping our Lord and Savior over the glorious display of His love and grace! I never grow tired of celebrating God’s goodness and grace for every precious soul that is claimed for eternity. It is far greater than the richest treasure this world has to offer! Sure, we have been through a few challenging weeks, but today is evidence that God is still involved and working in our midst. So, let us not grow discouraged and weary in trying to do what He has called us to do. Rather, let us persevere in the confidence that greater things are yet to come for MVC and this city!!! I am so tremendously blessed to be your pastor and I look forward to many, many future experiences with you as we pursue God’s plan and purpose for our future.

Keep the Spiritual Leadership Team in your prayers as we continue to search for the Worship Pastor God has already chosen for our family of faith. We are excited to be on this journey together and can hardly wait for His plan to be revealed.

Read More

Rest on Every Side

I was reading about King Jehoshaphat from 2 Chronicles 20 today in preparation for Sunday. What amazing faith and tenacity this man had! He is surrounded by three armies and facing certain defeat. Yet, he reminds the Lord that they are inhabiting the land that He had given to them through Abraham. He admits that his army is powerless to stop the enemy, however he declares to the Lord, “We can cry out to you to save us, and you WILL hear us and rescue us.” And then he leads Judah in a worship service. God then commands King Jehoshaphat to go out and meet the enemy. As they go, they continue their praise and worship to God. And as the people praise, God throws their enemies into confusion and they begin attacking one another. In the end, the enemies are defeated and not a single blow was struck by Judah against them. Isn’t that GREAT? I believe too many times we get wrapped up in devising strategies and plans to defeat our problems and the problem-people in our lives, that we stray totally away from praising and worshiping the Lord. Maybe, instead of kicking into survival mode the next time we’re threatened, we should do like the people of Judah and begin to praise and worship and “give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love endures forever!” Instead of focusing on the problem, change our focus to the problem-solver! Instead of sitting around with a case of “poor pitiful me”, count out blessings and give God glory! Then maybe we can experience the same thing as King Jehoshaphat. Verse 20 says, “So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.” Instead of being surrounded by threatening enemies, he was surrounded by peace and rest. Sounds like a good trade to me!

Read More