Author: crosseyedjesusfreak

Kraig Birchfield is a Christ follower, husband to Kelley, Tennessee Volunteer football fan, and a Crosseyed Jesus Freak.  He is passionate about his faith, writing, reading, sports, and his calling; Preaching the Word of God!  Amory, MS is where he and his wife Kelley make their home, and he is the minister at North Boulevard Christian Church  since January of 2020.  He loves God, loves his family, and wants nothing more than to inspire you in your walk with Jesus.  If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior yet, he would love to talk to you about what that means as well.
Christian Living, God, Ministry

Christmas is on a Sunday!

This is the first time since 2011 that Christmas Day has been on a Sunday.  That means that this is the first time that I have been on staff at a church in which this was the case.  I do not recall what my home church did the last time this happened, but I am guessing that they held a service that morning, and I was probably there.  Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, however, seems to be a very polarizing topic among Christians, especially on social media.

The thing is, some churches have chosen to cancel Christmas Day services and only do a Christmas Eve service.  Some are only doing Christmas Day services.  Others are doing both.  I personally do not see the problem with any of these options, as long as each church is staying faithful in their context.

Here is the problem though.  If you are in group that is cancelling Christmas Day services (which is what our church has decided to do this year), more than likely you are seeing some huge backlash, and not from those that would attend your church on Christmas Day.  You are seeing it from other Christians that attend somewhere else. 

I have seen numerous posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and different blogs completely condemning any church that has decided to cancel services on Christmas Day.  My question is why? 

Let me give you some examples of what I have seen starting with the most recent one that pushed me to the point I felt the need to write this.  Scrolling through Facebook, I came across a status from someone that read, “Can someone tell me why you would not have church services on Christmas Day?”  The person who wrote this goes to a rather large church (compared to where I serve) that has multiple staff and plenty of volunteers (although you can never have enough volunteers, believe me).  So I get where they are coming from.  They can spread the responsibilities of a Christmas Eve and Christmas Day service around to the point they are not putting everything on a handful of people.

But it is not just large churches with multiple staff and volunteers that I am seeing this from.  Another post on Facebook from someone connected to a smaller congregation wrote,

“I have seen FB posts of churches cancelling Sunday’s Christmas Service. At the (name of the church), we understand that Christmas can be one of the loneliest times of the year. This is why we will proudly have worship service Sunday at 10am, and our Christmas Eve candlelight service is Saturday at 6pm. You don’t have to be alone this Christmas! So spend this Christmas with the Family of God near you.“

The comments on this were even worse, with one person stating that if this was happening at their church they would be demanding the leadership to change it, and if that did not happen, they would be looking for another church home.

Jon Acuff posted about this very topic yesterday on Twitter, and let me tell you, the lashing that he received was unbelievable.  He simply tweeted, “Shoutout to churches cancelling services this Sunday. We pastor’s kids often leave faith because the church stole our Christmas every year.” 

jon-acuff

I have been reading some of the responses that he has received since posting this, and cannot believe the lack of grace that is being thrown his way.  But Acuff has responded and tried to explain to most of the graceless posts toward him.  He explains he understands Christmas does not occur on Sunday every year, but what he is getting at is there are so many services the week of Christmas (from Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, normal Sunday, and then maybe even different Christmas parties/events that ministers are expected to be at) that ministry families often do not get to enjoy Christmas together.

But I do not want to just focus on ministers and their families here.  This is about the church as a whole.  My question on the whole issue is to ask, what is best for your local context.  There is freedom in Christianity, and to blast another Christian or body of believers because they choose to cancel a service one day is an issue to me.  In fact, it is showing a lack of love and unity toward one another that gives those outside of the Church in general another reason not to refuse Jesus.  In fact, Jon Acuff tweeted this after all the backlash he received, “Dear Christians, whenever atheists say we’re unloving, this is why.  We do this to each other…”, then posted this on his Instagram page.

jon-acuff-1

My point is this: there are many different contexts, and many different reasons to have services Sunday or to cancel services on Sunday.  By all means, if you are in a context to have services on Sunday, that is great.  Have them.  There is nothing wrong with that at all.  But do not condemn a church that may not be in that kind of context.  If having a service is more important to you then anything else, then it could be that your services have become an idol, and you are worshiping them instead of our Savior anyway.

