A Better Love Story

I don't think the Christian blogisphere needs another opinion on 50 Shades of Gray. I've read a number of opinions on the film and what an appropriate response from Christians should be. 

That horse is dead. (Unfortunately, dead horses still earn 80 million at the box office on opening weekend.)  

I lament that the Church is often reactive instead of proactive. We wait until a movie like this is released, and then we react as if God is back on his heels. The best response to the destructive sexual narratives of our culture is to tell a better love story. 

I did not plan it this way when I set my 2015 preaching calendar back in November, but our February sermon series through the Song of Solomon coincided with the release of this film. God is not back on his heels. He gave us "The Song" several thousand years ago as a way to tell a better love story. I have purposefully refused to draw excess attention to any singular destructive sexual narrative of our culture because I'm convinced God's love story is enough. The exaltation of the good is always better than an exposition of the bad. 

On the same night the world was flocking to see 50 Shades, we gathered as the people of God and invited our friends to see City on a Hill's latest production, The Song (www.thesongmovie.com). I don't normally promote Christian movies. Sometimes I wonder if bad acting and cheap production does more to push people away from faith than draw them in. However, this movie is good...really good. It's a 21st century telling of Solomon's story. It's his love story, but it's also about his search for ultimate meaning. (The music is amazing, too. I immediately downloaded it after the movie.)  

We will finish our walk through the Song of Solomon this Sunday. My prayer is that reflection upon these texts have increased my congregation's understanding of God’s vision for romance, intimacy, and marriage. 

Our culture doesn’t know as much about love as it thinks it does. Our music, TV shows, and movies try to capture the emotion and feeling of love. However, they do little to fully explore the deep and rich reality of love.

Christian tradition is clear as to why they miss the mark: Love cannot be separated from commitment. Our culture is in “love with love”, but not so much "in love" with the commitments necessary for love to be fully realized and experienced. The pinnacle of commitment is the covenant of marriage. Marriage is the soil in which the seeds of love are able to grow.

I’m no horticulturalist, but I know that shallow and inhospitable soil equals bad fruit. Is the same not true of love? The sweetest fruit comes from trees rooted in good soil. Soil is cultivated, tilled, enriched, and watered through the commitment of the farmer.

How is the soil of your marriage? Are you tending it daily? Are you committed to keeping out weeds and other destructive influences? We all want to enjoy the fruit of love. I pray we also learn to appreciate the commitments that must precede the harvest. In this way we will allow the beauty of Christian marriage to tell the world a better love story. 

M15 Conference

I spent this week at the Mission ’15 conference, or “M15” for short, or #M15 for you twitter-heads. It’s presented by the USA/Canada region of the Church of the Nazarene to equip pastors and leaders to engage in the mission of God.

We had some difficult conversations at M15: How do we reach a post-Christian culture? Is one form of worship better than another? What does it look like for the Church to remain true to the biblical teaching on homosexuality and marriage, and yet, be loving and Christ-like to our LGBT neighbors? How do we pass along the faith to the next generation?

Needless to say, my brain is on overload!?!

I don’t have time to sum up the fruit of these conversations, nor would I dare to say we answered all of these questions. I will tell you this: I left Kansas City optimistic, hopeful, and determined. Many people are ready to write the obituary for the Church. I admit there are serious challenges ahead, but God confirmed to me that our church, Bentonville Church of the Nazarene, has been raised up for “such a time as this.”

I hope you share my optimism, hopefulness, and determination. If we ever been begin to doubt, let’s lean hard into this promise: “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” (1 Thes. 5:24) 

It's a Wonderful Church

Do you have a favorite Christmas movie? As the days get shorter and the weather gets colder, I appreciate a good Christmas movie to bring the family together when it’s too dark and too cold to do anything outside.

Here’s a quote from one of our favorites, “Every time a bell rings, an angels gets its wings.”

As you probably know, Clarence got his wings and George Bailey was able to see what it would be like if he had never been born. It was an eye-opening experience that made him fully appreciate all the small and big ways his life had made a difference in his community. In the end he discovered just how “wonderful” his life was!

Have you ever stopped to think about how “wonderful” the Church is? If you haven’t, give me a chance to earn my wings: What if the Church ceased to exist? The local church (little 'c') is the most visible expression of the universal Church (capital 'C') so as I ask myself that question, I can only do so with Bentonville Church of the Nazarene in mind. 

