My Hero

This is Mabel Harper. This picture was taken in 1940 for her graduation. Mabel was the youngest of three children born to Frank and Missouri Harper. The Harpers were not Christians.  

Mabel married a handsome young man and they started their life together. But Mabel and her new husband weren’t Christians. Mabel decided she needed to find a church because she was pregnant and she wanted her kids to go to church even if she never went when she was a kid.

Mabel tried a church in their town in Ohio but it was a Pentecostal church and it was a bit too crazy for her. So then she thought she’d try the little Church of Christ in town.

After the first Sunday the preacher met with her and showed her a simple illustration with a pencil that had been all chewed up and he took a napkin and covered the pencil. He told her that is exactly what Christ does to our sin. He covers our sin.

That clicked with her. The very next Sunday she went forward and was baptized. She never looked back. A few weeks later her husband was baptized as well.

This is Mabel from just a couple years ago. Mabel Irene Sheridan. My grandmother, my hero. She is a beautiful person both inside and out. And listen, Sunday after Sunday, month after month she took her kids to church. Year after year, decade after decade my grandma went to church with her family and she did the very best that she could. She is the reason I stand up to preach every week.

My grandma is one of the most beautiful women I have ever known and she is the reason I will be in heaven one day. Her health is now failing. I feel helpless but not hopeless. I have no doubts about my grandmother’s eternal destiny.

I am grateful for my grandmother’s ceaseless prayers for me and all of her grandchildren. Her deepest desire is that her children and grandchildren will be in heaven. She won’t see all of them, but she will see this one again someday.

My prayer is that her children and grandchildren will desire to see her again someday as well. They can but they have to enter through the same door that she did. It is only through faith in Christ Jesus that anyone can go to heaven. The same faith that I hold on to in a sincere manner…the faith that was first in my grandmother. (2 Timothy 1:5)

A Walk With My Dog

I went on a walk tonight with my dog. We walked in an area that I haven't been to in many years. In fact, the last time I was there was when my sons were still in Cub Scouts.

It triggered a memory for me about that place. I figured that I was on a nice evening stroll but God was reminding me of some lessons He taught me.

When my sons were very young we were in that very same area where I was walking with my dog. My youngest son had done something that upset me. Nothing of importance and certainly nothing that warranted the response he received from me. I yelled at him. I really let him have it.

It is very interesting to me how our minds can have such acute clarity for things that are generally negative. But I remembered, as I stood there with my dog, the look my boy gave me after I had yelled at him.

I know that my son doesn't even remember this incident. But I do. And I replayed it tonight in my mind as I stood there with my dog. The irony for me was that I treated my dog better on this evening than I had my own son so many years earlier.

I hate that moment. I hate that I failed my son that evening. I callously hurt him with my words for some very minor offense that I really should have overlooked. As I said, I know that he doesn't even remember this moment. But I do.

I recalled it tonight. I was reminded that I am a work in progress. I know that our greatest role as a dad is to encourage and build up our kids. When we verbally tear them down we are only revealing how small we really are.

It is a funny thing how a simple walk with your dog can turn into a very powerful moment where God is reminding you of important truths. The most important ministry I have is with my children. Their salvation is my number one priority.

Children are given to us like emotional putty. And we are expected as dads to mold and shape that gift into a confident, strong, God-fearing adult. We are not expected to drop that putty in the dirt and trample it.

If you are a father, realize the gift you have in your children. They are from the abundant grace of our Heavenly Father. Bless them and encourage them.

Careless Words

The Scriptures tell us to be careful with our words. It seems that there are those in Christendom that are not heeding that. I am sure you have heard about the North Carolina pastor who recently said in a sermon that gays and lesbians should be put in an electrified fence area so that they will eventually die out. If you have not heard about it, you can read about it here. Now there is another video that has surfaced of a toddler singing about gays not making it into heaven to thunderous applause and cheers of the church service he was a part of. If you haven't seen that you can see that here.

I have been thinking quite a bit about this and have a few thoughts on these incidents. First, standing up against sin does not give Christians the right to be careless with our words. We are warned by our Lord that one day we will give an account for every word we have spoken (Matthew 12:36). We are told in Proverbs that reckless words pierce like a sword (Proverbs 12:18). Attempting to make fun of sin or act self-righteous in our stand for true marriage is not advancing the cause. It is only hurting it.

