Jim Varney at His Best

I completely lost it when he started singing “Rock of Ages” at the end.

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Random Blast

So, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. My life feels like a fast-moving train with every cart packed full. Here we go…

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Last week, we we took a three-day trip, I performed two very different weddings within 14 hours of each other, and preached on what is probably the most familiar text in the whole Bible–Matthew 7:12 (The Golden Rule).

And I have an 8-week-old daughter whose sleep schedule doesn’t exactly match my own. I can get over it, though, because she’s starting to respond to me with smiles and coos that make fireworks go off in my heart.

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Our 8th wedding anniversary was yesterday. I went simple this year…her favorite flowers (sunflowers) and a card. We went to Jim’s Place East before Joy was born to do a real pre-anniversary date. By the way, that was probably the best meal I’ve ever had in the Memphis area. Joni would agree, I think.

I can say without reservation that I’m more thankful than ever that Joni’s my wife. She’s got it all–devotion to Christ, high integrity, remarkable stability, unwavering commitment to family, etc. As a bonus, she’s always been beautiful, but I think she’s hotter now than she’s ever been. She’s my most precious earthly treasure.

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My buddy, Josh Ross, took the words right out of my mouth with his letter to ESPN.

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We’re in the home stretch of our 20-week study of the Sermon on the Mount. Sunday’s text is Matthew 7:13-14.

Jesus really surprises me here. Everything from 7:13 forward is warning. Instead of finishing his most famous sermon with an emotionally charged story to “close the deal” as they say, he warns the crowd not to assume that everyone will actually do what Jesus taught. In actuality, he says that very few of his admirers would put his words into practice. I hear the same tone in his parable of the soils.

Many will profess. Few will practice. Many will talk the talk. Few will walk it out. That was the reality that Jesus was working from.

My goal is to preach this text in a way that honors Jesus’ tone of warning without using scare tactics to elicit obedience. Pray for the Holy Spirit to illuminate my heart and speak through me so that the sheep can hear the voice of their Shepherd.

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As a kid who grew up watching Michael Jordan in his prime, I have thoroughly enjoyed watching highlights on YouTube of all the games in which he scored 50 or more points. It’s pure, unadulterated eye candy. Every time I hear a teenager or college guy going off about how much better LeBron or Kobe is than Jordan, I roll my eyes and point them to videos like this.

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Barry Switzer + Dunkin Donuts + Good Writing = Hilarious

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“Ambushed by Jesus”, Songs that Make Me Cry, and Sunday’s Sermon

I can’t remember how I found this video, but I’ve watched it three times today. It’s an excerpt from a teaching by Brennan Manning who wrote The Ragamuffin Gospel, which is one of my all time favorite books. Brennan’s message hit me at just the right time today.

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We’re introducing several new (new to us anyway) songs at Grace Crossing over the next few months. One of them is “Always Forgiven” by Jonathan Baird. I downloaded it about a month ago right before leaving the office. I pushed play on my iPod, started cleaning off my desk, and by the time the chorus began, I was on my knees beside the couch reaching for the Kleenex. I love songs that point me to the Gospel! Here are the lyrics. We will be singing this at GCC this week, by the way.

I don’t deserve to be Your servant
And how much less to be Your child
Anger and wrath, sure condemnation
Should be my portion, my just reward
Never have seen it, never will know it
Your lovingkindness enfolds my life

(Chorus)

All You have shown me is
Grace, love and mercy
Now and forever I am Your child
Freely You pour out
Your lovingkindness
Father of grace
You welcome me in

All of the sin I have committed
Was placed upon Your righteous Son
And now You see me
Through His perfection
As if I’d never done any wrong
Always forgiven, always accepted
No fear of judgment
Before Your throne

(Repeat Chorus)

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The text for Sunday’s sermon is Matthew 7:1-5.

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from the other person’s eye.

I’d love to hear your answers to this question:

What does it mean to judge someone?

Or you can fill in the blank…

You know you’re judging someone when you ___________________________________.

Lilly and Joy

This is currently my favorite picture of Lilly and Joy. This was taken in the hospital a few minutes after they saw each other for the first time.

Worry Much?

