A Legacy of Love

Tomorrow in worship I'm going to be teaching on How To Leave A Legacy of Love.  Here's my challenge, and if you attend FCBC and you do this today, you'll already have next week's homework done.

The challenge is to take 1 Corinthians 13 and replace the word love with your name.  The passage is printed below.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Here's a couple of questions based on what we just did.  When I put my name in that passage, does is that me?  Does this describe my life?  Is this love?

Be in worship tomorrow as we work this out together and figure our how we can leave a legacy of love.

Soulprint

I just got Mark Batterson's new book Soulprint today.  I can't wait to get into it.  Mark's a local pastor (DC area), national speaker and a gifted author.  If you've never read one of his books I recommend picking up In A Pit With A Lion, his first book.  Soulprint is his fourth book and I recommend reading them in order.

"Under the Overpass" Review

I just finished reading Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski.  It's an amazing, real-life story of two friends who journeyed together on the streets for five months.

While sitting in church one Sunday morning, listening to his pastor preach a sermon about living the Christian life, Mike says "Suddenly I was shocked to realize that I had just driven twenty minutes past the world that needed me to be the Christian I say I am, in order to hear a sermon entitled 'Be the Christian You Say You Are.'"

That experience led Mike, and eventually his friend Sam, to chose to live for five months on the streets, totally depending on God and others to sustain them.  They had two purposes for the project:  Learn to trust God on a significantly deeper level and experience the realities of life as a homeless person.  It would be an experience that would change both of them forever.

Mike and Sam chose five cities to live in during the five months.  Each chapter is a gritty description of a different city.   The book is filled with story after story of the people they met and the encounters they had.  I purposely chose to read the book over a period of a couple of months; I wanted to absorb their experiences as much as possible.  By the end of the book, as Mike and Sam began the process of coming off the streets and re-entering their old lives, I found myself feeling some of the emotions that they described feeling.  Mike's writing style is so captivating it will drawn you into the experience in a unique way.

This is a book that every Christian and every church should read.  Mike and Sam visited a lot of churches on their journey.  Most of them were less than thrilled to see them walk through their doors and many of them actually refused to allow them in. Mike gives some great insights into how individuals and churches can serve those who are homeless and living on the streets.

If you want to be challenged to "be the Christian you say you are" then this book is a must read.

The Church and the U.S. Postal Service

I was at the post office today standing in line to get passports for Marsha and the kids.  Here's what I observed:

• In the 45 minutes we were there the line never got below ten people.  At one point there was about twenty-five people waiting in line.

• The people working behind the counter didn't seem to be in a hurry or really concerned about the line of people waiting.

• Things were not clear.  It was difficult to figure out which line to be in and the one guy who was trying to help just kept yelling out through out the building instructions.

• I looked around the entire lobby and couldn't find the mission of the USPS anywhere.

• The employees didn't seem to be concerned about customer service at all.  In fact what seemed to be communicated was "You need us more than we need you so you have to put up with how we do things."

Here's my point:  If that was FedX or Target, or the corner store, they'd be out of business in about two weeks.

It got me thinking about the church.  How are we doing in the American church?  Are we focused on those who need the church the most (those outside the church) or are we too busy doing things the way we know how expecting everyone else to come along?

Sunday Reflection

Great day of worship yesterday.  Lots of folks back from the holiday travels.  Awesome music and lots of energy.  It was a special day for our family because Abbey was baptized.  Extra special for me since I got to baptize her.  It's one of the best things I get to do as a pastor and as a dad.

We also launched a new series called "Legacy."  I think it's amazing how God timed it with me getting to baptize Abbey.  That was totally unplanned by our team.  We're going to be talking about how we can live a life that leaves a legacy behind for generations to come.  Can't wait to see what God does.

Wherever You Are...Be There

"Wherever you are...be there." - Wayne Elsey in Almost Isn't Good Enough.


Wayne is the founder and CEO of Soles4Souls, a non-profit whose mission is to provide shoes for people who need them.

The quote above hit me like a ton of bricks.  When I feel overwhelmed by a task, problem or challenge, my natural instinct is to withdraw when really I need to engage.  Wherever I am, I need to be in that moment - engage.  He says "Being there is about creating a new reality, better than the current situation."


"We must be the change we want to see in the world." - Gandhi