Thoughts From Abroad! (Part 1)

Last week I had the privilege of traveling to the Middle East with a small group of pastors.  While there, we were able to teach a group of pastors from 6 different countries!  It was an incredible experience!  Over the next few days I will share with you some of my thoughts from the trip.

Part 1

I’ll start by saying that I’m proud to be a Southern Baptist.  Yes, I’m the guy who doesn’t like the label here in the states because it is a barrier to people coming to Jesus.  I simply want the conversation to be about Jesus.  (After all, it’s a conversion to Christ, not a denomination.)

But that being said, as Southern Baptist we support some of the greatest people on the planet who are giving their lives while serving in some of the hardest areas of the world.  It’s not legal to be a follower of Jesus in some countries and yet these faithful people have laid it all on the line for the glory of God.  I made a personal commitment to give more to international missions than I’m presently doing.  And I committed our church to do the same!

I’m more engaged with who we are as Southern Baptist than I ever have been before.  I’m proud of our SBC President and his leadership.  God has blessed and anointed Dr. Johnny Hunt.  People need to listen to what he has to say and quit fussing about stupid stuff that keeps our eyes off of what matters: reaching lost people.  I believe that if the Southern Baptist Convention ceased to exist, God would still accomplish His task. We need to eliminate the things that don’t matter, like bloated bureaucracy that keeps lost people from finding Jesus. What I saw this week was about the fulfillment of the Great Commission.  I was pleased and impressed.

More later!

Richard

Worship, Relevance, and Reverence

Below is a great video on the discussion of worship.  It’s about 55 minutes, but I believe it is well worth your time.

Much Love,

Richard

Above the Noise

Psalm 131 “I have stilled and quieted my soul…”

Read It:

Have you ever beheld something so amazing that it took your breath away?  Maybe it was the Grand Canyon, a newborn baby, an incredible sunset.  Regardless of the wonder, when we see something amazing, it stops us in our tracks.  We behold it with such wonder, amazement.  It’s as if all of life pauses for a moment to focus on something that reflects beauty that is larger than life.  Life, in fact, is still continuing as normal, but in that moment, we are pausing to appreciate the greater glory before us.  And that is how it should be when we behold God’s glory.

When we take time to gaze upon the beauty of His character, His very nature, we cannot help but pause in awe and wonder and delight.  To behold Christ in this way involves the discipline of cultivating a still and quiet heart, as the Psalmist mentions above.  This doesn’t mean that we walk around whispering all of the time or that we foster some unrealistic notion of living without demands, etc.  But living in reverence and quietness of heart towards God means that even in the chaos of the daily routine, our hearts are tethered to His.  Because our ears are attuned to His voice, we can hear and see and taste the moments where His glory is on display, even amidst the every day goings on of life.

And let us not be fooled.  Every day His glory is, in fact, on display.  May we be a people with hearts that are still and quiet, grateful to behold Him.  May we awaken each day eager to hear His voice, to discover His heart, and to love Him well.

Pray It:

Father, my life can be so noisy and crowded.  The last thing I want to do is to marginalize You due to my own agenda and schedule.  Give me ears to hear Your voice above all of the other noise.  Help me to walk closely with You, to gaze upon You with fresh awe and wonder, to love You well.

Download it:

Psalm 131:3 “…put your hope in the LORD now and always.”

Apply it:

1)    Take a moment to go outside today, maybe a walk on your lunch break or after work and look for all of the ways God’s glory is on display – in nature, in people, in life.  As you walk, take time to quiet your heart before God.  Allow all of your cares and requests to be put on pause simply for some time to gaze and to reflect on the wonder of His glory.

2)    Ask God to speak to your heart above all of the noise of your life.  Listen for His reply.

Let’s Celebrate!

I am a passionate person.  I’m passionate about my God (Jesus is His name, there is no other), my wife (she’s my best friend), my girls (the church can get another pastor, but my girls can’t get another dad) and then, there is you – Sugar Hill Church.

When I wake up usually I say something (quietly in my head lest the people in my house think I’m crazy) like:  “Good Morning Lord, I love you.  Thanks for letting me love Wendy and my girls.  And thanks for the great privilege of pastoring Sugar Hill Church.”  I’m serious – you are my third thought just about every day!  Occasionally the phone rings too early and you become my first thought and its not necessary a nice one, but I digress.

