The Hat

In the beginning, we hated the hat.
Maybe not we, maybe just me.
It seemed to represent something terrible.
Covering up what she wanted to hide.

After a while, we got used to the hat.
It wasn't as bad as we thought.
In fact, it seemed to be of comfort in the hot summer heat.
I thought it was cute,
But she never went far from home wearing only the hat.

Now, I love the hat!
Maybe she does, she now has two.
I believe it no longer shows our fear.
It is now her badge of courage.

For me, it no longer covers up the fears I don't want to see.
Now it's just a hat, on top of the one I love.
...sometimes I wish I were that hat!

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For Tina West (my sweet wife), Beverly Walls, Deanna Stamey, Kim Stout, Kim Sisk, Teressa Scott
... And all the other brave ladies who fight cancer with the bravery of the bravest warrior.

This is your mission...

The following is the text of a sermon I prepared for Baptist Men's day at First Baptist Church of Cherryville. Enjoy...
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Today is Baptist men’s day and the pastor asked me to speak about our role missions. But, I need to lead up to it with a little back ground. First, what does the word mean? The way we use it actually comes from its usage by the Jesuits back in the 1500’s describing their action of sending of members abroad. Or simply, to be sent. But I would say that you don’t have to go abroad to be on a mission for God. However, our ultimate goal is to participate in God’s mission. If you are not actively participating in God’s work, then you are not living your life in step with God. Think back to when you got saved. For me, it was in 1983 at a Bill Glass crusade. I think all of us can remember being so on fire for Jesus at that point. You would’ve went anywhere for Jesus. But the world has ways of dulling our spirituality and then questioning our commitment. Maybe all we need is a little refresher. So, let’s look at what Jesus says about how we should be living our lives.

First in Matthew 22:36-40;

36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’t 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’t 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

These commandments that Jesus points to are the basis of what we are to be about. Loving God and loving each other. As he stated in verse 40, this is the basis for everything else given to us from God in the form of laws, prophecy, etc. We have many programs right here at First Baptist of Cherryville, that you can participate in, that allow you to fulfill these commands. We have the Bereavement team, the Prayer Quilt group, various groups that visit Nursing homes and shut-ins, RAs, GAs and many more. But if you listen closely to what these activities represent, you’ll notice that they tend only focus on loving and caring for people already a part of the church. Now, I think we can all agree that Jesus’ entire life was focused on the lost on not the found. Fortunately, we have other groups right here at First Baptist of Cherryville based on reaching the lost too. There are a number of folks dedicated to the Outdoor Blessings, God’s Planned Harvest, Upwards, the FEET ministry and various annual mission trips. Each of these ministries are here to provide you and I with ways to interact with the lost. This is great, but are you involved?! Now some of you may also be thinking that maybe you can participate in these and never even think about going off to foreign lands like Africa, China, or even Philadelphia. Thinking in this way means that we may be short sighted on Jesus’ other command known as the Great Commission. We know what Jesus also gave us the following command before he left us. In Matthew 28:18-20 it says,

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

To summarize, bring all people to their salvation through Jesus and then teach them to Love as he described in the two commandments earlier. So, here we have it… the command is to go. As we said earlier, missions literally means to be sent. We cannot sit here in Cherryville and be confident that on judgment day we can stand in front of God with confidence in our actions or inactions. So, how are we called fulfill this? Let’s take a slight detour first. This is the typical male solution to being sent some place.

1. Define the destination and length of stay

2. Find a place to stay while there

3. Break out the map and plan the route, looking for quickest and easiest.

4. Identify stopping points if necessary (this means we have to know if women and children going too?)

5. Calculate mileage and time

6. Check out the equipment

7. Identify a start time

8. Set a goal end time

9. Go… and drive like Dale Earnhardt to beat that time!

We do the same on a mission trip, with a few additional tasks.

10. Watch David’s DVD

11. Identify the work

12. Raise money

13. Gather tools and materials

14. Develop a work plan

15. Make sure Stan Bumgarner and Joe Alexander are available to go J

16. Execute the plan

Oh and I forgot one….

