EMPTY -- New Series in April

EMPTY: Living a Life of True Abundance

If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. (1 Corinthians 15:14)

This past Sunday was Easter. For those who may not know, Easter Sunday to a pastor is like Super Bowl Sunday to an NFL quarterback. (...not that I am the Peyton Manning of preachers or anything! I digress...) Simply put, this is the biggest day of the year for churches. Big attendance. Lots of new faces. Pastel-colored dresses. White shoes making their springtime debut. Pictures in bluebonnets after church. Lunch with Grandma. It's quite the celebration...

And along with the excitement comes the annual question of what to preach. The basics are obvious: the Messiah riding through Jerusalem on a donkey. The last supper. The betrayal and arrest in Gethsemane. The ridiculous trial. The mockery, beating, crucifixion, and burial of Jesus. All hope is lost. End of story. Right?

(Insert Carman's 80's classic here, "It may seem like Friday night, but Sunday's on the way!")

So then what? On the morning of third day, some of Jesus' followers go to anoint his body with spices, but make an inbelievable discovery: his tomb is EMPTY! An angel is standing there, instead, and tells them that Jesus is risen. In amazement, they run to tell the others. Over the next 40 days, Jesus makes multiple appearances in both public and private settings. He talks with some. He eats with others. He even lets them touch his hands and side. He does all of this for one very specific purpose: to prove He was ALIVE!

So, back to the pastor's challenge. How do you tell this timeless story in a "fresh" way? How can you hope to "out-do" last year's Easter celebration? You may only get some of these listeners once a year, so you'd better make it a good one! Right? Wrong. This year, I just didn't want to "hype" the Resurrection.

Not because I don't think it's important. Quite the contrary. In fact, I am convinced that the Resurrection is the most significant event in human history. But I just wanted to keep it simple this year: Jesus' birth was unique. His life was extraordinary. His death was necessary. But it's his Resurrection that closed the deal. He is ALIVE! He is risen! His tomb is EMPTY!

And because of this truth, the enemy is defeated, my sin is forgiven, my hope is secure, and my life has meaning. I guess you could put it this way:

Because the tomb is EMPTY, my life is FULL. (John 10:10)

Thank you Jesus!

Thanks for the Kindle

On Sunday, I was totally surprised by a gift at the end of the worship service: a Kindle from Amazon.com. To be honest, I had heard of them, but had never really seen, held, or salivated over one...yet. But as many of you know, I love to read, so I was thrilled to find out that this one device can hold 1,500 complete books! And it came with one book already loaded, "The Prodigal God," by Timothy Keller. Now, only 1,499 more to go...

(Plus...it will read the books aloud to me while I'm driving, which keeps my hands free for driving, eating, and talking on cell phone. Just joking, Mom.)

Anyway, thanks to all of you for gift, as well as the kind words of encouragement. Michele and I are so blessed to have the privilege of serving at The Bridge. We love our church family, and we are excited about the days ahead.

God is good!

I'm back!

It's been a while since my last post. Yes, for all of you who are worried about my well-being, I am fine. There is no shortage of things to write about...but there seems to always be a shortage of time. (which is a myth, by the way...)

The truth is: we all make time for what is important to us. Right?

Sometimes I wonder whether or not anyone ever reads these posts. I start rationalizing that my life is busy enough already, without the added pressure of my self-imposed creative writing assignment deadlines. Besides, wouldn't the time be better spent working on Sunday's sermon, or reading a new book, or mowing the yard, or watching the American League Baseball Playoffs? Why exert all that mental energy composing thought-provoking insights for an imaginary audience? What's the use?

And then, something interesting happened. I bumped into a friend at HEB, and they asked why I hadn't updated the blog in a while. (Hmmm...) Then, I asked a new family at our church how they found out about us, and their answer surprised me. They came across our church website, and subsequently my blog, and were intrigued enough to visit. (Wow.) Not to mention there are a few of you who constantly encourage me to keep writing--no matter what, just keep writing. (You know who you are.)

Gradually, I came to realize three things about my blogging:

1. The discipline of writing is its own reward. I want to always keep thinking, learning, and growing...so why not write about it while I'm on the journey?

2. God can touch lives (through this blog), even when I never know about it.

3. The blog can be utilized more effectively to communicate vision to our church family. For example, we are having an outreach event on October 30th (www.fallfunfestival.org), and I want to encourage you to be praying for God's will to be accomplished on that night. We are going to demonstrate the love of Christ to our community in a tangible way...and it will be an awesome night.

Anyway, I'll keep writing, and you keep reading. And if something touches your heart, challenges your beliefs, inspires you to grow, or just makes you laugh...let me hear from you.

Is that a deal? God bless you.