Let me explain why we are not having a Christmas Day service where I serve.  We are doing our first ever Christmas Even service.  This is something I have been proposing for the last couple of years, and finally we have other people on board.  The problem is that Christmas Eve is on a Saturday, and the same people that are leading in the Christmas Eve service would be the same ones that would have to turn around and lead the next morning if we were to hold a Sunday service.  You see, we are a small congregation, in which a small handful of people are involved in everything.  That is just the context we are in, and it would not be good stewardship of our time and talents to force back to back services less than 18 hours apart. 

On top of that, when it was proposed to our leadership team to do a Christmas Eve service, it was made clear that it would be one or the other, because our faith family would not do both.  So in our context it would be one or the other.  We felt that we could reach out into the community better on Christmas Eve than Christmas morning.  I also did not want to hurt the enthusiasm of some of our volunteers who really pushed to have a Christmas Eve service.  Even though I had proposed it the last couple of years, it was some of our volunteers, without my prompting, that came to the leadership and asked to do Christmas Eve this year.  That means they are owning it, and when someone owns something, it makes it that much more special.

I was ready and willing to do a Sunday Christmas Day service this year.  That was my plan all along.  But when I have volunteers that are willing to plan and organize a Christmas Eve service designed to really try and reach our community, I will get behind that 100% of the time.  That led to the decision to cancel Sunday morning, because we just do not have the people resources to do both so closely together. 

Here is the great thing about it though.  There are other churches in our community that are having Christmas Day services.  If it is that important to you, then I have no doubt that you can find a service to attend that day.  You do not have to lash out at someone else.  In fact, my wife and I are going to a ministry friend’s church an hour away from where we live to attend their Sunday service.  If it is important, you will find a way.  Otherwise, you are being critical for the sake of being critical

Christian Living, Encouragement, Ministry

One of My Worst Habits Is…

I have a bad habit that I have been aware of for a good portion of my life.  As much as I have attempted to get rid of this bad habit, it creeps back into my life from time to time, and it has the the potential to be a really bad thing.  On the surface it might not actually seem like such a bad thing, but let me explain.  You see, I struggle with being a “people pleaser”. 

What I mean by that is I sometimes try to keep everyone happy instead of speaking truth when I know it needs to be spoken.  This can really become a problem when you are dealing with someone that clearly has a wrong idea of theology.  I do not like conflict, so instead of speaking up and trying to correct someone when they have something wrong, I go quiet. 

Yes, you could argue there is nothing wrong doing that by quoting Romans 12:18, in which Paul writes, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”  This verse seems to say that if it is at all possible on our end, to live at peace.  If you look at just that verse, then you could make the argument trying to avoid conflict at all costs is what we are called to do.  This is where context is of utmost importance.  Paul writes this also in Romans 12:14-21;

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

When you look at it in context, Paul is writing about not taking revenge on someone that has done you wrong.  It really has nothing to do with correcting someone who has a wrong idea about what scripture says.  In fact, I believe that it can be argued Paul would actually instruct us to correct those fellow Christians that seem to be in the wrong.  The trick is to do so in love.  Paul writes to Timothy in II Timothy 3:16-7, “16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 

So scripture is to be used to teach, correct, train, and even rebuke.  This is why my self-assessment of being a “people pleaser” in regards to shutting down and not speaking up when I notice someone using an incorrect assessment of scripture is dangerous, especially in my calling as a preacher.  Solomon even wrote in Proverbs 28:23, “Whoever rebukes a person will in the end gain favor rather than one who has a flattering tongue.”