17. Show pictures of what really happened (especially the bloopers)

So, what’s wrong with that? It sounds like men can accomplish all kinds of Godly missions using this template. Men are naturally task driven, problem solvers… so why aren’t we out solving the problem of the world and bringing them to Jesus? Maybe we just don’t know where to go or what to do. More likely, we lose our focus and try to solve the wrong problems. It is my opinion that our biggest problem is our perspective on the work that needs to be done. As Henry Blackaby said in his Experiencing God training; we always try to be obedient by asking, what is God’s will for my life? However, that question is so self-centered. The real question we should ask is; what is God’s will? We need to find out where God is and try to understand His plan!!! Then we need to go and get involved in that. Find out where God is moving and go there. So many of us are trying to limit God’s will to:

1. where you are already

2. what you are good at doing

3. if you are comfortable with the task at hand

4. if you have time to get involved

This is completely the wrong approach! Once again I’ll say; these thoughts are self-centered. We need to focus on being one with God so we’ll be where he wants us when he wants us there. We should not limit God to the abilities you know you have. If He has work for you to do, he will provide the tools for you to use. So, when we feel that we are not equipped for the task. All we have to remember is that a spiritual gift is more than a mere talent. Once again, as Henry Blackaby said; a spiritual gift is a super-natural empowering to accomplish the assignments that God gives you. And we all have a gift and are called to use them to serve others. It is written in (1 Peter 4:10) 10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

Are we scared to fail? Once again, if you are in God’s will, the outcome will be as God planned. And it will be measured by his standard, not ours. We have nothing to fear, as it is written in (2 Timothy 1:7-8) 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 8 So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord.

So, let’s look at one of the most successful groups of people that have a real heart for loving others and sharing God’s plan. And they have a presence right here in our church. The women! Think about all the things in our community that are based on love and serving in our church and community. You’ll notice that many of these things are typically being lead and performed by women. From caring for our children and elderly, to doing all forms bible studies, outreach, and participating in every church sponsored mission project. In general, they have a real knack for helping others. That is why the WMU is celebrating 125 years of service.

So to give equal perspective, here is a woman’s approach to a mission trip (given to me by a woman!)

1. Find out where you are going

2. Arrange for sitters for any kids or pets

3. Watch the David’s DVD to find out what to wear

4. Go shopping for clothes to wear

5. Get your hair cut

6. Ensure you have your hair, beauty and other supplies

7. Find out who is in charge of snacks

8. Find out if there is a Wal-Mart near by

9. Get movies, music and blankets for the bus ride

10. Pray for stopping and shopping along the way

11. *** Hope to find someone there that will touch their heart ***

Notice the last one, the real mission is touching of the heart. It is very natural for women to follow those two commandments Jesus pointed to; love God and love others.

However, shouldn’t the men of the church be the examples here? Shouldn’t we lead the charge? Didn’t God call us to be the head of the church and our families? Society wants to empower women and degrade men. I’m in no way saying this to take away from what the women do. And I encourage them to continue with all that they do. But, the real question is, what is our problem? While women don’t want men to act like the master, leaving them as mere servants. They do want us to lead the way!

Looking back out our mission projects again; maybe sometimes it isn’t the building that needs fixing. Have you ever considered that hammers, wrenches, shovels and paint brushes may not be the only tools God wants us to use on His mission trips? Have you ever considered that a completed room or landscaped yard may not be the ultimate outcome desired? We have to remind ourselves, God sends us on His missions and not ours! We need be sure that when we arrive, we know that God’s plan is being accomplished. There is a common saying (used on many mission trips) that goes like this. Don’t just stand there, do something! But maybe God is saying to us, don’t just do something, stand there! For just a moment, let’s all be very quiet and listen for God. When you finally focus so you can hear Him, it will be so loud you won’t hear anything but Him!

