God uses every experience

 

When I was working in construction 25 years ago I wasn’t happy about it.  God had called me to preach and lead in the church, but for a season He had me banging (and bending) nails.  I confess I didn’t do so with the most submissive of attitudes toward the Lord, often asking “Why?” and whining.

But if we understand that our lives are under the lordship of a sovereign God who uses every experience as a tool to mold and shape us, then we can handle the disappointments life brings with grace.  Before those 4 years I call my “wilderness journey” I knew nothing about construction and had no skills with hammer or saw.

It now makes perfect sense to me why God took me down that path for a while.  In 1991 and 1999 I was able to use those skills to remodel and add on to my own house.  A few years ago I got to go to Canada and help build cabins for a Christian conference outreach to native Americans with our missionaries Don and Mary DeHart.  I’ve even applied some of that knowledge and skill to projects around NHC over the years.

Once again God is letting me dust off my tool belt to do some mission work.  Now banging nails is a joy as I see the seeds planted and watered in the hearts of those needing Christ.

We’re talking about seasons and times of life today.  God uses them all for our good and the good of the good of others, even if we don’t at first see it. 

My friend Roscoe Brewer died last week. Likely you've never heard of him. But because of his passion for living out God's purpose for his life perhaps millions around the world have had their lives changed.

Please take the 15 minutes or so to watch and listen to the video. It was filmed recently. He's obviously frail from the cancer that finally took his life, but the passion was still there as he talked missions.

"I need more hands"

That was what Curtis, the deputy fire chief at Stumpy Point said to me yesterday as we were nailing tarps on the roof of a church in that little village.

Most of the homes in Stumpy Point were flooded. Some lost their roofs. All have suffered damage. Many of the residents evacuated and are just now returning to find all they own destroyed by water. Curtis and his dad, who is the fire chief, are doing their best to help out. As I looked at Curtis and listened to him tell the stories all I could see and hear was his own exhaustion and sense of being the Dutch boy with his finger in the dike.

Little communities on the Outer Banks like this have no real local government infrastructure. They're rural communities, who are communities in the real sense. Stumpy Point is our most "isolated" community here in Dare County, separated by miles from the rest of us and surrounded by water. On a normal day it is a most beautiful spot. After a hurricane, it more resembles something from the Apocalypse.

Roads have just been opened. Cell service is pretty much non-existent. Mosquitoes, snakes and turtles are abundant. And so is the need. These are proud watermen, the kind of people who have been self-sufficient for centuries. Hard working and resilient they are. But now they are in something they never imagined and the likes of which no one can remember.

County-wide the needs are overwhelming. Great resources are being put to work to restore power, water, food, ice, and especially roads down on Hatteras Island. Ferries loaded with necessities are going throughout the day to supply them, and I'm glad for it. But right before the ferry dock is a little village that seems to be neglected and has enormous needs as well.

If your church or group is looking for somewhere to go, please consider Stumpy Point. You'll meet some wonderful, God-fearing people who have lost all their material possessions but not their spirit.

And I'm with you, Curtis. I could use a few more hands this week myself.

In the Aftermath of Irene

We are partnering with NC Baptist Men's Disaster Relief agency to make a difference.

Operation Backpack 2011

Operation Backpack 2011 from Nags Head Church on Vimeo.

Jesus Loved Them...Shouldn't We? (Part 2)

So what do we do?

Most of us who have been given new life by faith in Christ know too well how easy it is to retreat into a "holy huddle" and lose total contact with those outside the faith. Picture in your mind a huddle of football players getting the next play from their quarterback. They're all faced inward.

But they don't stay that way for long. In fact, if they stay in the huddle too long the ref blows a whistle and they're penalized by losing ground. The huddle is an important time, but its purpose is to get everyone on the same page as they turn to face the other team. It's a comfortable place. Everyone in the huddle wears the same uniform. We know each other. We're a team and are comfortable together. And in the huddle we get a bit of a breather. Not a perfect illustration, but I think it makes some valid points for the church.

We need that time together when we're getting the Coach's instructions for our next steps. He's got a game plan for us individually and collectively. In a nutshell it is found at the end of Matthew's gospel. We often call it the "Great Commission", and it tells us that as we're going into the world we're to make disciples. Guess what? That requires leaving the huddle and getting into the game by engaging those who don't yet know Christ.