The text I’m preaching from this Sunday has been spiritual oxygen for me when I’m out of breath. During the most worrisome and unsettling season of my life, I turned to this passage several times a day to hear Jesus’ voice. The italicized phrases are especially powerful.

Matthew 6:25-34 (TNIV)

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

As I prepare the sermon, I would love to hear your feedback on the following phrase. You fill in the blank. Be as personal and transparent as you wish.

“I worry most often about __________.”

Changing the Scorecard

This is the sermon manuscript from this year’s “Vision Day.” This is why Grace Crossing exists. This is what we’re about. This is how we define success. It’s not about buildings, budgets, and crowd gathering. The scorecard has been changed.

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“Vision Day” (1.25.09)

Several times a year we revisit a passage in Scripture that speaks directly to the mission and identity of the church. These are Jesus’ last recorded words during his ministry on earth,

Matthew 28:18-20, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Jesus says authority has been given. In this world, markets rise and fall, nations come and go, cultures ebb and flow, fortunes get made and fortunes get lost, and people get all stirred up about these things. But don’t get too high when it looks like it’s going well. Don’t get too low when it looks like things are going badly. Don’t pin your hopes on any of that stuff because the world-saving authority we are desperate for is in Jesus alone. He alone has the authority to fix the world. How much authority does he have? Look at the first word of the passage we just read in Matt 28….”ALL authority.” In case anyone is a little fuzzy on that…all authority where? In heaven and on earth…Jerusalem, Rome, Wall Street, Hollywood, Pennsylvania Avenue, New York City, downtown Memphis, East Memphis, Germantown, Cordova, Collierville, Olive Branch, Orange Mound, Downtown Memphis. Jesus has been given all authority.

Think about the audacity of such a statement. This man…this penniless carpenter…this itinerant rabbi, in this obscure little corner of the Roman Empire, stands up and in front of a few people and says, “All authority has been given to me…” Not to politicians or elected officials or celebrities or anyone else.

Now, having been given all authority, he announces his plan for the healing of the world. It does not involve starting a political party or an economic system or an educational system or anything else that we would launch. All authority has been given to me, Jesus says, so you go, you impoverished uneducated fisherman, you repentant tax collector, you converted prostitute. You student, you businessperson, you retiree, you school teacher, you homemaker…you go. Just fly under the radar wherever your world is. I’m putting you in the disciple-making business. You become my follower, and then you let other people know about me. You love them the way I would love them. You serve the way I serve. Go form a community where everybody’s welcome, nobody is perfect, and anything is possible. This community will usher in my Kingdom, a new humanity where unconditional love abounds, forgiveness is real, radical hospitality is offered, the truth is spoken freely, the spiritually wounded/those who’ve been beaten up by the world are cared for, and justice for the poor is proclaimed.

Pretty weak strategy, don’t you think? Wouldn’t win many debates. Wouldn’t look very impressive on a white board. How are they going to do this? Where will they get the resources? Who will they start with? What is the program?

Well, I’ve got one resource, Jesus says: “I will be with you.” And then, watch this, Jesus says, “I was crucified, so sin can’t condemn you anymore. I was resurrected so death can’t harm you anymore. I am going back to my Father, so the world can’t defeat you anymore. I’m sending you the Holy Spirit, so your weaknesses and inadequacies can’t impede you anymore. I’m launching the church, and the gates of Hell cannot prevail against you. I’m coming back one day, so the future can’t scare you anymore. All authority has been given to me, and I’m giving you everything you need to join me in the redemption of the world. So here’s the plan, you go make disciples, and I will bring about one day the total healing of the world.”

This is why we exist. That is why we’re here. We are not an elite club for insiders. We are not a religious service provider. We’re not a gathering place for people who go to church but won’t follow Jesus. We are not a comfortable landing strip for vampire Christians – those who want Jesus for his blood but have no interest in embracing his way of life.

We are the in the disciple-making business. And so, twice a year, we step back and ask, “How’s it going? What are we learning? Where is God leading us? How does God want us to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission?”

Our mission statement reads: We exist to glorify God by accepting people where they are and helping them transform into authentic followers of Jesus.

We believe that God is calling us to put special focus in this season on that last phrase: “authentic followers of Jesus.” We define an authentic follower of Jesus this way: An authentic follower of Jesus loves God, loves others, and serves the world. Where did we get this idea? We got it from Jesus.