What has started me thinking about all of this recently?  I was in a situation recently in which this exact scenario happened.  Let me explain.  My wife and I were talking about the weather forecast in our area with some other people a few days ago.  In a span of three or four days, the high temperature was supposed to go from the high 70’s to the mid 30’s and then back up into the 50’s.  It never fails when the temperatures change so drastically like that, I end up sick.  In fact, the temperature has been fluctuating (not as drastically) for about a month, and I have been battling a head cold most of that time.

So we were discussing the upcoming weather changes, and I stated that I knew I was probably going to get even sicker because of it.  That is when one of the people that we were talking to brought in some incorrect understandings of scripture.

This person told me that I should never speak negatively (there is something to say about being positive, however, stating that I know I am probably going to get sick is being honest, not negative).  Then they said that “the devil hears everything we say, not everything we think, but he hears everything we say”.  That would mean that Satan is omnipresent, if he hears everything that everyone says everywhere.  I do not know anywhere in scripture that backs up this claim.  You could make the argument that maybe it is not Satan, but either him or one of his fallen angels that hears what we say, but even that may be a stretch.

That was not the worst part of what was said.  The person then went on to quote a partial verse from Isaiah 53:5, “…by His stripes we are healed”, arguing that by quoting that and believing it, I would not get a cold because of the changing temperatures.  I believe with all my heart in the healing power of Jesus, but nowhere in scripture does it tell us that if we are followers of Christ we will never be sick.  Isaiah 53 is not about our physical health.  It is a prophecy about Jesus going to the cross, taking our place and paying the debt for our sin.  In other words, by His stripes, our sin is healed.  It means nothing about our physical health.

Instead of saying any of this, I just got quiet and wanted the conversation to be over.  A little later, while talking to my wife about how incorrect this understanding of scripture was, I made a statement that I chose to not say anything at the time “so I did not destroy” the person that said it.  In other words, I did not say anything because I did not want to make the other person feel bad. 

But this situation has been rolling around in my mind since.  I have not been able to get away from it.  The question I have been battling is this; was choosing to stay silent in an effort to keep from hurting this person’s feelings really the best course of action?  Yes, I stayed out of a potential confrontation, but this person still has an incorrect understanding of scripture.  Would they have listened to me and realized the error?  Maybe, maybe not.  But since I did not try to use scripture to correct and teach, they still have this incorrect understanding of scripture.

I want to make one thing clear.  I am not saying that I have a full grasp of everything scripture teaches, or I am always correct in my understanding of scripture.  But in this case, I know Isaiah 53 is talking about Jesus healing our sin, not physical ailments. 

I write all of this for two reasons.  First, specifically for me in an effort to call myself out about being a “people pleaser”.  In no way do I want to become the type of person who is cruel and wants to offend people with what I say or how I say it.  But I need to stop worrying about potentially hurting someone’s feelings when I am presented the opportunity to use scripture to teach someone.  Second, I want to challenge you to do the same.  We have to stop worrying about offending someone when we are speaking the truth.  People’s eternities could be on the line.  We need to take Paul’s advice from II Timothy, and teach, correct, train, and rebuke, using scripture to do so.

Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, Encouragement, Life, Newspaper

It is All About The Cross

We are in one of my favorite times of the year right now.  We are about a week away from Christmas Day as you read this.  There is not very much about this season that I do not like.  Yes, I could do without much of the commercialism that is going on, but in all reality, as long as the main reason for the Christmas season is remembered, then I can deal even with that.

That main reason I mentioned above, let me be very clear what I mean by that.  Christmas is the time of year that we set aside specifically to remember the birth of Jesus Christ.  I personally love the way that John recorded the event in John 1.  In verses 1-5 and 14, John wrote this; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

While Matthew and Luke record the story in a little more of a concrete way, there is just something poetic about the way that John chose to record Jesus’ birth.  While December 25 is more than likely not the actual date of Jesus’ birth, it is the time that we have set aside to remember that each year. 