When I played football we all knew when it was time to leave the huddle. The quarterback, who had been given the next play from the coach, called out the play to us and the snap count that would start it. Then he repeated it just to make sure we all heard it and heard it clearly. With that accomplished he said, "Ready" and simultaneously all eleven of us clapped our hands once and said, "Break!" The huddle was broken and we assumed our positions on the line of scrimmage.

If we're going to have balance in our lives, engaging in both edification - building one another up in the church - and evangelism - taking the Good News to the world, somebody has to call "break". I guess that's one of the duties of pastors and leaders: Saying to the team, "Let's go. We know the strategy; we've had the coaching; our assignments are handed out. Let's take the Gospel to those who don't know."

Jesus didn't just hang with His disciples. Sure, He invested a lot of time and energy with them, getting them ready to carry on. But He also broke from them to spend time with a woman who was rejected by others at a well outside of town. There He told her how to drink the water that gave life everlasting. He was willing to be criticized by those in His day who never left the huddle to eat and drink with the spiritually starving. And it wasn't long before He sent them out two by two as "lambs before wolves". He knew their purpose as lambs was to leave the safety of the fold and tell others how to be in the fold.

If you're not taking His instructions and then going into the world, making disciples, you'll never gain ground. In fact, you and your huddle, your group, your church, if they're doing the same and looking inward, you're losing ground. You're being penalized. We have to be actively involved in both the inward and the outward. That means I may have to put my insecurities in God's hands. I may need to find ways to spend time with those outside of my church. If you realize all your friends are just like you, something's wrong.

And here's what will happen if you stay in the huddle too long. Paul warned that in the last days women (and this can happen to men as well) will be "always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." (2 Tim. 3:7) We can be guilty of being learners but never practicing what we've learned. In my experience, those church members who tell me they just can't get enough "Bible study" also never (that's right, never) bring another person to Christ. Somehow their hunger for God became all about knowledge and never about making disciples.

In his letter to the Corinthian church Paul told them they had plenty of knowledge. Yet, they were at the same time filled with division and selfishness. "Knowledge makes people arrogant, but love builds them up." (1 Cor. 8:1) If we fill our heads with spiritual truth but never allow that truth to transform our lives into loving witnesses it only serves to fill us with spiritual pride. (Now there's an oxymoron.)

Ask yourself these questions. Then decide what you need to do.

When was the last time I shared my faith with a non-believing friend?
When was the last time I brought an unchurched friend to church with me?
Have I allowed my Christianity to distance me from those who need Christ?
Are all of my friends at church?
Who will be in heaven because I took the knowledge I learned and gave it away?
Do I jump at the chance to attend a church related conference or Bible study but don't invite my neighbors to an outreach event?

Ready? Break.

Jesus Loved Them...Shouldn't We?

• The Samaritan woman at the well.
• Nicodemus, the Jewish civil and religious leader
• Andrew, a fisherman.
• Magi who traveled from the East with gifts for a new King.
• A Roman centurion with a deathly ill servant
• A tax collector who went to extremes just to see Him and climbed into a tree.
• A rabbi with a dying daughter.
• A handicapped man whose friends had a "whatever it takes" attitude.
• An anonymous woman with an incurable hemorrhage.
• A rich, young ruler.
• Many more we know about from the biographies of Jesus called "Gospels". Many, many more we don't.

What they had in common was a need, be it spiritual or physical, and they sought out Jesus. Some were actually looking for Him, with curiosity or even an inkling that He might be the promised Messiah. Most, not all, embraced Him as Savior.

Back in the 90's (or so) a term was coined to represent men and women who are like the list above: needy and wanting an answer or healing or solution. If he didn't use the term first, he at least became most famous for its use at his Willow Creek church outside of Chicago, but whether or not you or I agree with him on every point, Bill Hybels' ministry became symbolic of the term "seeker".

"Seeker" became a buzz word in some evangelical circles, and typical of evangelicals and fundamentals, whenever someone introduces something new, be it terminology or ministry strategy (which I find are never new, but usually something forgotten retrieved) we (I'm an evangelical) take sides. At our heart, it seems, we truly enjoy divisiveness ala the Corinthian church by drawing lines in the sand - and sand constantly shifts - by declaring, "I'm fer it" or "I'm agin it". Often in our quest to guard our perceived "orthodoxy" we over-analyze and miss the forest for the trees. Semantics should never divide. You say "tomaughto", I say "tomayto". It's still a tomato. "Seeker" simply means someone outside of faith in Christ who needs Him and is searching.