1) Love God

Matthew 22:37-38, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.

To love God is the most important and best thing a human being can do…give Him my worship, to ask him to transform my heart, my soul, my mind, my strength.

What we want to do as a church in pursuing this is we want to create an environment where people can gather and love God. We believe loving God means becoming passionate worshippers and devoted students of the Word. Therefore, we will seek to provide captivating worship and practical, relevant, biblical teaching in our assemblies. We want you to leave Sunday mornings empowered and inspired to imitate Jesus in your everyday life. And we want you invite your friends and family and coworkers to join you here.

We want the broken, the lost, the sick, the wounded, the nobodies, the somebody’s, the recovering Pharisees, the addicts, the judgmental, the depressed, the wealthy, the poor, the married, the divorced, the single, the gay, the straight, the Democrats and Republicans, the black and the white and the Hispanic and the Asian, the Muslim, the Jew, the Hindu, the Buddhist, the adulterers, the alcoholics, the shopaholics, the sex-a-holics, the food-a-holics, the stuff-a-holics, the sports-a-holics, and everyone else that I haven’t named to know how much God loves them.

Loving God is kind of a first step in the new birth. We realize how much God loves us, and we respond by loving him back and surrendering to his will for our lives. Worship is a natural response to God’s saving work in Jesus.

So, we’re asking our members to show up on Sunday mornings at 10:30 and give it up for God in our assemblies. Leave nothing here. Go home tired…I hope your throats are hoarse from singing so loudly and from engaging so passionately in our time in the Word, and from thanking Jesus for dying for you at the Table. Expect great things to happen when we meet together. Ask God to show up and stir hearts and change lives.

Loving God naturally leads us love others. Where did we get that idea? Jesus.

2) Love Others

Matthew 22:39, The most important commandment is to love God. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

John 13:34-35, As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Love God, Love People…You can’t have one without the other. A dear friend and brother over the weekend asked how I was doing. He said I seemed distant and hadn’t heard from me in a while. Another friend called me on Thursday and flat out warned me not to slip back into old patterns that have messed my life up in the past. Both of those encounters led me to seek God. I’ve prayed about what they’ve said and I’ve thought about it. And I’ve been reminded that I can’t follow Jesus in isolation.

We believe this is true of everyone. And because we’re so convinced of this, we will invite every follower of Jesus into life-changing, transformational relationships. Community Groups, we believe, are our best shot at helping people experience these kinds of relationships. It doesn’t mean that if you are currently in a community group that this will automatically happen, but we think they are our best shot at helping this to happen. If you are not in a community like this, then start praying to find one, ask a leader, find Adrianne Manson, or me, or one of our Shepherds and we’ll help you.

One of our goals this year is to get 70% of our members into Community Groups. I’ve asked church leaders in this area and I’ve read some data about community involvement in the local church, and the 70% number would be way above average. I think God wants us to shatter the 70% number and refuse to be satisfied until we see everyone of our members in a community group of some kind.

Here’s the deal…We need more group leaders. God is calling some of you to not only join a group, but also to lead one. I’m also praying for God to help us start recovery groups for addicts. I see a regular time during the week where our building is full of recovering addicts who’ve gathered together to seek a new way of life. If this is on your heart, let’s talk.

Love God. Love Others. Serve the World. Where did we get that idea from? Jesus.

3) Serve the World

Mark 10:45, I did not come to be served but to serve others and to give my life . . .

We want to serve the world because that’s what Jesus did. Pure and simple. The world doesn’t really care that churches have buildings and programs and budgets and become these insulated, irrelevant, self-righteous, little sub-cultures. The world’s problems can’t be addressed much less healed by an inwardly focused, self-absorbed church.

But when we become an army of servants…when a community any place has a group of Christ-followers who just do the servanthood deal…who tip better when they eat out, who drive more patiently on roads, who park with more grace and civility, who know and care for people who live in their neighborhood, who help hungry people get fed and oppressed children get education and love and exploited people get justice and elderly people get befriended and folks in prison get visited and loved and treated with honor. Nothing can stop a church like that.

