Martin Luther called the Lord’s Prayer a “fearful prayer.” When we seriously ponder the words of our Lord when He prayed, “Your kingdom come, your will be done” we begin to understand why he labeled it in this way. It is always a fearful feeling when we bow our own will to the will of another; the implications are even more fearful when we submit our will to the Creator of the universe. Why?

First, because we are saying that we are willing to follow in the footsteps of the only perfect human who ever walked the face of the earth. When Jesus submitted His will to that of His Father’s He fully knew where that would lead…to the cross. He knew the Father’s will for Him included giving His life for others. He knew it meant pain, rejection, and death. I must always ask, “If the fate of my King was pain, then what makes me think I will experience anything else?” When we pray “Your will be done” we are saying, “I bend my will to Yours, I will not argue with Your will. If it brings me joy then I will celebrate, but if it brings pain into my life, then I will trust you and suffer and continue to love You.”

This is also fearful so because we are putting the fate of our personal joy in the hands of another. Can we seriously do this? Our joy must be placed in the hands of someone we trust, and who can we trust better than God? Only God has our best interests in mind and only He can bring us a joy that will last longer than just when the good times are rolling. The good times will end and then we will be left holding onto creaturely comforts that are at best temporary and at worst illusionary.

God has put a song in my heart this week…You Are My All in All.

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I’d be a fool
You are my all in all

Grace & Peace,
Scott

I am somewhat of a non-traditionalist in most areas of my life and ministry. One of my desires as a pastor is to allow God to shape Calvary from His Word and not the traditions of men. I sincerely don’t want to wake up ten years from now and ask, “What have I done?!” However, I do enjoy rich tradition in the church when it’s rooted in the biblical text. This is where I found myself last week when praying and studying for Calvary’s deacon ordination service. I was driven to Acts 6 because that is the first occurrence of deacons in the Bible (even though the word “deacon” can’t be found in the text).

One of the main focuses of the passage is the transference of ownership from the apostles to the deacons. You see, the apostles were finding themselves dealing with problems and putting out fires in the church. This in and of itself is not beyond the scope of any pastor, but they were doing this to the detriment of what God had called them to do—prayer and the ministry of the Word. They not only feared neglecting their God-given ministry, but they also feared a fracturing of the church if something wasn’t done immediately. The plan they came up with is to give the ministry of administering the finances for the ministry of mercy over to a well-qualified group of men whom the church trusted.

Once the church body chose seven men, one thing was left undone…the first deacons had to be given the authority and feel the responsibility of caring for the widows. This authority and responsibility was felt when the apostles laid their hands on the first deacons as a sign that they were transferring the ownership of this part of the ministry over to them.

This is what I wanted our deacons to feel Sunday. This is the heartbeat I desire when it comes to the deacons at Calvary Church. I don’t want us to have a group of men who are the CEO’s or the CFO’s or the CIO’s or any other CO’s who dictate the direction of the church. That is beyond the scope of New Testament deacons. I also don’t want a group of men who are the pastor’s assistants. God’s design and desire for deacons is that they be the Ministers of Mercy in the church.

Grace & Peace,
Scott

Comebacks are hard to make. Just look at the world of sports and you’ll see how difficult it is…but it’s not impossible. I’ve seen all of our kids make comebacks in the sports they’ve played. What about the Boiling Springs High School baseball team last spring? They had so many “comeback” wins the parents didn’t have any hair left. It makes for an exciting, albeit nail-biting evening! Also, look at what the Chicago White Sox did this week, something no other major league baseball team has done…won three must-win games, three days in a row, against three different teams. I could go on and on, but sports are not the point, something else is.

How about relationships? One of the greatest illustrations of a “comeback” relationship is that of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). When read in light of a comeback it thrills my soul; I find myself mourning that this son made so many bad choices and then cheering when he decides he has had enough and wants to return home. As they say in Hawaii, “It gives me chicken skin just thinking about it!” (i.e., goose bumps)

One lesson here is that we shouldn’t give up on any relationship. As Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” God does have a plan, and I believe if we’re patient enough we will experience a comeback in our fractured relationships beyond imagination. You know, sometimes all people are looking for is somebody who won’t give up on them. This is the way our Heavenly Father treats us. He truly is patient with me because He loves me.

We love these comebacks. There is just something about them that stirs our emotions and leaves us thinking anything is possible! So, what relationship do you have in your life that needs a comeback? Or, maybe you need to make a comeback yourself. Study Luke 15 and discover what role you play, and then follow the Lord’s teaching.

I Love You,
Scott