So here are two paradoxical axioms that I ponder. Actually the second can't truly be called an "axiom" because while it is typical, it is an aberration of what is true. But because it is so overwhelmingly the "norm" I'll treat it as such.

1. None of us who know Christ as Savior have always been believers. No one comes into this world trusting Jesus and on the road to eternal life. The Bible is clear that we are all born with a sinful nature that separates us from God and the life He possesses. Whenever I hear someone say, "I've always believed" I have to ask them, "Really?". Because that contradicts Scripture.

Since I was very little I understood there was God and His Son Jesus. I didn't doubt that as a child because people I trusted (parents, Sunday school teachers) told me so. As I heard of His love and my own inability to achieve everlasting life and His provision of grace I became a "seeker". I distinctly remember asking my mother, who at the time was very religious, but was herself an unbeliever, "How do you get to heaven?". Her answer, by the way, was typical of mainline religion - "Do your best" - and was wrong. But it wasn't until I was nearly eleven years old that I understood my personal need for faith in Him that I experienced new birth.

Every child of God was first a "seeker" in some fashion. But there is also a most confounding pattern I've noticed in my 40 plus years as a believer.

2. We tend to forget who we were and lose our passion for those who are seeking. Here's how it works. We don't plan it this way and never really see it coming. But in the vast majority of Christians this is how life plays out unless we allow God to help us see the world through His eyes. Here's the scenario.

Our seeking results in finding. Whether you see it as you found Him or He found you isn't the issue here. From your perspective, you found Him and received His gift of eternal life. From His perspective He "found" you. Jesus is the ultimate "seeker". And the changes begin in your life. You connect with a local church and God brings a whole new family and group of friends into your life. You hunger to know Him and love it whenever you discover new treasure in His word. You find a place of ministry in the church, serving His family. Life is better than ever...and it's supposed to be.

Your excitement over your new life is uncontainable and you want all of your family and friends to discover what you've found. So you invite them to church. You talk to them about your faith. Some go with you. Some even believe. And those who do become part of your inner circle of friends now that they, too, share this faith.

But as time goes by - maybe a year or two - you gradually begin to lose contact with those old non-believing friends. You don't hang out with them as much, if at all because your Christian friends and family not only get your priority, they get your everything. It's been a long time since you talked with a non-believer about Jesus. You can't remember the last time you invited someone who is unchurched to church with you. Even when the church has bridging events for the community, you don't invite anyone to come. Rather than talk to someone who needs Him, you retreat into a "holy huddle" of other believers and talk to them about Him, whether that be a Sunday school class, a Bible study or a small group. And within the safety of that family you convince yourself you are content.

Suddenly you look around your life and you've lost contact with the world Jesus came to save. As you've grown older in the faith you've also grown distant from the "seekers" and from being a "seeker" like Jesus.

What's happened? In my next post I'll talk about the need in our lives for balance. Real Christian maturity, like Jesus, must be balanced with a passion for growing in the faith and going out to reach the yet faithless.

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Smoke Signals

Not only is an extremist church in Florida threatening to burn copies of the Koran, our tax dollars are being used to burn Bibles in Afghanistan.

My thoughts are that neither will accomplish the goals of the match holders.

Grabbing Attention or Taking a Stand?

Do churches need to burn Korans in order to demonstrate their opposition to Islam?

I'm not sure I understand how having a bonfire fed by a religious book accomplishes anything good or is in any way Christ-like. Jesus didn't burn the books containing the religious traditions He found so offensive. Nor did He advocate His followers to set books on fire.

There is an occasion in Acts 19 where books were burned. But the story has no resemblance to what the Gainesville, FL church plans. The Ephesians who burned their books had been converted from pagan sorcery to life in Christ. It wasn't a protest. It was for them a rejection of their own past. It was a declaration of their new-found freedom. My hunch is the folks who will be pitching Korans into a fire were never Muslims.

The ramifications of their planned book burning are far reaching. General Patraeus warns that going ahead with the burning will only serve to ignite a greater hatred for and inspire an increased effort on the part of Taliban against US servicemen serving in Afghanistan.