·         Where would I go to encounter God in worship, to feast on his Word, and to develop relationships that feel like family?

·         Who would partner with my wife and me to disciple our boys and teach them about Jesus? 

·         Who would I rely upon to give Luke a pre-school education like the one he is currently receiving through In His Image?

·         How would families facing hunger insecurity in Bentonville get food on Mondays?

·         Who would supply OHMS students in need with weekend snack packs and new shoes?

Can you imagine going through life without a dedicated team of pastors who are called to teach the Word, lead in worship, cast vision for the future, administer the sacraments, marry the young (and old), comfort the hurting, mourn with the grieving, and equip the believers for the mission of God?

Take a moment and think about it.

Just so you know, the Church isn't going anywhere. I've read all the statistics saying the North American Church is in decline, but I refuse to believe the sky is falling. God is on the move, and he is transforming lives through his hands and feet known as the Church. 

However, taking a moment to imagine life without the Church is a beneficial exercise for us all. No one thinks about these things when everything is going well, but perhaps we should. It's a good way to not take for granted what God is doing by his grace and through his Spirit at work among us. 

It's not perfect, but it's a “wonderful” Church!

Our Only Hope

I'm always amazed at the power of hope. Hope enables people to do the impossible. No one has ever done anything great for God without putting their trust and hope in Him.

Sometimes I wish God would give us information instead of hope. I wish he would tell us exactly what to expect, when certain challenges would arise, and how he is going to deal with them, but he doesn't. He has always called people to places that make them hope. I was reminded of that as I reflected on this scripture:

"As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more."(Psalm 71:14)

What is God wanting you to do? Where is he leading you to go? How is God wanting you to change? Whatever, wherever, and however would be much easier with information, with something tangible, with something we could understand, control or manipulate.

This was the challenge for the people of God living in Canaan. The gods of the Canaanites did not operate on hope and faith. The idols of the land were built around that which could be physically touched and was within the realm of human comprehension. That was the appeal of these religions. The people of God were constantly being allured from a life of faith to a life of control. They exchanged the mystery of God for the user-friendliness of the Canaanite idols.

This temptation is alive and well today. What plagued the ancient Israelites confronts us today, but in a different form. There are all types of recycled idols from the days of old that have become the recycled lords of today.

I'm finishing a sermon series entitled "Jesus is Lord." I want us to think seriously about the hope that we have in that confession of faith. Do we hope in that which we can see and control? OR Do we place our hope in the one who has conquered death? When we proclaim that "Jesus is Lord" we are placing our hope in Him...wherever, whenever, whatever, and however. Jesus is our Lord...Jesus is our only hope.

A Back to School Prayer

It happens every year about this time. There is the smell of newly sharpened pencils in the air. Old and outgrown clothes are being replaced with this year’s latest styles. Students are reveling in that “new backpack” scent similar to the way their parents savored the first few weeks of driving in the new mini-van. Every tree quivers in its roots fearing that its lasting contribution to the ecosystem will be either “wide ruled” or “college ruled.”

It’s back to school time. For the first 20-something years of our lives, we are marked by this rhythm: August to December followed by a break, January to March with a little break, and April – May followed by a long break for the summer. We enjoy the summer sabbatical only to gear up to do it all over again.

At some point, however, we receive a piece of paper that says we are adults, that someone should give us a job, and that we should move out of our parents’ house. To help ease the violence of that transition we are given 2 week of vacation. Thanks corporate America. No more fall breaks, Christmas breaks, spring breaks, or summer sabbaticals. Welcome to the real world.

As a graduate student I had one foot in the rhythm of work and one foot in the rhythm of learning. I’m now almost a decade removed from any connection to this way of life, and I’m finding that exchanging these rhythms impedes our ability to be “life-long learners.” This is detrimental to our walk with God because at no point in my faith journey will I will receive a piece of paper from God that says: “Be it known to all present that John Mark Snodgrass has completed the courses and requirements necessary to be fully restored in the image of God and is Christ-like in every way.” 

I’m afraid that many of us function as if the moment of forgiveness is the terminal experience of the Christian life. A prayer of confession, the act of repentance, and the sacrament of baptism are not the complete fulfillment of God’s purposes for our lives. These moments are not the end, but only the beginning of what God wants to do.