Secondly, those who are quick to point out the verbal mis-steps of a few Christians fail to do so when their own side starts throwing flagrant verbal fouls. Of course there was Rosie O'Donnel comparing radical Islam to radical Christianity as being one and the same (in essence saying that Christians are no different than the terrorists of 9/11. Then there's the more recent incident of Dan Savage spewing hate toward Christians. I heard no one condemning these remarks from the gay community.

Reckless, careless words cannot be only one-sided. It is extremely hypocritical of the homosexual community to condemn a Christian who is out of line and not do so when one of their own is as well. Make no mistake about this either. Social media is only adding fuel to these fires. The videos of the goofy Christian guy are going to go viral a lot quicker than the hate speech videos of a gay activist.

As Christians we have a mandate and a prime responsibility to be careful with our speech (Colossians 4:6). If you didn't think so before Facebook, now it is even more pertinent. The world is watching. Many living in darkness are just waiting for another Christian to make a fool of him or herself so that they can plaster that all over the internet for the world to see just how foolish Christians are.

Our message needs to be clear. Homosexuality is sin. Marriage is between one man and one woman for life. But there is no good done when a Christian uses derogatory language or crude terminology to describe homosexuality. One can hardly imagine Jesus being impolite or rude or speaking to people in a demeaning way. There is no place for that kind of behavior. This is the approach of people like the very un-Christlike individuals at Westboro Baptist.

That is exactly what those in the homosexual movement want to portray anyone who opposes homosexuality as. Don't give the other side more ammo in this fight for truth.

TMC (Too Much Connection)

The internet has changed everything. We are now connected at a level never seen before in human history. We almost don’t get to see the face of the modern teenager anymore because there is always some kind of screen in front it…thankfully though their smartphones have front-facing cameras so we can see their face on their next status update that includes a picture. Our world truly changed.

I love technology. I love gadgets. But I see inherent dangers trending us toward instability and recurring problems if we don’t take time to count the cost. Here are a couple of concerns I have…

1.       Little things are now big deals.

Before when you broke your nail or got a flat tire you may have shared that with your closest friend or family members. But now the rules have changed. Now an incident like a flat tire is broadcast via the internet through your smartphone complete with pictures to all your Facebook and Twitter connections. And then multiple posts will follow that up from your friends giving you the standard, “LOL!” or a recounting of their own story of their flat tire episode (with potential links to pictures of their incident).

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it is just doing something to us. Something not good, I believe. We don’t need help developing our own narcissism. This constant connection to our own personal audience gives us a Hollywood actor sensation. We are always on the stage performing for our beloved fans. That is not how life was meant to be lived.

2.       We turn to others before we do God.

Back in the day when you had a bad day and were really feeling blue, you might actually spend some time in prayer about it. But who has time for something like that now? I have got to post this on Facebook and then check incessantly for updates to my post. If enough comments have been made on my post then I will be freed to feel better. Or it may be affirmed that I am really a loser and no one truly cares about my having done poorly on my college exam.

The problem with the current connection we all have is that it is our new idol in many ways. It feeds us emotionally. We allow it to help us in ways that we shouldn’t.

I am all for connection. I am very connected myself. But the endless texting, the constant Facebook status updates, the Tweets…it can become so maddening.

Some who read this are not going to have any idea about what I am talking about. They glibly live their lives free of the current connections most of us face. They actually navigate their days without letting anyone else know what they had for supper or what they watched on TV that was so darn funny.

I can’t imagine how sad they must feel because they don’t have a chorus of people comforting them because they didn’t post about their bad day. Nope. They just have the Lord. How sad for them.

Guiding the Blind (or what I like to call "Raising Teenagers")

The other day at youth group we played a game. I told the youth we needed a volunteer who was going to be blind-folded and another volunteer who was going to be the guide. We then took the two out of the room while I explained the other details to the rest of the group. I gave them a few minutes too construct an obstacle course through the room. The harder the obstacle course the better.

I then told them that they also needed to include their own bodies as part of the course. And that the blind-folded volunteer will also be carrying a tray of glasses filled with water one-handed, palm up while he traversed the obstacle course.

So they put together a crazy course and placed their bodies throughout and then we had the blind-folded volunteer begin to navigate the course without saying a word, listening very closely to the volunteer guide.

Our bind-folded volunteer actually made his way through the chairs, tables and bodies laid before him quite well. It wasn't easy. But with caution and, at times, just plain being slow as he was guided through, he made it to the end.

Afterward I explained to the youth that the obstacle course represented the teenage years. The blind-folded volunteer represented a typical teenager. The guide represented the teenager's parent.

The fact that they had to lay their bodies throughout the course while the blind-folded volunteer carried a tray of glasses filled with water represents the fact that when a teenager doesn't listen to his parents, it is usually a very messy ending that involves more than just the teenager involved.