I truly doubt that we can fight spiritual warfare - which is what the Gainesville church claims it is doing - with book burnings. There are better ways of evangelizing the world than by alienating those who need to hear the Gospel by extremist acts.

Or could it be that this is mostly a publicity stunt? If so, it's way over the top. Have they burned any other religions' books? If not, they should be consistent and do so. Why just pick on one?

A better way to observe Sept. 11 - the date of the planned burning - might be to remember those who died and honor those who gave their lives in efforts to save lives.

Real Christianity

A few weeks ago a medical team was brutally murdered in Afghanistan by Taliban. One of those killed was the young son of a long-time friend. Below is taken from an email he sent to friends telling about the memorial service that followed.

We did things a little differently in that we had Brian's burial before the memorial service. The idea was to show that we, as followers of Christ, go from death to life. Our pastor gave a 10 minute devotional followed by my family releasing 7 white doves (pigeons actually, but who cares) as a symbol of peace and the Holy Spirit of God, and issued a statement of heartfelt forgiveness to the men who killed these 10 aid workers. I can understand just a little bit how Stephen could say, "Lord, do not hold these sins against them". They are men who are lost and have acted only on the sin nature that we all possess. Yes, they are guilty of murder and if caught, they will be dealt with. Without Christ, they are already condemned!! They were mere pawns in the hand of the Almighty to wake up thousands of sleeping Christians and challenge unbelievers as to why a young man would knowingly and willing risk his life serving the ungodly.

People Are People

Today I wrap up 6 days in France. Much of the time has been spent interacting with the people here. Some of those interactions have been while walking the streets of Paris and Grenoble. Others have been in church events.

What I've discovered here is that some of my presuppositions about them have been colored by others' judgments. Now that I've met many and seen them up close and personal I have come to the simple conclusion that people in France are much the same as people anywhere else I've been, including in my own back yard.

I will say this for them: their food rocks. My favorite new French word is "patiserrie".

(Too bad their football team has had such issues. I'm told they are an embarrassment to the people they represent.)

Semper Fi!

Tuesday night I got to hang out with a few good men. The local detachment of The Marine Corps League had their annual installation of officers and I've been "recruited" to serve as detachment chaplain. The MCL is made up of marines no longer on active duty whose purpose is to support the Corps in various ways. I say "no longer on active duty" because "Once a marine, always a marine".

At the ceremony I met a WWII veteran of the Seabees. Our commandant is a Korean War vet. Looks to me like there are several Viet Nam era marines, and present was a young man still active and just returned from Iraq.

I'm an "associate member" of the detachment because I was never a marine. But until I was 17 I lived in the home of a marine. Dad exited the Corps a Gunnery Sergeant (think Clint Eastwood in "Heartbreak Ridge") just before my senior year of high school. So I'm well versed in marine stuff. These old marines accept me because "if your daddy was a marine, that's good enough for us". Actually my great-grandfather was a marine, too - a veteran of the Boxer Rebellion. He was one of only 295 marines sent to quell the attacks against Christian missionaries in China in 1900. So to be associated with these leathernecks is a personal honor.

You've probably heard the Marines' Hymn ("From the halls of Montezuma..."), but have you ever heard the last words of the last verse?
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on heaven's scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
by United States Marines.

Oorah.

Just so you know

Before President-elect Obama ever had his picture taken with Rick Warren, I did. If I can find it, I'll post it.

Obama's getting flack for inviting Warren to give the invocation at the inauguration because of Warren's conservative views, esp. in the issues of homosexuality and abortion.

Warren's sure to get flack from the extreme religious right for being "chummy" with a liberal like Obama. But, as a pastor, how do you say "No" to an invitation to give a prayer, esp. when the Bible tells us to pray for those in governmental authority?

Kudos to Obama for demonstrating some diversity. And for my bud RW, can you get me tickets?

If he had invited me to pray, I would. Just so you know.

Gonna buy 5 copies for my mother...

It's not quite the cover of The Rolling Stone, but this pic is on the front page of the Town of Nags Head's web site today with this caption: Nags Head Fire Chaplain Rick Lawrenson gives an invocation during the Veterans Day ceremony held at Town Hall on November 11. Walter D. Fillmore, Brigadier General (Ret.), US Marine Corps, was the guest speaker. More photos can be found under News & Information.

