NO REGRETS!

I like to read. From the time I could first put words together on the printed page, reading has been a great joy.

Unless of course you are reading 1,064 pages of Donald Guthries New Testament Theology for graduate school and then it is hair-pulling, mind-numbingly boring—spelled with a capital B.

Still, give me a good Dean Koontz novel or Tom Clancy adventure and I can lose myself for hours on end.

Did I mention that I love to read?

Back before this past Christmas, Dad gave me a bunch of paperback books he had finished with. They were all written by Lee Childs—and each book featured an ex- military policeman by the name of Jack Reacher. Reacher is a loner who travels around rescuing whatever damsel (or gentleman) might be in distress.

In the book Trip Wire, Reacher has a quote that has stuck with me: “People live and then they die, and as long as they do both things properly, there’s nothing much to regret.”

It sounds a little fatalistic, but the reality is true. If I live as I should as a child of the King, I have nothing to fear and nothing to regret. And if I live as a child of the King, then my death will simply be a going-home celebration.

How are you living?

Seriously.

How are you living? Is your life filled with regret and fear? If so, maybe your priorities are a bit out of whack. And the reality is this, if you live with regret, you can’t help but die that way too!

I like Jack Reacher’s words. I like the Apostle Paul’s even better.

Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:15-20 NIV

How are you living?

I saw a bumper sticker this week that said “If all else fails, read the instructions.” 

It should have said instead, “before all else fails, read the instructions.”

No regrets!

Les, Jr.

Danger, Will Robinson, Danger

Take a few minutes to refamilarize yourself with Hebrews 11…

The old TV show Lost in Space… Do you remember the famous reoccurring lines? Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

Indeed, we live in perilous times. The economy is faltering. An uncertain election awaits us. Anybody see how high gas prices jumped today?

Church wise, we are in a brand new building-we’ve had lots of visitors-we have multiple folks to begin studying with even in the next week-people are hungering and thirsting for God-for God’s people in their lives-things look really good for the foreseeable future-but there is an aspect of the future that may cause us to take some risks.

The truth is, if we are faithful, then there should be some times and situations in which we are going to take some leaps of faith. Could we fail? We just might. We might just get scrapped up a bit. On the other hand, we might fail miserably. We might splatter ourselves all over the ground. But what, what if we fly…?

Look at the words of this song–I am not exactly sure who penned them, but I thank Al Sturgeon for introducing them to me…

Reasons–We’ve got a million

To stop taking chances
And start playing it safe

Memories Of old love can haunt you
I should be scared to death

But I can’t walk away

‘Cause what if we fly

What if we fly
And dive off the edge of the end of the world as we know it

What if we fly
Have faith enough to think fate might just know where we’re going

What if the arms of the wind carry us to the place
We never could find
Yes we might fall
But what if we fly
I know we might fall
But what if we fly

May God send us soaring!

What if we fly?

Les, Jr.

To Be or Not To Be… A Donkey!

Personality tests.

Maybe you have seen them from time to time.

I took one that said my type was a social director. But I don’t have a social life, so who are they kidding?

Another style of personality tests compares people to four specific animals: the lion, the beaver, the otter, and the dog (golden retriever).

Surely I would be a lion? No such luck. I am an otter. At least I am not a dog. No comments allowed from the peanut gallery-at least about that!

And since we are doing comparisons here, what kind of an animal would we want to be representative of our church?

My first inclination would be a lion. I want to be a part of a church that is strong and bold and courageous and powerful.

Sounds good until you think about it a little differently. Jesus is already the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. His roar has already vanquished sin and death. His boldness and strength is what we should depend on, not our own.

So what animal should we be?

How about a donkey?

Please put politics aside for the moment. Please repress any desire to make a joke or any other allusions to what being a donkey might mean… it’s really important for the life of our church to get this point.

Did I say important? How about extremely vital?

This past Sunday was the grand opening of our new building/ location. It was a great day. 261 were in attendance. We had lots of visitors-some of whom I feel confident will one day call our church family their own. But last Sunday was not the end of a process–no, not the end by an imagination. Instead, it was the stepping off point to new opportunities, new dreams, new visions, and even new struggles and faith challenges. We cannot rest on our laurels when the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is waiting to lead us forward.

And that brings us to the idea of using a donkey to describe us.

I read a recent article by Rick Rusaw that was adapted from the book The Externally-Focused Church. Take a close look at what he says…

Riding a donkey, Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The crowds cheered and shouted praises to Him. They lopped off palm fronds and laid them on the ground for the donkey to walk on. When they ran out of palm branches, they gladly laid their own cloaks on the ground and, walking ahead of Jesus and the donkey, shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!" (Matthew 21:9). For a moment, the donkey perhaps thought it was all about him; after all, he was doing all the work that morning. But it wasn’t about him. It had nothing to do with him. He was simply carrying the Message.

The externally focused church is a "good donkey" that takes Jesus into places where He hasn’t always been welcome. The serving church is just the method. It’s still all about Jesus.

 Any changes you see in what we do or how we do it are not changes for change sake.

You see, like the donkey, it’s not about me. Nor is it about you.

 It is, however, about Jesus. It is about the lost. It is about the community around us.

Never in a million years would I have imagined myself saying this. And like I mentioned earlier, I hope you will restrain yourself from making jokes because I am deadly serious. I pray that you will be also. I want to be a donkey. I want to be a good donkey. I want our church to have the stubborn tenacious strength of a donkey-a donkey whose purpose, who’s sole reason for existence is to carry the message of Jesus into hearts and lives where it has not always been welcomed. If it means being different or looking different for the sake of the gospel, then so be it.

One final thought, take a look at what I call my personal ministry mission statement. It works well for preachers. It works well for churches determined to be a good donkey…

1 Corinthians 9:19-23,

Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

God bless!

Les, Jr.