Recently God has poured out His blessings of spiritual harvest like I’ve never seen here before.  Sunday we baptized 10 people.  The stories of life change really fired me up.  (If you missed it, then go make your own story by inviting someone far away from God to come with you then pray and watch God transform another life!)

I read a post from Perry Noble (perrynoble.com) this recently that I’ve cut and pasted and edited just a few words to fit us.  God is using Perry Noble and New Spring Church in incredible ways.  Here’s his post (with a few of RML revisions).  It’s worth reading as we celebrate God’s activity at Sugar Hill Church.

From PerryNoble.com

From time to time people get negative when other people express the positive things that are happening in the church…which often causes people to want to crawl in a hole and silently celebrate the success that God is blessing them with…  AND THAT HAS TO STOP!

If God is blessing…you’ve GOT to celebrate!

If people are Kingdom minded they will celebrate with you…unless, of course, they’re obsessed with their own kingdom and not God’s!

You can’t allow jealous, bitter and envious people to control you!

If just ONE person crosses the line of faith, if just ONE prodical comes home, if just ONE person goes public for Jesus, if just ONE person repents of a sin that has held them in bondage forever…YOU’VE GOT TO CELEBRATE!!!

Sure, there ARE people in this world who will question what is happening in your ministry when you begin to celebrate!

AND…there are people who will cause others to doubt as to whether or not what is taking place in your church is authentic.  (Such as, “there were a lot of salvations reported…but did they REALLY receive Christ?)

AND…when you celebrate you will get attacked…

BUT THAT IS NO REASON TO STAY SILENT!!!

God DID NOT BLESS YOU so that you could BE QUIET ABOUT IT!!!

Life is too short and hell is too hot for us to live in fear of others who want to criticize what God is doing among us (and then claim to be on the same team!)

When God blesses…you’ve GOT to celebrate!

Sure, celebrate correctly…BOAST IN HIM and WHAT HE HAS DONE…and not in some “great idea” that you had!  (See Jeremiah 9:23-24)

CELEBRATE!!!

Share “good news” when it is happening around you!!!

We do it at football games…when our team is running up the score we don’t sit in the stands and say, “WOW…we are blowing the other team out of the water…but I don’t want to cheer too loud or say anything b/c it might make people who cheer for the other team feel bad.”

NO…we scream…we yell…WE CELEBRATE!!!

AND SO…when Jesus uses us to run up the score on the enemy…a celebration is in order!

This morning, I’m praising God and Celebrating the 117 new members that have joined Sugar Hill Church and the 46 that have followed Christ in baptism in recent days! There are some great stories represented in those numbers.  Don’t miss the God moment!  What’s even MORE exciting are those who are now bringing others with them!  I’m enjoying the journey and can’t wait to see what God does next as we together learn to Love, Grow and Serve!  Are you Celebrating or Souring?  Let’s Celebrate!

See you tomorrow!

His Surpassing Greatness

Psalm 150 “…praise Him for His surpassing greatness.”

Read It:

How big is your God?  Is He big enough to fit in your box of childhood tradition?  Your Sunday morning box?  Your wedding ceremony box?  Or has God so captivated You that He permeates Your whole life?  Friend, let me lovingly suggest, He’s all of these and so much more.  God is huge, and wild, and all-powerful, and amazing, and loving and gracious, and greater than we can ever comprehend.

His greatness is surpassing.  And that alone is enough to deem Him praiseworthy.   As Psalm 150 declares, we praise God because His magnificence, His excellence, every facet of His character and being, are far above that of anyone or anything on this earth.  When we dare to “look up”, as we learned last week, and take in but a glimpse of the scope of just how fascinating God is, we cannot help but respond in praise.

And praise is more than just bleary-eyed lip service to a song on a Sunday morning.  It’s declaring with adoration and affirmation, on a daily basis, that God is both Who He claims to be, and All that He claims to be.  We declare with joy, with gusto, with passion that God-alive is mighty and wonderful and amazing!  When we consider, as the psalmist does, God’s powerful acts, we cannot help but praise.   It is dumbfounding that a God so amazing, so surpassingly great would honor us with the privilege of knowing and loving Him.  How can we do anything less than praise such a magnificent God?

Pray It:

Father, God, You are indeed surpassingly great.  You are everything that is magnificent, excellent, and awe-inspiring.  You are worthy of my praise and the praise of everything that has breath.  I praise You this morning with my mouth.  May my very life bring You the praise You deserve today!

