2014 is history and 2015 will be lived out for the next 361 days. I am so optimistic about the future of Calvary, not because of what we can do, but because of what God can do. I still sincerely believe that the world is looking for God to do something miraculous through His people. That doesn’t necessarily equate to something big or flashy or spectacular. We can’t put the weight of glory on who we are or what we do; we can put the weight of glory on the reputation of God. You see, that is what’s at stake – God’s reputation. As His children we are called upon by God Himself to spread the fame of God where we are. We must glorify God in His church through selfless following; we must glorify God in our homes; we must glorify God at school; we must glorify God at work; we must glorify God when we play. Everything we do is to be done to reflect God’s majestic and marvelous character.

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV)

Will you join me to be a working church striving to honor God in everything? And will you join me in being a praying church asking God to do something that can only be explained by His great and good hand of blessing upon us? If we become a working and praying church, I believe the community will see God in a way they haven’t seen Him for quite a long while. Let’s get ourselves out of the way; let’s put our agendas aside; let’s put our selfish desires in the trash. Let’s roll up our sleeves in selfless servanthood and get on our knees in absolute and utter dependence on God.

I’m praying that 2015 will be a year that we can honestly say we honored God in everything! I love you deeply and desperately. I sincerely want the best for God and you at Calvary. I don’t want people to remember me; I want people to remember our God. Here is a prayer I want us to memorize and pray every day:

“O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” (Habakkuk 3:2 ESV)

Grace & Peace,

The loudest voices I seem to hear this time of year is about what we can get out of the season. Children are wondering if they are going to get what they’ve been asking for, for the last three months. And moms and dads, we’re wondering if the people in our lives have been paying any attention to the litany of hints we’ve been putting out there about what we want for Christmas. But I just kind of wonder…is this really what Christmas is all about – you know, the decorations, presents, songs, parties, etc.? All these things are nice and we certainly can have some fun with them, but we have to keep in mind that they are all shadows that should point us to the true substance of Christmas: Jesus Christ. And what was Jesus about? The answer to that question would take more space that I have time for, but as I reflect on Christmas I’m thinking that the answer, at least in part, is giving. Jesus came into this world to give Himself for the glory of the Father and the salvation of humanity.

From this we can surmise that believers should follow suit. We are in this world to give. God saved us to give our lives for His glory and for the good of other people. You see, when we got rescued from Satan, evil and death, God also saved us from selfishness. This salvation changed everything. Paul said it best:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:15)

God created His children to be givers, not takers. It is truly not in our new nature to hoard all the stuff of this world, but to give to others willingly, freely, enthusiastically and joyfully. But a problem enters and interrupts this ethic when we listen to the world’s voices and make selfish choices. Now we think Christmas is all about what we can get and not what we can give; and Christmas is just a small snapshot of how we tend to live the rest of the year. I struggle with this, don’t you?

So, I want to encourage all our hearts to think a little differently. Let’s trying to put giving at the top of our lists instead of our wants. Here are some great giving opportunities to prime the pump:

Let’s end 2014 and begin 2015 giving, not taking!

Grace & Peace,

I want to talk about one more thing that will change Christmas. Can you think of somebody who is joy impaired? If we could fully embrace joy it would change our Christmas. Joy is a vital part of the Christmas story.

“And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10)

How do you get joy? You just can’t tell people to be joyful; it’s like trying to push spaghetti up a hill. The issue is not that we need joy; the issue is how do we get joy.

“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’” (Luke 2:10-12)

That is good news for everyone, but you must be willing to receive this gift.

As I’ve gotten older little seems to surprise me, and that’s tragic. Nothing really holds the wonder and awe for me the way it should. Is that true of you?

The joy of Christmas is the wonder and awe of the gifts. Kids are amazing; they are in awe and wonder of everything. I am afraid that the more a child hangs out with adults the more they lose their wonder and awe.

Step back from Christmas and look at all the gifts in your life…

This Christmas let’s turn down our cynicism and embrace wonder and awe. Stand in awe and wonder at all the gifts around you. To experience joy you need to go back to awe and wonder.

I want you to receive like a kid. I want you to be really, really, really excited.

God chose to enter our story and rewrite it. He chose to become man and give us grace. If you don’t receive grace you can’t experience grace. Christmas is about receiving grace.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)

Grace is a gift we can’t earn, didn’t deserve, but we must receive it like a child with wonder and awe and shock. We can’t experience it unless we receive it. Grace is a gift we must receive in order to have joy.

