Are we a refreshing oasis in the middle of a dry and hot desert? Or, are we a disappointing soda machine on the side of a long stretch of road with an “Out of Order” sign? This is something I just can’t shake this week. It is something I spoke about Sunday morning from Philemon. It was sort of a passing thought, but it was one truth that I’ve been thinking about constantly. Let me explain…

If you don’t remember that’s ok (maybe you weren’t even here), I said that Paul was grateful for Philemon because he was refreshing to the saints in Colossae.

“For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.” (Philemon 7)

Do I leave people refreshed or drained? We have to make a choice here. We can’t make excuses like, “I’m just not an outgoing person” or “I’m shy.” That really doesn’t resonate with God.

You see, I want to be that guy that people love to talk to because I leave their hearts refreshed. I want to direct the conversation in a way that would magnify God and lift the spirits of the person to whom I’m talking. I want to leave people wanting more, not less. I don’t want people to feel critiqued and miserable because they stopped me and talked with me.

How about you? Do you want to be that refreshing bottle of water on a hot day? Do you want people to avoid you because they know they are going to come away from you discouraged, confused and criticized?

We can become a source of refreshment if we remember what flowed out of Philemon – love and joy. People need a break. We all have been in a battle this week and need someone to refresh us with love and joy. We need to feel that someone genuinely, biblically, foundationally loves us. And we need to talk to someone who sees life from God’s perspective, not the media’s. We need to hear some good news of great joy!

My prayer is that people look for you to be refreshed.

Grace & Peace,

As I write this there are only 78 days, 13 hours, 56 minutes, and 18 seconds until Christmas! In the grand scheme of things that is not much time. These “countdowns” for Christmas are everywhere, and as you well know usually the Christmas decorations are up in the stores before the Halloween candy turns moldy. Now that I have you thinking about Christmas I want to encourage you to think about others with your giving. Certainly don’t forget about your family and some of your friends, but I’m talking about not forgetting about those who struggle just to feed themselves.

We will have giving opportunities surface all around us and I understand we need to be selective, but that’s my point: please select and give outside your family and friends. I actually think we should rebel against the office party white elephant giving or the Sunday school gift exchange or the secret Santa rigmarole. Let’s refuse to get caught up in the giving frenzy that is so often flavored by selfishness and greed. Do you really need another Christmas tie that plays music and lights up? Let’s use this money spent on the frivolous and be a blessing to someone outside our walls and maybe even our country.

I am issuing a challenge to all of us to intentionally sit down with our families and plan some of our Christmas giving ahead of time.

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

So with that in mind let me present some options:

1.            Upstate Family Resource Center. This is a local organization that is helping families in the upstate. They provide some great services to families in need.

2.            Greater Spartanburg Ministries. Here is another local ministry that we already partner with as a corporate body. Due to their location they are able to meet needs of people who are facing extreme poverty.

3.            Nicaragua Mission Team. This team will be leaving November 16. All of the money given to them will go directly to helping and ministering to the Nicaraguans. Their projects will include family food packs that will feed a family for a week ($5 each), family survival packs that gives a family sustainable goods including livestock, tools and feed ($100 each), and feeding stations ($800 each).

4.            Operation Christmas Child. Our goal this year is 250 shoeboxes. This giving opportunity gets us out shopping and not just writing a check. It is so cool to be able to pack these boxes with toys and candy and toothbrushes and soap and whatever. This involves time and that is another gift we can give to needy children all over the world.

Each of these is a giving opportunity to express love so that a bridge can be built. Once the bridges are built then gospel conversations can take place. You see it all starts with love and love gives! We cannot say that we love without giving.

Now we have just 78 days, 13 hours, 29 minutes, and 12 seconds before Christmas. What will you do this year to show love?

Grace & Peace,

“Who’s church is it anyway?” Great question and the answer is even greater. It is God’s church, period! We don’t own it, we didn’t pay for it, so it’s really not ours. God owns it because He purchased it with the blood of His precious Son, Jesus.

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28)

Clearly the church belongs to God. Paul is careful to point out that it is “the church of God”, meaning the church is God’s personal possession. To treat it as anything else is to profane it and bring it down to a level God never intended. Yes, we have a responsibility but that responsibility is derived from and delegated by God.

I’m afraid that sometimes when people talk about “my church” they are being possessive and territorial. It’s unsure whether this is intentional or unintentional, but I fear the attitude of the church being our personal possession is a dangerous trend. We feel like we paid for it and therefore we own it. The reason for this comes from the attitude that since we pay the bills and mortgage every month that we now own the church. Our Western culture of property ownership has trickled into our theology. Instead of wielding our Bibles we hold up the deed to the church. This mindset thinks more in terms of the property or buildings or rooms or stuff in the building instead of people. I hope we all realize that the church is not possessions but people.

The tragic fallout of this wrong thinking is that God will go ahead and let us “own the church.” He won’t be there but He’ll say, “Go ahead and take possession, I’m out.” But the tragedy doesn’t end there. We can become so attached to the physical campus of a church that we neglect the spiritual needs of the people.

God saved us individually and personally, but He saved us and placed us corporately into His church. We cannot claim to be a Christian without the church and we cannot claim to be a church without Christians. A church without believers is just a building.

The church is God’s instrument to get the gospel out to the world. We cannot afford to become territorial and neglectful when it comes to God’s church.

Grace & Peace,

Scott