Is it Real, Though?

I know, it's been a while…but hey, that's life, right?

So, about a year and a half ago as some of you may recall, the fellowship my family and I were attending decided that they were going to go in a direction, that after much prayer and consideration, I didn't feel called to take my family into.  They were trying to get the whole fellowship to concentrate their presence into one area and were going to not gather the entire congregation any more.  They were then switching to home churches.  This would have called for me to sell or rent my house and relocate my family to another area.  Not that, for the sake of the gospel, I wouldn't do something like that. On the contrary, I couldn't move my family because I am convicted and convinced that this is precisely where God wants us to be for the foreseeable future.  Also, unable to find somewhere to rent within our price range that would be suitable for my family, it would have been an unwise choice for me as a husband, a  father, and a steward of what God has given us to make.

That said, there was also other information that was used against me, which really had little bearing on our walk as a family, my walk as a man, or the impact the gospel has had on our lives.  Was what I did wrong? Yes. But was it grounds for excommunicating me and my family? Probably not.  Yes, I still struggle with things of the flesh.  Yes, my speech is not always edifying or right. Yes, I still lust. Yes, I still fight to keep my own mind every day.

But you know what?

I'm fighting.

I'm trying every day to be a better man of God. I'm trying and praying to be a better man for my boys, for my wife, for myself, and most importantly, for the glory of the God that gives me mercy, grace and love every day.  It took some time to fight bitterness from growing in my heart.  It took love and encouragement from God's children to stifle those seeds from taking root and flourishing into hate and spite and spewing venom about all those people that were just able to so quickly turn their backs on someone they had supposedly considered family just days prior.

After the Lord gave us a great fellowship of believers here in our own neighborhood, the ONE true friend I have that still attended our old fellowship informed me that they were going back to the way they did things before my family and I left. The reasons they have for returning to this way are varied, and I only pray God's best for them.  I have always only ever loved them and wished God's blessings for them.  I don't even know if they know that.  If they knew us, they'd know it's true.

The purpose of this post is not to say I was right or anything the like.  The purpose of this post is to ask, if someone is truly part of The Family of God, like you say they are, how is it so easy to just "excommunicate" someone after they've committed what you consider a grievous enough sin?  How could you just have gone so cold so quickly towards me and my family?  How could you turn your backs so abruptly on our sister?  Were our sins so grave that they brought utter shame to Christ's name? Were our sins so severe that we're now living lives that have no evidence of God's grace or love or mercy?

I would be hard pressed to say yes.  God's love, forgiveness, grace, and mercy are still ever present in our lives.  Having been through the emotions that my beloved sister is now going through, my Mrs and I have been talking with her and praying for her.  I don't know if you'll read this, but I write it to encourage everyone out there that God's grace and love are bigger than any failure we've suffered or felt we've had imposed on us.  Our God's love and forgiveness is more massive than us failing to walk on the path the way that you've instructed us to do so.

We deeply appreciated your community, relationship, love, and friendship. So, I ask…in the end, was it real?

The Bicycle Diaries (8 Years)

Our beginning was anything but lovely.  She couldn't stand me and I didn't even know she existed the first time we met.  Didn't even know anything about anything until April 5th 2005.  Its been 8 years. It hasn't been perfect.  It hasn't been easy.  But it has been filled with Christ's grace, forgiveness, and babies.

This won't be a long post.  Its a post to be thankful for the bride God gave me.  It's a testament to how much bigger God is than our knowledge, sense of justice, and imperfections.  It's a testament to how God builds families and we just get the great privilege to live in them. 

God is the one that's made this possible.  Not my beautiful, wonderful, broken wife.  And most certainly not me.  You know me.  I am far from perfect.  God heals and strengthens.  God binds and covers.  God has made our relationship and our love deeper.  And Lord, thank you.

A Response to the Curse of the American Church

So, upon reading the blog post which can be found here: The Curse of the American Church, I started thinking, "Is this the case?"  Are churches in America so concerned with success that they care more about growth than actual life together, mission, and gospelling one another?  I examined the churches I've had the blessing to be a part of, and the churches I've had the blessing to know people from, and came to the conclusion that no, not all churches in America are so concerned with growth alone that they marginally do the things that should come naturally from living a Spirit filled life.

If you've never heard the saying, "It is more important to be faithful than it is to be successful," think about what the implications of it are.  Let it roll around in your mind and heart for a bit.  Personally, it means that a "great" job that provides for your family might not be a good thing if you have to sacrifice your family to be in that good job.  My brothers and sisters in the Armed Forces, I know this applies to you because I was in your shoes.  Just because we're doing something we think is a "good" thing for our families, doesn't mean we're doing the right thing for our families.  

Corporately in the Church, this means that we can not focus on trivial things such as butts in seats.  While it is important to see that there are butts in seats, our mission and focus is not to scramble frantically to do something about filling them.  We are to live our lives out in the light of God's truth, filled with Christ's love, and lead by the Holy Spirit.  In doing these things, people will be drawn to God, not by our attempts to befriend them through a game of basketball or a meal we share, but by the presence of His Holy Spirit and His heavy and holy hand upon them.  Their spirit will thirst and seek to fulfill that thirst in the only way it knows how, by coming to church to hear His word.  The church, on fire for God, is what caused growth that is so clearly talked about and documented throughout the book of Acts.

Acts 2:47 "...And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. "

Acts 5:14 "And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, "

This verse explicitly states a good caveat that is very much implied in all the other verses...

Acts 9:31 "So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied."

And Acts 16:5 "So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily."

So, while we can't and shouldn't measure "success" by growth and numbers alone, because our "success" is measured only by how we are walking, personally and corporately, with Christ, we should see growth in our churches.  Why "success" you say?  Because, "success" is never in the sights of a follower of Christ.  Following Christ is.