This Christmas have a little awe…have a little wonder…have a little shock!

Grace & Peace,

Why are we amazed at generosity? One of the reasons we are so moved by generosity is because we are wired to be generous. God created us to be givers, and deep down we know that generosity is right. We are meant to live and interact with one another on a level of giving, not taking.

From last week article I don’t want you to think of me as Pastor Grinch who stole Christmas by encouraging you to rebel against the economic empire of more. I certainly don’t want to turn you into Scrooge. I want us to give but give differently. It is an absolute joy to give; giving is a blessing. I want us to enjoy giving because we’ve been made by God to be givers.

Our giving should reflect the indescribable gift we’ve been given by God. God gave us the gift of His Son.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:1)

That is God’s artistic was of describing God. He is simply saying that Jesus was God. Before there was anything there was Jesus. This reminds us that Jesus is eternal.

“All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:3)

The stars are here because of Jesus; the trees are here because of Jesus; Fido and Flumpy are here because of Jesus; we are here because of Jesus.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

John is telling us that this incomprehensible and eternal Christ stepped out of heave and came here. He entered the story of our lives. You know what’s amazing about this? Jesus actually knew what He was doing. He knew what was going to happen. He knew the conclusion of His life. He knew He would end up on the cross. That is a gift that is so generous and so sacrificial that there is no other gift like it. This is the gift of presence.

If we are going to celebrate and honor Jesus this Christmas then we need to take our cue for giving from Him; we are going to need to follow His example. Our giving should reflect what God has given us. Here are just a couple of ideas:

First, we need to give specifically where people have need (Matthew 25:35-36, 40). If we want to love the way He loved then we need to give to the least of these which means to meet people’s real needs. Don’t give what we want, give what they need.

Second, give something personal (John 1:14). Think about it this way – God spoke this world into existence. To meet our deepest need, which is spiritual, He could have spoken, but He didn’t – HE SHOWED UP! The story of Christmas is that God came in close. Maybe this year we can give gifts that grow our relationships deeper. Giving this type of gift takes some thought. Here’s a kick-start for us: give the gift of presence, not presents. We have to think about it and we’re going to have to give our time.

Spend Less…Give More,

Okay, 43 days, 4 hours, and 2 minutes until Christmas! So this week I’m going write about the second pillar of the Advent Conspiracy – SPEND LESS! Now for some of you that sounds like good news from a far country, like cold water to a thirsty soul, or, as Southerners would prefer it, like a tall glass of sweet tea on a hot day! For others, meh, it’s bad news because either we like spending money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like, or because we like people spending lots of money on us…yes, I’m being a little snarky there. But here goes…

We need to learn to resist the empire of consumerism, and resisting this empire is going to take intentionality and strategy. You see, the empire of this world demands our allegiance at the risk of our souls.

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36 ESV, Jesus)

Let me give you a taste of the empire we’re up against. Some of the hottest Christmas toys through the years: Mr. Potato Head (1952), Pet Rock (1975), Atari (1979), Cabbage Patch Dolls (1983), Game Boy (1991), Tickle Me Elmo (1996), Playstation 3 (2006), and Zhu Zhu Pets (2009). I wonder what it will be this year? What will be that one thing people need, can’t live without, and will go to any extreme to obtain even if it means they can’t afford it?

We live in a kingdom of gold and glitz. It is an empire of power, wealth, and materialism. How do we successfully resist this empire of our day? I believe the storyline of the Bible gives us the answer we are seeking. Our only hope of resisting the empire of spending more is the power of the gospel. What transformed and rescued us in the first place is what transforms and rescues us today.

Jesus entered the human scene during the time of Herod the Great. He was ruthless, wealthy, thirsty to conquer, and insecure (he killed his own family members because he felt threatened by them). Herod was more interested in saving his empire than he was in saving his soul. When the news of Jesus’ birth hit Herod the Great’s ears the Bible records that he was “troubled.” This means that he was thoroughly agitated, greatly distressed, and highly anxious. And when Herod wasn’t happy, nobody was allowed to be happy.

At this point Herod went on the attack. Because he felt threatened by a child born into poverty, he ordered the slaughter of all the baby boys in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16-18). He was not about to be outdone by some would-be poor, baby king born in an animal stall. He was going to squash the competition.

However, the empire will not threaten God’s purposes. He subverted Herod’s plan and power by waking Joseph in a dream. God’s plan of rescue through redemption will not be threatened by another kingdom (Matthew 2:13-15).

