A Holy, Loving God

Psalm 18:25-27 (NLT)
25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to those with integrity you show integrity.
26 To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.
27 You rescue the humble,
but you humiliate the proud.

I read this passage earlier in the week as part of my One Year Bible reading plan. These words have stuck in my head. God is a loving God, and most people like to dwell on that part of Who God is. God is also and foremost a Holy God. We generally like to sweep that part of Who God is under the rug. David wrote and sang this Psalm on the day he was rescued from his enemies and from Saul. David is praising God for Who He is.

God is faithful to those who are faithful to Him. God shows His integrity to those who live with integrity. To those who are pure, God is pure.

However, God is hostile to the wicked. Hostile! God does not tolerate wickedness in the name of keeping the peace, or of being politically correct. God is HOSTILE towards the wicked.

While God rescues the humble, He HUMILIATES the proud! Humiliates them!

There have been plenty of times in my life when God needed to humiliate me and to be hostile towards me. My desire is to have those days behind me, and to be pure in Christ. Just as my sins were washed away in the watery grave of baptism, may my life be awash with faithfulness, integrity, purity and humility.

Only then, can I have true fellowship with a Holy, Loving God.

Welcome to...

During our college age Bible study last night we were talking about the importance of service, and the opening question dealt with stores that impress us because of customer service. As we discussed this thought-provoker, we wanted to apply our ideas to the church setting. First impressions and friendly, smiling customer service is not just concerns for businesses, but needs to be a major concern for the church.

As we prepare to move into new facilities, we have the opportunity to make a great first impression on our community. Our building is beautiful. Our covered drive up and drop off area lends itself to "doormen" to open car doors and escort folks to the front door of the building.

At one point we were discussing eateries like Cici's Pizza, and Moe's Southwest Grill. One thing thee places have in common is a greeting for everyone who walks in the door: "Welcome to..." It is our desire to create an environment that welcomes all who walk through our doors at Vero Christian Church. To truly engender a welcoming environment, we need to remember that Jesus welcomes everyone. We need to treat others with all the love, care, and commitment that Jesus does. It cannot be a rote greeting with a fake smile, it must be a genuine Christ-centered, and Christ-powered love expressed through the members of Vero Christian Church.

I was greatly encouraged by the discussion and the enthusiasm expressed from our college age group. I look forward to seeing the practical application of that discussion, and the enthusiasm put into action.

Fell off the edge of the planet

But, I am back. Over the past several months life has been crazy busy. the kind of crazy busy that can separate a man from his passion for the Word purely for the sake of the Word. Capital Stewardship Campaign, preparation for a move into our new church facilities, change in ministry focus to encompass the worship end of things, family upheavals, illness (Peggy had walking pneumonia, but is doing much better now), the Holidays, you name it.

However, I have done much better in my personal devotional time. For several years I sent out my daily devotional thoughts to a a privately maintained email list but stopped doing that nearly two years ago after someone took my thoughts out of context and put me in a bad spot with the elders of the church where I serve. Now, I keep those devo thoughts to myself. Of course the downside is that I don't have any accountability partners to keep me on track. 2007 was a year that was spotty at best with my daily devos, but 2008 is off to the start it needs to have.

As I type this while sitting on my couch this morning working at home because the Internet is down at the office, I am determined to not just take care of my personal devo time each day, but to post to this blog whether anyone reads it or not. Writing soothes my soul, and I need to soothe it more and more these days. If you stumbled upon these ramblings, I am sorry to put your through my thought processes today, but I hope to to more stimulating with each passing post this year. Join me for the ride God has planned out!

Be God's,
Scott

7 more pages

I am nearly finsihed with my reading of Dan Gilliam's God Touches and have started reading Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as part of a leadership series we are starting at VCC. I also have several other books in my stack of "must reads" but today, there won't be a lot of reading. I had an eye exam and got my pupils dilated, so everything is blury as I type this.

I find that my vision gets blury when I stay away from the Word of God for too long. I have been doing the One Year Bible as a dialy devotional reading plan for about a decade now, but lately, I have found myself having to "play catch up" because I have gotten away from that daily discipline. Making the adjustment to the end of summer, the start of a new school year, one in college and one as a senior in high school, blah, blah, blah. See? The excuses can roll off the tongue (or the keyboard in this case), but they are nothing more than excuses. Even with blurred vision from the pupil diation at St. Lucie Eyes Associates this morning, I can see that the excuses are nothing more than a futile attempt at rationalization.

It is my prayer that i stop with the excuses, and get focused back on my daily journey with Jesus! It is my prayer that because of my personal daily walk, I will be better able to bring others along on the journey of living for Jesus every day.

On my family blog I wrote the following for today, I'll let it speak for itself, and get down to the serious business of growing closer to Jesus today:
I had my annual eye exam this morning. s I type this, the words are very blury on the computer screen because my pupils were dialted as part of the examination. It will take a good portion of the day for my eyesight to return to "normal" which for me, means the need for a slight correction for distance, and a little correction for reading. Yes, bifocals have been a way of life for me for the past several years. Not that I HAVE to wear my glasses all the time, or even when I am reading, but they help.

As I contemplate the words of the gal who did much of my exam this morning, I can't help but think about the notion that people think if they wear their glasses that their eyesight will actually deteriorate and they will be more dependent upon those glasses. She said that the rality of the matter is that your brain gets used to being able to see better, and recognizes the difference when you don't wear them.