Here’s the deal on this one: We believe God dearly loves the world He made and all the people in it…ALL the people in it. Therefore, we will seek to bless Shelby County by unleashing the Spirit-generated servanthood and radical generosity of every single member of this church. We want this church to make a real difference in the world. That’s why we remodel homes in impoverished neighborhoods. That’s why we feed the needy in the poorest zip code in Memphis and partner with organizations like Families in Touch and Ryan’s Hope. That’s why we throw birthday parties for kids with HIV-AIDS at the Hope House.

Authentic, healthy Christians love God, love others, and serve the world.

So here’s the takeaway: If you’re a visitor, we want you to know that you have a standing invitation to join us in this vision. It’s very simple. That’s what we’re about. Love God, Love Others, Serve the World. If you’re interested in becoming a member, sign up for our membership class that starts on February 8.

If you’re a member, we’re asking you for full engagement in this mission. We’re inviting you if you haven’t already to get off the sidelines, leave the crowd of admirers, and get in the game. Pour yourself into the mission of this church. If you do, and here’s the payoff: I believe you will be transformed into a more Christ-like person. You’ll be transformed from the inside out. And Shelby County will never be the same.

Superman’s Debut

This is by far the most thrilling movie scene from my childhood. It still gives me chills when I see it.

It’s the helicopter rescue sequence from the classic “Superman: The Movie” starring the irreplaceable Christopher Reeve. It was made in 1978, so prepare yourself to not be wowed by the special effects. This has been called the Godfather of superhero movies.

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Jesus Wants the Rose

I shared this story a while back in a message at Grace Crossing. When I heard it live in February, I literally jumped out of my seat and yelled “YES!”

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Piper on Preaching

John Piper began his sermon last week with a brief (6 minutes), but passionate manifesto on preaching. I’d love to hear what you think about it.

Here’s the transcript:

Some of you may have little or no experience with what I mean by preaching. I think it will help you listen to my messages if I say a word about it.

What I mean by preaching is expository exultation.

Preaching Is Expository

Expository means that preaching aims to exposit, or explain and apply, the meaning of the Bible. The reason for this is that the Bible is God’s word, inspired, infallible, profitable—all 66 books of it.

The preacher’s job is to minimize his own opinions and deliver the truth of God. Every sermon should explain the Bible and then apply it to people’s lives.

The preacher should do that in a way that enables you to see that the points he is making actually come from the Bible. If you can’t see that they come from the Bible, your faith will end up resting on a man and not on God’s word.

The aim of this exposition is to help you eat and digest biblical truth that will

make your spiritual bones more like steel,
double the capacity of your spiritual lungs,
make the eyes of your heart dazzled with the brightness of the glory of God,
and awaken the capacity of your soul for kinds of spiritual enjoyment you didn’t even know existed.

Preaching Is Exultation

Preaching is also exultation. This means that the preacher does not just explain what’s in the Bible, and the people do not simply try understand what he explains. Rather, the preacher and the people exult over what is in the Bible as it is being explained and applied.

Preaching does not come after worship in the order of the service. Preaching is worship. The preacher worships—exults—over the word, trying his best to draw you into a worshipful response by the power of the Holy Spirit.

My job is not simply to see truth and show it to you. (The devil could do that for his own devious reasons.) My job is to see the glory of the truth and to savor it and exult over it as I explain it to you and apply it for you. That’s one of the differences between a sermon and a lecture.

Preaching Isn’t Church, but It Serves the Church

Preaching is not the totality of the church. And if all you have is preaching, you don’t have the church. A church is a body of people who minister to each other.

One of the purposes of preaching is to equip us for that and inspire us to love each other better.

But God has created the church so that she flourishes through preaching. That’s why Paul gave young pastor Timothy one of the most serious, exalted charges in all the Bible in 2 Timothy 4:1-2:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word.

What to Expect from My Preaching and Why

If you’re used to a twenty-minute, immediately practical, relaxed talk, you won’t find that from what I’ve just described.

I preach twice that long;
I do not aim to be immediately practical but eternally helpful;
and I am not relaxed.
I standing vigilantly on the precipice of eternity speaking to people who this week could go over the edge whether they are ready to or not. I will be called to account for what I said there.

That’s what I mean by preaching.