The power of the gospel is our only hope to resist the empire of today. We must intentionally plan ahead to spend less. We can’t wait until we get to the mall. Don’t go into debt to the empire of cultural consumerism; it only leads to a deeper bondage into the empire. If we rebel against the day of extravagant spending we need to be prepared for an attack. This attack may come from friends or family or even brothers and sisters in Christ, but resolve to spend less to give more. And that’s next week. And now we have only 43 days, 3 hours, and 15 minutes!

Grace & Peace,

As I write this there are just 51 days, 14 hours and 34 minutes until Christmas. That means that most of our shopping will be done in the next 30 days (give or take). Yes, Christmas is exciting, magical, wonderful, heartwarming, loving, and whatever adjective you can think of to describe this time of year. With that in mind, I wanted to get a good jump on the Christmas rush with a challenge I’ve been pushing for the last four years – Advent Conspiracy. Some of you may be new to this and so, for the sake of clarity I want to give you a brief synopsis of what this means…

The Advent Conspiracy is an idea a friend of mine in Illinois told me about (you can see more about it at www.adventconspiracy.org). The idea is that we take back Christmas from consumerism. It is simply a conspiracy among believers to recapture a true celebration of Christmas in the midst of a culture that is clamoring for more stuff while giving less of themselves to each other. The conspiracy can be summed up in four succinct tenets:

Worshipping fully is about getting back to the true message of Christmas:

“This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.” (1 John 4:10 The Message)

Christmas should be a time of getting caught up in the story – His story. We’ve messed everything up with our sin. Just take a look around during the holidays and see how many people are fighting, depressed and stressed. This just proves that we need someone to step in and rescue us; we need a hero; His name is Jesus. Jesus came into our story to change our story from tragedy to triumph, from doom to redemption. God’s amazing grace changes everything in our lives and that is what should capture our attention during Christmas. This knowledge transforms us from spenders to worshippers. God rescues us to create a worshiping throng. This is what happened to the shepherds and what should happen to us.

“And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” (Luke 2:20 ESV)

And now we have even less time before Christmas!

Grace & Peace,

We are all scrapping for a place in line; we would prefer to be in first place, but second will do in a pinch. Nobody really wants to give up their place in line; I don’t see too many people deferring to others. We have lost our sense of putting others first and are settling for putting others in their place.

I saw a snapshot of this played out at the airport. Some of the airlines are now doing what I would call organized random boarding. This means that it is organized because each passenger is given a letter and a number, but it is random because no seats are assigned. So, when boarding begins you are supposed to get in a line according to the group (A, B or C) and number. Then when you get on the plane you find a seat that suits you. Sounds good doesn’t it? Yes it does, except when people “jump” the line. For example, if you have B30 you don’t line up with the A group, at least you’re not supposed to. But you know what? Yes, people go on ahead and scramble for a better “place” so they don’t get stuck on the back of the plane in seats that don’t recline.

With that off my chest let me just say that this is not the way God intended for His children to live. Many of our problems of anxiety, frustration, envy and pride could be solved if we just simply follow the teaching of Paul:

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3 ESV)

Put others before self. Think of others before thinking of self. Make sure someone else’s needs are met before ours. I think you get the picture. And just think about it: we all got on the plane and made it to Spartanburg; it didn’t really matter who got out of the airplane first.

Grace & Peace,

Trust is a pretty fragile thing. If we trust in the wrong doctor we will suffer physically. If we trust in the wrong automobile maker we may end up on the side of the road. If we trust in the wrong builder the roof might leak. But, what if we trust in the wrong person, idea, thing, or program for eternal life? Or how about misplacing our trust after we’ve been saved? You know, we believe in Jesus to give us eternal life, but we don’t trust Him for everyday living.

It’s amazing how I have to fight this trust battle all the time. Does that sound like you? God has rescued us through Jesus’ death and we are secure; we know we’re going to heaven one day. But when the stock market plunges 400 points we panic and question whether we’ll ever be able to pay the bills – financial ruin. Or, when someone abandons us we freak out because we just don’t know how we’re going to make it through another day without him or her in our lives. Or, we mess up big time and beat ourselves up thinking God can’t make anything beautiful out of all the ugliness we’ve created. Think about what God said to Judah who was quickly drifting away from Him:

“…Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD” (Jeremiah 17:5 ESV).

He goes on to describe him in verse 6 like a puny shrub in an unoccupied, salty wasteland. Those who trust in man and manmade inventions for security will not thrive. In fact, God states very clearly that they “shall not see any good.” Ouch, right?