December 25 is on a Sunday this year, and we have decided to do something a little different at Central Christian Church.  Instead of a service on Christmas morning, we have chosen to do a service on Saturday, December 24, at 5:30 P.M., and we would like to invite you all to attend.  This will be our first Christmas Eve service, at least to my knowledge, and we could not be more excited about it.  It will be a simple, candlelight service, but I can promise you one great thing.  We will proclaim the main reason for our celebration of Christmas each year, and we will do it proudly. 

christmas-eve-invite-final

Jesus chose to leave God the Father, and to take on flesh.  He did this by being born of the virgin Mary, and living a human life.  Why would He do this?  You see, we live in a broken world;  a broken world due to our sin that separates us from God.  Jesus came to live the perfect, sinless life, and to go to the cross to pay a debt that we could never pay ourselves.  You see, Christmas is not about snow.  It is not about presents.  It is not about spending time with family.  It is not really even about a baby born in a manger.  All of those things are good, but you see, Christmas is all about the cross!

Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, God, Life, Newspaper

Death, Loss, and Devastation: How Do We Respond

I want to take a moment of your time to brag a little bit about the people in my home state of Tennessee.  First, I am not the first or the last that will make this observation, but none the less I feel that I need to make it.  You see, this past week a devastating fire burned a good portion of Gatlinburg, TN and the National forest around it.  At least seven people are confirmed dead in the fire, and thousands have lost everything, just a month before Christmas.  Hundreds of homes, cabins, and businesses have been completely burned to the ground.

But Tennesseans are resilient people.  Fire departments from at least and hour and a half drive all converged on the blaze, attempting to salvage as much as they could.  Not only that, there has been zero reports of rioting or looting in the area.  Instead, there are reports of generosity toward those who lost everything that is almost unfathomable.  Food, clothing, and supply drives popped up all over the state, and generated so much that Sevier County, where Gatlinburg is located, had to ask that no new drives be started for the time being because they could not find anywhere else to store the donations.

Dolly Parton, who is originally from there, has made a very generous offer to any that lost everything.  I will not go into detail here, but the figures she has offered simply amaze me.  I have always been proud to be from East Tennessee, and the south.  The response to this devastation, however, has only deepened that pride in where I am from.  It is great to see people come together in a time of need, and do whatever they can to help one another out, instead of only looking out for themselves. 

I have a theory as to why this has been the case during this tragedy, and I would like to share that with you today.  East Tennessee is part of what is known as the “Bible Belt”, and while a lot of people in this country are trying to distance themselves from Christianity (that is a whole other article for another time), Christian-living seems to still be alive and well there.  Even those that do not claim to follow Jesus, or the Bible seem to live by some of the principles found there. 

Seeing what is taking place in Gatlinburg and the surrounding areas where this devastation has taken place reminds me of something that we can read in the book of Acts, chapter 2:44-45, which states; “44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”  They took care of one another, just like the people in Tennessee are taking care of one another right now. 

We need to learn to look out for other people, and not just ourselves.  May we all take this to heart, and seek to help one another when needs arise.

Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, Life, Uncategorized

“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (Dec. ’16 Newsletter)

“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” or so the beloved Christmas song goes.  And for many that is a very true statement.  I love this time of year, although, I am still having to get used to the summer like temperatures (at least for this TN guy) around the holidays.  It is hard to believe that this will be Kelley and I’s third Christmas season here in NM, but it is. 

While I say that I love this time of year, and I do agree with the song I quoted above, I also realize that this is not always the most wonderful time of the year for many.  For those that do not have family to spend time with, or that have family too far away to get to spend time with, it can be a depressing time of year as well.  Believe me, I get that so much, because as much as I love this time of year, it is hard knowing that Kelley and I will not be spending it with our families either in OH or TN.

Then there are those that just recently lost a loved one.  Holidays are really tough in those situations.  In fact, I was reminded of that talking to Kell’s mom on Thanksgiving Day.  Her father passed away in December of 2014, and Kell’s mom was telling us that she spent almost two hours on the phone with her mom on Thanksgiving Day, because the holiday season is still tough on her not having her husband.