Building Bridges

At our annual Trunk or Treat event last night over 400 family groups visited. There were inflatable rides; fun games; over a half-ton of candy given out; free food and drink and all in a safe family environment.

Was it expensive? A little. Did it take a lot of work? Yeah. About 80 volunteers from our church made it happen. Was it worth it?

Along with the 1,000 children who had an incredibly fun night there were another another 500 or so adults who witnessed a church giving back to the community.

Everyone was smiling. Where do you find that anymore?

Every family received a printed presentation of the Gospel.

Every family was welcomed and told "Thanks for coming. We're glad you're here!" And they heard that without being asked for anything in return. "Wow" was a frequent response.

The whole event screamed loud and clear, "This church loves kids and their parents, knows how to have fun and do it in an excellent way".

At least one that I've heard from so far was able to share his personal faith story for the first time in a long time.

Once again "TEAM" was emphasized as a huge part of being a church.

Was it worth it?

The Silver Lining

I would think that death always brings grief to someone. At least I would hope it does. It's hard to imagine anyone dying and no one caring.

Grief in the case of an elderly person who has lived a long and full life is somehow eased with all those memories and the realization that it was their "time".

But death of a young person, especially a child, is a horrible experience for the surviving family and loved ones. I witness the initial shock of hearing the news that a child is dead often as a public safety chaplain.

And I see the worst - the cases when there is no "forewarning" like a known illness or risky surgery. There's no preparation. Most that I am involved with are sudden and totally unexpected. One minute the child is enjoying life as chldren do. The next they are lifeless.

Sunday I was involved with one of those heart-wrenching cases as a just-turned 13 year old girl suffered an apparent cardiac arrest while sleeping. While on vacation and away from home, friends, family, church.

I met with the parents at the emergency room to offer support and prayers. They actually quoted Romans 8:28 to me. This young girl has a vibrant relationship with Christ. Spiritually we're told that knowing there is eternal life ahead because of the work of Christ and our belief in Him takes the sting of death away. I saw that.

That trust in God's sovereignty doesn't, however, answer the inevitable "Why?" questions. Those may never be answered in part much less fully here.

As I do regularly in these situations, I asked the parents if they would consider organ donation. What parent considers this in advance and already has an answer ready? Precious few, I'm afraid. But without hesitation they looked at each other and said, "Yes. If her organs can allow another child to live, yes."

I informed the nurse and the papers were signed. And I hope that somewhere someones' sons or daughters are being given a chance at a longer life because of such an unselfish act.

It doesn't erase the pain, but it does help.

If you would like to know more about organ donation, please click the link to the right of this page.

How coach Lew Johnston got his groove back

In yesterday's Virginina Pilot this story was on the cover of the Hampton Roads section. It's about a very close friend.

Lew shared this story with me over lunch in July while he was down on vacation. We've been friends since the football season of 1985 - his first season as head coach - when he asked a young youth pastor to serve as the team's chaplain. It was an experience that shaped not only Lew and I, but a number of young men.

After a year of retirement, Lew's back at it. He knows why God has him on this earth. And knowing that brings him great fulfillment and purpose.

Sunday Flashback

Gail and I worshipped today at the Calvary Baptist Church in Yorba Linda, CA. God is doing some great things with this church and it is so neat to watch it happen from afar. Pastor Brian Moore's teaching today gave me some great fodder for my next series, coming in September called "Radical Generosity". Thanks Brian!

Even more exciting was hearing how amazing the worship gatherings were at Nags Head. I'm told someone said, "Don't tell Rick, but this was the best worship service of the year!". That's the best news I could have received today. Knowing that things don't miss a step, but even get better in my absence is fabulous. Nathan and I worked hard (well, Nathan did all the work really) to put today's worship plan together, hoping that it would drive home the point that we're here to reach others.

"What on earth are you doing" was the theme today. Included were songs and video of many of the things our church is doing to demonstrate the love of God with the community and world around us. There was also a report and challenge from John Peterson, our missionary with Campus Crusade.

Here's a video clip of George's story of a missions trip earlier this year. He gets it! How about you?



Great job everyone! Sorry I wasn't there to enjoy it with you.

Next Sunday we'll finish our series "40 Days of Prayer" with a look at Jesus' 40 days experience in the wilderness. Then Monday let the 40 Days begin!