But, then God tells them,

“Blessed is the man who trust in the LORD…” (Jeremiah 17:7 ESV).

In this case He doesn’t describe them as a puny shrub but as a vibrant, leafy, green, fruit bearing tree that is flourishing even in a drought because it is by a body of water that will nourish its roots. This is a beautiful picture of a believer’s life whose trust is continually in the Lord and not in self or things or other people or whatever.

I’m not saying this is a life of guaranteed ease and rainbows and unicorns. That’s just delusional thinking. What I’m saying is that when we keep our eyes on God He will not disappoint even when things go dark and scary. He is the One who sustains us in the crashes of life when everything is upside down, or when others aren’t playing by the rules and seem to be having a blast and we’re not. Remember, looks can be deceiving. The life of continual trust in God is the life God chooses to bless and causes to flourish.

Grace & Peace,

As I write this I can look out my office window on this cold and misty day and see the handiwork of God as the leaves begin to turn orange, red and yellow. I’m thankful that God is both great and good. He is great because He is incomparable. I’ve always had a hard time staying inside the lines when I colored a picture as a little boy. I was impatient, wanted to move on to the next crayon, and just couldn’t concentrate on the details of the picture I was coloring. However, God in His majestic beauty colors each leaf on every tree varying shades of beautiful colors. This puts me in awe of who God is. He is beyond imagination in His creativity. He not only has the ability to turn leaves a different color each year, but He is also able to turn a cold and hard heart into a warm and soft one. He creates worshipers out of rebels; He takes what is ugly and makes it beautiful!

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?” (Isaiah 40:12 ESV)

God, that’s who!

God is good because He shares with us. We love because He loved us first. We give because He gave. We are merciful because He is merciful. And the list goes on. Because of God’s influence in our hearts through the life-transforming gospel, the world is a better place to live. The world isn’t better because we have intrinsic goodness; the world is better because God re-creates in us goodness. We mirror the image of God best as we are reformed after the likeness of Jesus.

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:29 ESV)

So, as you take a walk or trip to the mountains and see the beautiful tapestry of colors let it remind you of God’s grace that changes our hearts every day. Let it also remind us that we are to submit under the gracious hand of God who is changing us from glory to glory.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV)

Grace & Peace,

October is breast cancer awareness month. As a church I want us to bring this issue to forefront of our hearts and minds by remembering those we’ve lost, celebrating those who’ve survived, and encouraging all of our ladies to get tested. I’ve proven that I’m not a doctor and so I’ll not attempt to write about what I don’t know. However, after some research here is what I’ve come to discover…

The church needs everyone to help spread the fame of God throughout our community and the world; the responsibility of making disciples cannot be accomplished without our ladies. We need you and want you around for many years to come. Early detection is one of the keys to keep you ladies in the game. We will be setting aside Sunday, October 19, 2014 for Pink Sunday! Wear pink to show your love, support and commitment.

Grace & Peace,

Here’s what I didn’t get to Sunday. A little background first…

Habakkuk is basically having a very difficult conversation with God. It begins by Habakkuk complaining to God that His people were not doing right and wondering if God was going to do something about it:

“O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?” (Habakkuk 1:2)

God informs Habakkuk that indeed Judah will not get a free pass without His disciplining hand coming down on them:

“For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own.” (Habakkuk 1:6)

Habakkuk’s like, “Say what? Now wait a minute.” This bothers Habakkuk’s sensitivities of justice. Why would God use a more-wicked nation to discipline a less-wicked nation? That just doesn’t make sense. But God’s ways are inscrutable and He plans, knows, sees and understands events from the perspective of eternity, we don’t.

The centerpiece of Habakkuk is the principle of how people live: “the righteous live by his faith” while the wicked live by greed, covetousness, violence, perversion and idolatry. When righteous people go astray God disciplines, but what about the way of the wicked? Those who refuse to live by trusting in God will face God’s wrath:

“The cup in the LORD’s right hand will come around to you, and utter shame will come upon your glory!” (Habakkuk 2:16)

But how and why do the righteous escape the cup of God’s wrath? Think about it, we were greedy and covetous and violent and perverse and idolatrous, we deserve God’s wrath, but through grace and the gospel forgiveness is possible and that changes everything.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

The cup of God’s wrath is a very common image in the Bible. It creates a mental image of God’s condemnation on sin and rebellion against His authority. God’s wrath must be poured out on the judgment and condemnation of sin, and this leaves the world in a particularly bad place. But there is good news – it’s call the gospel…

Jesus drinks the cup of God’s wrath for us. God poured out His wrath of judgment for sin on His own son at the cross (cf. Matthew 20:22; 26:42). Jesus knowingly and willingly drank this cup as our substitute. He stepped in to save the day; He drank it down to the very dregs so we wouldn’t have to even have a taste. That’s simply awesome.