When I spend time daily in God's Word, my life really is more closely aligned to God's plan for my life. Oh, I can "get by" when I don't spend time in the Word every day, but I am only fooling myself into thinking that it is okay. Just like "getting by" without wearing my glasses may be okay, I can "get by" with the reading I do for lesson prep, sermons, etc. But that is not what is best for me.

Just as wearing my glasses helps me see clearly, spending time daily in the Word helps me stay focused on my relationship with Christ. I don't need an annual exam to see how I am doing in this regard, I just need to be held accountable for my personal daily devotion time each day. I have a couple of accountability partners to help me in that regard. Do you?

Linked Up!

Okay, I did something today that I am still not sure about. I submitted this blog to the Christian Church Today website and have been added to the list of folks with a lot deeper thoughts than me who are publishing blogs within the Restoration Movement. If you have stumbled across my site because of that listing, welcome. I encourage comments, and encouragement is always welcome. We will always speak "Blountly" on this site. No sugar coating is ever necessary. I will always try to speak the truth in love, and pray that you will do the same.

I am wrestling with a sermon this week on the brevity of life. The text is James 4:13-17, and I am trying to make sure that I don't get in the way of what God has to say about the need to be more intentional in living for Jesus every day. It is one of those messages that has me all torn up inside as I wrestle through it. Those usually turn out to be the most beneficial for me. Hopefully they are beneficial for those who hear them.

Anyway, welcome to the rambling musings of a Christ-follower who is just trying to wrestle through the notion of living for Jesus to the best of my limited abilities every day. I pray that you will join me in this daily journey with Jesus.
Be God's,
Scott

The Mission Field

The old church cliche´sign as you leave a building or the church property reads, "entering the mission field." We say that we are either a missionary or part of the mission field, but do we who claim to follow Christ REALLY mean that? In his book, The Present Future: Six Tough Questions For The Church, Reggie McNeal states (on page 51) that, "North America is the largest English-speaking mission field in the world. It is the fifth or sixth largest mission field of any stripe."

It is also true that Christian Missionaries are coming to the United States from the continent of Africa! Yet, we "churched people" sit back contently in the safety of our "Christian Cliques" and try to convince ourselves that we are "doing God's Will." When we do venture into any activity that remotely resembles evangelism, it is usually (as McNeal describes it) a "telemarketer approach of trying to shove something down someone's throat when they really aren't interested in what we have to say of "sell." Community involvement is key. I have to admit that I am not nearly as involved in my community as I used to be. I say that to my shame. When our kids were younger, I was involved in Little League, coaching both of my sons. I was at most practices and all performances when our "little ballerina" was dancing. Now, I still serve in some capacities with the high school chorus parental group, as well as making sure I try to get by youth group kids' games and performances, but seriously, I am not involved in the community like I should be. Selling Christmas trees for the High School Chorus and the Exchange Club isn't enough. I am spending way too much time doing churchianity, and not Christianity. Getting involved in the Youth For Christ stuff at a local school isn't enough. Volunteering at Habitat For Humanity on a monthly basis isn't enough.

Sitting at my desk studying for lessons or messages, updating the church website and uploading the latest sermon podcast are all fine and dandy. In fact, those are all part of my job with Vero Christian Church. However, part of my job as a Christ follower is to get involved with the people in my mission field and extend to them the love of Christ as I walk along side them day by day. Now, to determine the most effective use of my time, talents, energy, money, and personality to connect Christ with community. Vero Beach is the mission field where God has planted me. Not just Vero Christian Church, but the community of Vero Beach. Time to be faithful to that call and move out of my comfort zone.

People are desperate for the love of Jesus. People cry out daily for Something to fill the void they feel in their empty lives. How can I dare keep Jesus to myself and those in my "little club" known as Vero Christian Church any longer? God, please forgive me, and strengthen me in my resolve to be a better servant and a better ambassador for You in Vero Beach, Florida.

God Touches, Part 2

Starting at the bottom of page 74, Dan Gilliam writes:
Having grown up in the home of a preacher and later becoming a minister myself, I can safely say that I have spent half my life in a church building. It was there that I was taught, or caught, that the principal place where God worship took place was in the sanctuary services where singing, praying, preaching, the sacramental observances of baptism and communion, and the collection of tithes and offerings formally ushered us into the presence of the Almighty. I was told that we dressed up on Sundays to present our best to God, which led me to believe that God was very concerned with outward appearances. It was often said that we should be quiet and reverent in the house of the Lord, which taught me that God was not much fun and lived in a stuffy building that was empty most of the time. The God I was taught about must have been very lonely. Only a few people were ever allowed to speak publicly in church - mostly men in suits with tight collars and red faces, leaving me with the impression that God wasn't all that interested in what kids or women had to say. From these experiences with worship, I concluded that Heaven, the place where saints and angels would worship around the throne of God for eternity, was going to be a very dull place.

That, my friends, is profound. I couldn't agree more with what Gilliam says in this passage. We have become so fixated on outward appearances, and stifling creativity in many churches in North America that is no wonder why people are fleeing the church. It is time to move past the "Country Club" mode of operation and time to get back to the basics for which the church was intended: Evangelism, Fellowship, Worship, Discipleship, and Service.

I long for the day when you share your thoughts on these matters.

Be God's,
Scott