Teenagers today are brought up in a culture where every song they listen to, every sitcom they watch is screaming at them to NOT listen to the guidance of their parents. The culture tells teens that they don't need their parents. They have enough knowledge and wisdom on their own without parents interfering and making their life miserable.

But reality is, teenagers cannot see the obstacles that lie ahead of them. That is why parents are so essential in their life. The parent can guide them through every obstacle that the culture throws at them. But the teenager needs to listen to this guidance. Sometimes...scratch that, most of the time, teens think they don't need the guidance and that they can make it on their own, but pain and difficulty are all that kind of thinking brings.

It was just a silly game...but I think we made a pretty profound point. Just read through Proverbs. Over and over again you see the phrase, "My son, listen to my words!" Not too different than guiding a blind-folded volunteer through a crazy obstacle course during youth group.

The Preacher's task

The things that swirl around in a preacher's heart about the flock he oversees, at times, can be quite a burden. The very people that he is trying to help mature in their faith can sink to surprising immature depths at times. He may receive a snarky comment at the door as he is greeting his flock for worship. As he is helping to lead his flock in worship or preach to them he may receive glaring scowls of disapproval at everything from the length of his sermon, to the sermon topic, to the song list, to the temperature of the room.

As he prepares for Sunday throughout the week he may be broken-hearted over the life choices he sees his flock make that, at best may be a very poor witness of faith and, at worst may be a self-destructive sin pattern that will eventually lead them to hell.

Not every preacher does, but any preacher worth his salt, truly cares about growing the spiritual maturity levels of the people he serves. His main task is to help the people he serves filter all of life through the lens of Scripture. For some reason, helping people in that process can be very similar to a forced prostrate exam for some.

Many people are very happy to not have anything change in their worldview. Scripture has a way of violently intruding on our particular comforts and wreaking havoc. The preacher recognizes this, but some are more gentle than others at allowing the Scriptures to do their offensive work in the lives of the flock they serve.

I know this is somewhat of a rant, but it is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately. If you are a preacher and you are coasting into retirement and never want to upset the apple cart...do God a big favor and step down so that He can get busy undoing what you have done.

The Tale of Two Emails...

After having gone through one of the most difficult ordeals of my life and ministry career, I have had a little bit of time to evaluate the experience. For me, it is best explained in two different emails that I received. Honestly, I am not entirely sure of how many emails I received about the events related to the protests of our church and my message on homosexuality, but I know for a fact it was well over 2,000 emails.

One of those emails was by far the worst thing I have ever read in my whole life. And I am not referring to the threatening emails I received. This particular email finds itself in a place of infamy for me. If there ever was a way to convert fecal matter into text form, I believe the author of this email had discovered how to do it.

I cannot share with you the content of the email because not only is it pornographic in nature (and, by the way, I received several emails that were nothing but pornographic images of homosexual sex) but it was the most vile filth I have ever even heard of. Honestly, I should not be, but I was really surprised at the depths of depravity that were in this message that had one intent...to hurt and shock me.

You see that email represented the vast majority of the hate messages I have received for speaking out against homosexuality. What happened was the bully in the school yard wanted to take my lunch money. But the best thing you can do with a bully is to face him head on.

The homosexual activists decided that they wanted to intimidate and punish me. They wanted to make an example of me so that there would not be another preacher in the state (and country perhaps) that would ever dare speak out against homosexuality in a public way again. So I received threats, vitriol and a barrage of angry hate messages that were literally overwhelming.

Another email I received was from a young man who took pains to articulately describe his life-long struggle with homosexuality. He described how nothing ever quite seemed right unless he found himself in the embrace of another man. But he knew always that it was wrong.

He told me that he had given up hope of ever being able to quit the homosexual lifestyle until only a couple weeks ago. He had began to feel like the Lord was literally calling him out of this lifestyle. He shared that he knew God was urging him to turn his back on homosexuality...but he was still waffling with the decision.

He said one evening that he was watching the evening news when he saw a story about a local church that had caused a stir because of the sign message. Then he saw the picture of the sign that said: Gay is not okay. He wrote me these words, "Pastor, if no one else tells you this, I want you to know that your sign helped me to know that I was supposed to leave this life of sin. Gay is not okay. God wants me to live for Him and not for me anymore."

I have to tell you, church, I would do it all over again for this one dear soul! Every hate-filled message I received, everything that the protesters intended for my detriment, God used to reach this precious soul! To God be the glory in all things!