But, for those who refuse Jesus the Bible is very clear:

“…If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angles and in the presence of the Lamb.” (Revelation 14:9-10)

Grace & Peace,

Wow, what a blast of cool weather – I love it! I really, really, really enjoy the changing of the seasons, and this season of the year is a particular blessing to me. The cooler weather reminds me of my northern roots, it signals the ending of yard work, it stirs up all kinds of good memories, it marks harvest time...corn, combines, hunting, and the gospel. What does this have to do with the gospel? Read the words of Paul,

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6)

We wait for the harvest of souls; it is God who harvests the souls; He is the “Lord of the harvest”, but we are laborers in the harvest.

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’” (Matthew 9:36-38)

Yes, God has a part for us in the reaping of those who come to Him for salvation. We don’t just sit idle, twiddling our thumbs waiting for people to “drop into Jesus.” We are part of God’s great harvest plan. We are His hands, feet and mouthpieces.

This means that we don’t force someone to come to Christ; we shouldn’t be manipulating or tricking people into professing to know Jesus as Savior and Lord. Doing that would amount to picking a crop too early and spoiling the fruit – it’s no fruit at all. We wait praying, living, listening, and speaking. We pray for God’s grace and their repentance and belief. We live consistent with the gospel we believe. We listen to their stories, sensitive to pick out how we can share the truth of the rescuing gospel. We speak the story of Jesus who is the real Hero of redemption.

I don’t see a problem with the harvest – it is still abundant; the problem I see is us – we just aren’t laboring in God’s harvest. The first step is that which Jesus asked His disciples to take: earnest prayer to God for laborers. The word for prayer is a unique word, which means prayer that cries out from a sense of need, thus “earnest prayer.”

Do you see the great harvest of souls? Do you see that few are laboring with God to bring that harvest in? I do and so therefore I am compelled to serious, heartfelt, earnest prayer to God for more workers! I hope you see the need as well.

Grace & Peace,

What a great day Sunday! I love getting together with you on Sunday. God’s presence and power never ceases to amaze me; and your love and unity is a beautiful sight to behold as well. I am truly a blessed man to be the pastor of such a wonderful group of Christ-followers. Thank you for honoring God through loving one another.

Let me remind you of the uniqueness of Calvary Church. No, it is not in its programs or big buildings or huge offerings; what makes us special is a commitment to faithfully show love to everyone walking through our doors. That spirit probably won’t bring big crowds, it won’t put us on any ecclesiastical map, and it won’t net us loads of cash; but it will make the name of our great and awesome God famous and build a family of faithful followers. We are not the church to be seen at and we are not ecclesiastically cool. We are a group of people who don’t pretend to have our act together and are honest that we are struggling with “stuff.” When we are transparent like that then the gospel can change us and begin to shape us into the image of Jesus.

It has been my quiet burden that we don’t lose this uniqueness; it has been my private fear that we would when we moved and started to grow. What I have found out is that God has kept us humble by keeping us small. This is what I love about this church. We have no grandiose idea that we are the next mega-church of Spartanburg County; we won’t be and don’t want to be! We are simply trying to love one person or family at a time who will see God’s grace and mercy through that love. And let me tell you, I’ve heard about your love from people who’ve experienced that love not only inside the walls of 4000 Parris Bridge Road, but outside these walls as well!

So I just want to say that I love you, am thankful for you, and am praying that this uniqueness will continue for the glory of God and the building up of God’s church.

Grace & Peace,

Operation Christmas Child is here! Say what? Yes, it’s time for us to get out to the stores and start shopping to fill our shoeboxes for kids all over the world. Barb has already started and she has almost everything to begin packing the shoeboxes at our house. How about you?

Donna Paxton talked with me about two weeks ago about the goal for this year. Our goal this year will be 250 boxes. I realize that is a huge undertaking for a little church like Calvary, but I also realize that it is a goal that can be reached if everyone will get involved. This means that each of us is going to have to do something beyond our ability. Now that’s exciting!

We will soon be putting out more information, but here is probably the simplest way to get started…

This is a wonderful time of year and I’m looking forward to all the wonderful things God will do in the next few months. God bless you as you think of others!

Grace & Peace,