Finally, being a Christian is much more than the walk down the aisle! Those are the first steps in which you finally walked with God. And as we’ve just heard, the journey doesn’t stop down here at the altar at First Baptist. Some of you will be called to go out into this community. Some will be called to go out into this country. And some may even be called to go out around the world. But we are all called listen and then to go teach people to Love GOD and Love each other!

As Christ loved the church.

And Christ wants me to love my wife in the way he loved the church. Oh God, you know I do! Our hope endures!

Thanksgiving is about gving...

As we enter the season of Thanksgiving. We should consider a new meaning behind Thanksgiving. The Bible teaches that to be thankful to God we must give a sacrifice. Cain and Abel were called to provide such a thankful sacrifice. Today, we are called to sacrifice in a different way. Hebrews 13:15-16 says, "15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." If we do this, we are also obeying what Jesus referred to as the greatest commandment, to love one another.

Nothing left but icing on top.

So I was thinking... our country was built on the ingenuity of others. And at its root, that comes from people trying to accomplish a few things. First, get the job done faster. Two, get more work done in that time. And finally, (and most critical) actually get the job done while doing less work than you used to. Sounds reasonable?!?! But now I believe our country is making a turn into a new era. So much of the manual labor is either outsourced to other countries or automated by machines that we no longer have people here with a strong desire to define new and better ways to do things. Isn't it sad that the major ingenuity for cars are built in phones, awesome radios and automatic windows. The ingenuity now is driven more by our impatience than our exhaustion from work (though I always hated rolling up a window in an old car.) Now we believe that the American dream is that everyone deserves an equal share of everything. No longer are we satisfied with the equality only being that everyone has the same opportunity to try. Our forefathers labored for years to build this cake world we live in, and all we want to do is keep piling on the icing. Too much icing will make you sick!

Communication is key

God knew the hearts of men from the beginning and Jesus reminded us about our inability to properly communicate with Him. Let's review first Matthew 13, starting at verse 13 and continuing through 17:

This is why I speak to them in parables:
Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

You know, sometimes we just don’t communicate very well. The reasons vary, sometimes because of real obstacles, sometimes because we put up barriers and many times just because we’re not consistently working at it. And how many more times do we fail at communicating with God? Now, have you ever considered the reasons for your life here on earth? I think we all have tasks that God has laid out for us to accomplish so we can fulfill His will. But I also believe that life here on Earth is to train us in His ways. Marriage, raising children, friendships, work and many other aspects of life are God’s way of providing us hands on experience on how to communicate with Him. How many times have you lived through one of life’s surprises only to look back and not only be able to say you learned from it, but to also be thankful for it to have happened? Not to say that you enjoyed it, but that you can now appreciate the experience and use it in future life experiences. God has also provided us many stories in the scriptures that are perfect examples on how communication with him should work and not work. So, here are my thoughts on communicating with God and with each other… One note, I don’t speak from the perspective of success, but from the perspective of failures and lessons learned.

The first lesson we need to look at, communication goes both ways. Thus, it requires both speaking and listening. All of us want to share our point of view, but rarely do we want to truly listen. And I’m not referring to talking and hearing. I mean a type of communication that is deep, personal and real. Husbands and fathers (MEN) are notorious for not being willing to listen. We are the butt of many jokes and stereotypes because of this. We should and must do a better job of speaking and listening. Wives and mothers (WOMEN) are also stereotyped as being ones to do a lot of talking without truly communicating. But I would ask the husbands, wives and children (which we all are to someone); how well do you listen when your spouse, father or mother truly speaks to you? And how well do you share your real and heartfelt emotions. Do you even allow real communication to happen? You know Jesus’ disciples had a hard time listening to what Jesus preached too. And they were with him day and night. The essence of many of his teachings can be defined by love and serving others. And yet, we see in Mark 9:33-35 that even they continued to miss the point and focus on themselves. It reads:

They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

Even Adam, who walked with God daily, had only one rule to remember so he could stay with God in the garden. But, he failed to listen and understand. So, you may say, “We don’t have God or Jesus with us like they did.” Or do we? God speaks to us in many ways, if we will just listen. The most obvious is via the scriptures. Daily bible reading is important. I’ve learned that it must be more than a few verses here and there. You need to have a plan and a commitment to do this. I recently finished reading the entire Bible in just under 13 months. And I will tell you, it took a personal drive and partners to push me too. With my best reading partner also being my life partner. God also uses others to speak to us. It is important that we are faithful in Sunday School and Worship attendance. And we should always come expecting to hear from God and not a man or woman. Now to speak to God requires prayer. It sounds easy enough and most of us find we are good at prayer when our world comes crashing down around us with medical issues, death, job loss, and any number of other problems. But we easily forget God during the good times or even to praise him when we are blessed with a rescue from the troubles.

That leads me to the second lesson; we must communicate during the good and the bad times. Most of us are more likely to share during the good times and withdrawal during the bad times. Our society trains us to be that way. There are whole industries in the US based on celebrating the good things in life. Ponder some of these: Weddings, baby births, job promotions, graduations, birthdays, etc. And most of us love to share in our success and excitement. But, it is just as important to communicate during the not so good times (sadness, anger, troubles). Your spouse, parents or best friend can be a great asset in hard times. Even more so, be willing to be that spouse, parent or friend that can handle listening and discussing the good and the bad. People (especially your kids) need to know that they can safely tell you anything and you will still love them. Listening in love means caring but does not mean actions without consequences. If you look at the history of the Israelites, they continually cried out to God for salvation from bondage, God saved/freed them and they turned away and ended up back in bondage. I myself have tried very hard this past year to not be like this. As I hinted at earlier, last year, my wife’s cancer came back. We were both devastated and fearful of what the future seemed to hold. And OUR prayer life blossomed like a field of flowers in the spring. It even led us to the prayer and healing service our church held. I would even ask strangers to pray for us. I would dare to say that thousands of people around the world saw my cries for prayer and the prayed. And then God allowed the good news to flow in. I have struggled to achieve even a resemblance of the prayer life I had before. I try to stay committed to praying daily and deeply, but it is hard. I have no answer as to why…it just is. I’m just like the Israelites. One thing that is different this time is that I have committed to telling what God has done for us when someone asks how she is doing.

That leads me to the final lesson, communication must be constant! Marriages fail when the partners quit communicating. Children lose direction and make bad choices when parents stop communicating with them. Companies fail without good communication amongst employees. Now sometimes communication stops because of real problems out of our control. But many times we stop because everything is just going well and then we get distracted with other things. I guess we think we don’t need to express the thankfulness and love we have for each other and God when things are good. Maybe they just know. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22:

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.

So how do we learn to communicate with God properly and constantly? I believe God’s perfect plan includes having us learn to and practice that loving communication with each other. Share and listen to the good and the bad at all times. As I mentioned earlier, Jesus continually spoke of loving and serving each other. This was the one true way to love and serve the Father. But how can we love and serve each other without communicating? Men, women and children want to hear us express our love and our pains. Women, men do want to hear too. Just remember, men are fixers! So tell us how we can help or clarify that we should not try to fix anything. Parents, discipline should never cause a break down in communication. Your kids need to know that throughout life, they can come to you about anything without judgment. Kids, your parents do want to know about the good and the bad. Be patient with us, we may be more experienced, but we are still learning just like you!!! If we truly communicate with each other, I believe we are doing it with God too. As Jesus said in Matthew 25:40,

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

What a wonderful and circular plan God has. To word this in another context, when we learn to communicate with each other, we are also learning to communicate with God. And when we learn to communicate with Him, we learn to communicate even better with others.

So, be on a mission to be the one who speaks and listens to your spouse, kids, friends and even strangers. Plan to do it in good times and bad and at all times. For if we cannot do it for each other, we surely cannot do it with God!

Corcovado

Corcovado
Originally uploaded by chetwest

Cool huh? A friend brought this back from Brazil so that everyone in the office could have one. It is a small version of the really big statue in Corcovado. Read more here: Christ-Redeemer: CORCOVADO