It's Not About You (Sorry about that...)

It was one of those moments when time seemed to stand still. A guest speaker was standing in front of our church family, and he said these simple words:

"As a believer, almost nothing that happens in your life, good or bad, is about you."

What?!? What do you mean it's not about me? Everything that happens in my life is about me! (Well...I know that's not supposed to be how we view life's ups and downs, but in reality, that's kind of what happens, right?)

I got a raise. (Translation: God must really think I'm awesome!)

I got laid off. (Translation: God must be really mad at me! Uh-oh, I'm screwed...)

My kids are healthy. (Translation: God loves us more than the Johnsons, because their poor kids always have allergies, asthma, and ADD. How sad...)

I have a car wreck. (Translation: Why, oh why, did God ever put me on this earth?!? I'm the most persecuted human being that ever lived! Please God, take me now! I can't take this anymore...)

And so it goes... Why did this happen to me? Why can't I ever get a break? Why aren't my prayers being answered? What could possibly go wrong next?

But hold on just a second. What if the whole "big picture" of all humankind was actually NOT about you? What if your job status didn't reflect how much God loves you? What if your kids' health was just because they eat right and exercise? What if your car wreck happened because you were sending text messages during rush hour on I-35?

What if it's NOT all about you? Instead of wondering why God never seems to answer your prayers...here's a thought: maybe he wants to use YOU (in your present circumstance, good or bad) to BE the answer to someone else's prayer. Maybe the ultimate goal is HIS GLORY being revealed...not YOUR HAPPINESS being preserved.

If that's true, instead of it making you really, really disappointed (that all of Heaven isn't watching "Truman Show," with you playing Jim Carrey's character), let me offer you another perspective: God loves you, He trusts you, and He believes in you enough to USE YOU in His eternal plan. He knows you can handle whatever comes your way--good or bad. And because of your trust in Him, He knows He can trust you to be a blessing to others.

Cool thought, huh?

Like the opening line of Rick Warren's best-selling book, The Purpose-Driven Life, "It's not about you."

Actually, it's all about Him.

Jesus Encounters

Consider this quote:

"Any revelation from God's Word that does not lead us to an encounter with God only serves to make us more religious. The Church cannot afford 'form without power,' for it creates Christians without purpose." (from Bill Johnson's book, When Heaven Invades Earth, p. 87)

So I ask myself, "Do I really desire to encounter Jesus when I read the Bible and pray...or am I only fulfilling some religious requirements, because that's what I am supposed to do as a Christian?"

Seem like I'm splitting hairs? Look more carefully...or should I say listen more carefully to the distinction here. It's not enough to be informed by study. It's not enough to be inspired by worship music. It's not enough to be instructed by your spiritual leader(s).

You need an ENCOUNTER with Jesus.

And I need one, too, because that is the only hope I have of being changed into the man He wants me to become. And it's never a "done-deal." The process is never finished. But when we encounter Jesus, we will experience his life-changing POWER. And here's the disturbing part: without him, we ourselves become fulfillments the solemn prophecy about the last days, regarding people "having a form of godliness, but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:5)

Ouch...

Welcome to Texas!

One more thing about Kelly Brown...

They have an annual outreach event to new international students at UT. It's called "Welcome to Texas." There are 2 parts to the event: a huge BBQ dinner-on-the-grounds, and then 2 weeks later, a square dance celebration. (Trying to get a mental picture? Just imagine lots of red & white checkered table cloths, picnic tables, straw cowboy hats, denim overalls, and photo ops with real longhorn cattle...)

Got it? Now, instead of a bunch of red-necked country folk wiping BBQ sauce off their chins with red bandannas...imagine the cowboy hats being worn by a Vietnamese pre-law student, or a Tanzanian engineer. In fact, you don't have to imagine; you can actually go and see for yourself. The 2nd of these two events (the square dance) will happen next Friday night, August 28th on the UT campus. If you're interested in attending, contact Kelly yourself (isfm_austin@yahoo.com).

FYI: Check out this list of countries represented last Friday night at their BBQ dinner (the number of students from each country is noted, as well) :

Australia 8
Austria 4
Belgium 1
Brazil 3
Bulgaria 1
Canada 1
China 31
Denmark 2
England/Great Britain 4
France 9
Germany 6
India 22
Indonesia 1
Italy 8
Japan 3
Kazakhastan 1
Korea 10
Macedonia 1
Mexico 6
Netherlands 1
Norway 2
Paraguay 1
Peru 3
Poland 2
Puerto Rico 1
Scotland 4
Singapore 6
South Africa 1
Spain 2
Sri Lanka 1
Taiwan 33
Ukraine 1
Vietnam 4