Let's try something different this school year. With the smell of freshly sharpened lead in the air and with the sound of diesel powered buses rolling through our neighborhoods at ungodly hours of the morning let’s approach each new day as an opportunity to draw closer to God. In Scripture, this is called sanctification. It’s God’s way of finishing that which he started the moment you gave your life to Him, and there is a certain rhythm to His work. I pray that we would not be so caught up in the rhythms of this world that we miss the best God has for us.

If you have kids in school this new school year will provide reference points to remind you of God's work of sanctification. For me it will be the early morning walks to the bus stop. I hope to fill those walks with this thought to keep me in rhythm with God's purposes for my life:

"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

A Global Family, Church, and Mission

I really enjoy working in downtown Bentonville. It affords me the occasional stroll to the Square, which cannot happen without a visit to the Spark Café for ice cream. I made the mistake of ordering something other than mint-chocolate chip one time. It’s not that butter pecan was that bad, but it was clearly NOT mint chocolate chip. Case closed.

I decided to take one of these walks last Wednesday. When I got to the Square it was adorned with all the flags of the different nations that will be represented at this week’s shareholder's meetings. Guests from all over the world have converged on our little town. I had the chance to interact with one of our international guests, and my prayer is that he was able to experience a little Southern hospitality. I actually was able to keep him from making the mistake of his life by recommending the mint-chocolate chip. Tragedy avoided.

The wheels of commerce that drive our town extend around the world. Many of my parishioners work in the retail industry are intimately connected to the global economy. My shareholder report reflects a profit in 27 different countries. That’s really impressive.

As I enjoyed my ice cream on the Square in the presence of these 27 flags, the Lord began to speak to me about my connection not to a global economy, but to a global family. As a connectional church, we are united with brothers and sisters in the Church of the Nazarene in over 160 world areas. In just a little over 100 years, we have taken the Gospel to the “uttermost parts of the earth.” This mission is to “make Christ-like disciples in the nations”, including nations that will never have a flag represented on the Bentonville Square, but are eternally important to God. We engage in this mission without regard for a nation’s GDP or the average annual income of its citizens. Our reasoning for entering a country is simple: Do people there need to know Jesus? The answer is always the same, and so we go.

Ironically, our students leave today to go to the Dominican Republic, a country not represented on the Bentonville Square. The people they will be serving this week would have difficulty finding something they could afford in a Supercenter. We send our students to the Dominican Republic, however, because we are driven by God’s mission. This mission is much different than the one that drives the economy. The one who calls us to go says this:

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” (Isaiah 55:1)

Living this verse out makes for a lousy shareholder’s report, but it produces a great Church.

Dedications, Graduations, and Grace

Last week I was able to dedicate two beautiful babies. This is one of the most significant things we do as a church. When parents present their children for dedication they are signifying their commitment to the Lord and making a promise to raise their children in the church. We pray a blessing over these children confident of God’s prevenient grace that is at work in their life. Prevenient grace is grace that goes before our conversion. Prevenient grace becomes saving grace when a child is old enough to make a commitment to follow Christ. We dedicate our children in full confidence of this moment.

This week we will celebrate the high school graduation of our seniors. Last week’s dedication ceremony and this week’s graduation celebration is another example of how every season of life finds expression in the Church. In one week’s time, our church will experience 18 years of God’s grace at work among us. I’m thankful that many of our graduates have testified that God’s prevenient grace has become saving grace. Some of them experienced this saving grace at a camp, or on Wednesday night, or on a mission trip, or possibly at a Nazarene Youth Conference. However they experienced it, we thank God for his saving grace, but now we pray for keeping grace as these students move on to another season of life. God’s grace pursues us, saves us, and keeps us.  

As we think about these students and the life God has planned for them, I’m reminded that God is able to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). God has a great future planned for each one of them – one that is better than anything they could imagine.

Over the last few weeks I've been preaching on how the resurrection changes everything. That includes our future. Because of God’s grace and the power of the resurrection at work within us, our future is bright.

In order to fully embrace God’s future for our lives we must be free of the pain of our past. The mistakes we’ve made in the past have a tendency to haunt us. It’s easy to dwell on what we could have done differently and should have done better. Jesus’ disciples knew what it was like to be plagued by their past, especially Peter. In Jesus’ last appearance with his disciples he restores Peter, ensuring that he does not allow debilitating guilt to ruin the glorious future made possible through the resurrection.

Maybe you don’t feel like you have much of a future. You can’t imagine being as hopeful about your tomorrow as some of these high school graduates are. The empty tomb proclaims there is always a new day in Christ. God has something special planned for your future.