Download it:

Psalm 150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.  Praise the LORD.”

Apply it:

1)    List 5 ways you see God’s greatness as surpassing your own or that of humanity in general.  Take time to praise God for His surpassing greatness in each of these areas.

2)    Think about what it means to praise the Lord from a heart of love and thankfulness.  Are you living a life of praise to God for His surpassing greatness or are you stuck in tradition and routine?  Take some moments to praise Him from your heart, even in this very moment.

Praise Him in the Storm

Lord Save Us from Your Followers Trailer

“Lord, Save us from your Followers” opens this week.  Make plans to see it at the Regal at Medlock Crossing (9700 Medlock Bridge Road, Duluth 770.814.8437).  I and some of our staff will host the showing on Saturday, September 26th @ 11:35 am and then head to Starbucks (9700 Medlock Bridge Rd # 118, Duluth 678.475.6447) for discussion over a latte or your preferred beverage.

I truly believe that after this movie you’ll have a better understanding of the world we live in and now how to share your faith in a way that is well received.  See you Saturday!

Worship as Wonder

Psalm 8:1 “Oh LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth…”

Read It:

Wonder.  It seems to be a lost art in our hectic way of life.  Somewhere along the way in our fast paced agendas, we have forgotten what it means to savor something, to drink deep and take in the moment.  We have become terrified of stillness and quiet. We fear what we might find, or worse, what we might lose, if we slow down enough to be still.

Yet, wonder has always been and will always be a significant part of worship.  It is, in fact, as we behold the majesty of our awesome God that we cannot help but worship Him.  To worship God means more than just checking off facts about Him as we skim through information about Him.  It means more than just nodding our heads in agreement to a list of beliefs about who He is or what He has done.  Instead, wonder as worship means taking time to simply behold Him, to meditate on His character, to savor all we know about Him, as reflected in His Word.

And when we slow down to marvel, to study, to behold, we find that we cannot help but reflect worship back to Him.  He is indeed beautiful beyond description.  He is absolutely too marvelous for Words.  When we become still enough to catch just a glimpse of His glory, suddenly all of life takes on a new perspective.  We see just how small we are and understand just a taste of how Big He is.  In that frame of reference, mercy and grace take on an incredibly new meaning.  We then worship not out of function, but out of hearts truly inspired by the wonder of our magnificent Creator, God.  Like the Psalmist, we say with passion,  “Oh LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth…What is man that you are mindful of him?”

Download it:

Psalm 8:4 “…what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”

Apply it:

1)    Look for God’s majesty throughout your day today.  Let Him take your breath away as you slow down to notice His beauty and glory displayed all around you, right where you are:  in nature, in others, in the scope of just how small we are and how big He is.

2)    Make a list of all of God’s character traits and list them.  As you do, take time to reflect on what it means to serve a God like that.  And Worship Him!! For Who He is and for what He has done!

Sunday is coming!

If you want to be ready – read Psalm 8.

Will you be prayed up and expecting to meet God?

Will you bring God your best in attention and attentiveness to Him in your worship this week?

Will you learn to trust Him through worship this week?

Will you focus on your contribution instead of your consumerism?

Are you hungry for God or are you just wanting God to fix something in your life?

Who are you bringing with you (eternity hangs in the balance)?

Who do you still need to invite to join you this Sunday?

Come prayed up, rested up, ready to give up and fess up and lift Him up.

Can’t wait to see you…. Today is Friday but Sunday is on the way!!!

Lord, Save Us From Your Followers

Want to better understand the world we live in and know how to share your faith in a way that is well received?  Then make plans to see the movie, “Lord Save Us From Your Followers”!

This movie will help you understand how to share you faith in this post-Christian society and also shed light into why we preached the “We’re Sorry” message last spring.    It will also show you why I passionately say, “It’s not about a religion; it’s about a relationship!”

“Lord, Save Us From Your Followers” is a fast-paced, highly engaging documentary that explores the collision of faith and culture in America. After seeing it you’ll never talk about faith the same way again!

Make plans to see the movie @ Regal Medlock Crossing (9700 Medlock Bridge Road, Duluth 770.814.8437).  I and some of our staff will host the showing on Saturday, September 26th @ 11:35 am and then head to Starbucks (9700 Medlock Bridge Rd # 118, Duluth 678.475.6447) for discussion over a latte or your preferred beverage.

If you’d rather read the book, you can buy it here.

Much love!