Another reminder of how tough this season can be sometimes is going on right now as I type these words.  I am not sure how many of you are following what is going on in my home state, but Gatlinburg, TN and surrounding areas have been severely damaged by some out of control forest fires.  In fact, just a couple of nights ago, Gatlinburg residents faced a mandatory evacuation, while hundreds of homes, cabins, and business were burned to the ground.  My family is all safe (they live about an hour and a half from Gatlinburg), but there are thousands that have lost everything, right before Christmas.  The town is a home away from home for so many that I know from East TN and OH as well.  I have spent many weekends in the Gatlinburg area in my youth as well.  To say the situation is devastating is an understatement.

I write all of the above for one simple reason.  While I love this time of year, it is a hard time of year for many.  We are reminded of family members that are gone now, and miss the family members and friends that we are not able to spend time with during the holidays. 

Whether this is “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” for you, or it is a difficult reminder of those that are either gone too soon or too far away to spend time with, I want to remind you of one simple truth that we should all hold on to: This is the time of year that we set aside to celebrate the coming of the greatest gift this world has ever seen, and that is the birth of Jesus Christ!

While this is probably not the real date of His birth, this is when we choose to celebrate and remember that Jesus sat aside His glory and divinity in Heaven, and chose to become human.  John records this in a beautiful way in John 1:14; “14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  Whether you are hurting or celebrating during this season, hold on to the fact that Jesus came, and He came for you and me!

Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Life, Ministry, Newspaper

Do You Trust God? (11-19)

Thanksgiving is upon us.  Where has this year gone?  It simply amazes me that we are just over a month away from ending the 2016 calendar year.  As we get into the Thanksgiving holiday, we are all reminded to take a step back and reflect on what we have to be thankful for.  And we have so much, even if life is not going exactly the way that we thought it would this year.

This has not been the most straight-forward of years for me.  There have been things that have happened along the way that I did not see coming.  Such is life, though.  It started off with my mom falling and shattering her shoulder in three places.  On top of that, she lives in East Tennessee, so I was not even able to be there to help her. 

My wife was working for a family here in town, and really enjoying her job.  The family, however, ended up moving out of state due to a job promotion, and due to some other unforeseen circumstances, she has not been able to find another job yet. 

Most recently, my wife’s grandmother was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer, and passed away so quickly that we were not able to make it to Ohio until two weeks after she passed away.  That does not even start to cover things not going the way we thought in regards to friends and church members that we know. 

I am sure you can relate, because life usually does not go the way we think it should or the way we want it to.  It just does not work that way.  So, what do we have to be thankful for?  For me, I have a job that I love, a family that loves me, good friends, and most importantly, Jesus who went to the cross to die for me, even when I did not (and still do not) deserve it.  He went there for you as well!  That should be the best news you have ever received in your life, and something that you can be thankful for, even in the hard times of life.

There is a story found in Acts 16:1-10 that I believe can show us what can happen when we trust God and are thankful for Him, even when life does not go as planned.  I will let you read it on your own if you want, but basically it is a story about a man named Paul.  Paul is going around, preaching about Jesus, and desperately wants to go preach the gospel in the province of Asia.  He is laser focused on the idea of going to Asia to preach, yet every time he tries, the story says that he is prevented by the Holy Spirit. 

If you read about Paul, one of the things you will see is that once he sets his mind to something, he is going to do everything he can to get it done.  When he is prevented from doing something he feels strongly about, he does not take it very well.  This would be the case with being prevented from entering Asia as well.  But Paul trusts God, and is thankful for His guidance. 

How do I know that he trusts God?  Paul is able to sleep that night, right after being prevented again from going to Asia.  In his sleep, he has a dream that basically calls Paul and his companions to go to Macedonia instead of Asia to preach.  And that is exactly what he does.

It was not where he saw his life going, but he did not lose sleep over it either.  He trusted God, and was grateful for God’s guidance in his life.  So what about you?  Does anything keep you up at night, or are you able to trust God and be thankful, even when life is not what you think it should be?

Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Life, Newspaper

Legacy (11-5-16)

Legacy.  I have been thinking about that term a lot recently.  We all have a legacy of some kind that is passed along through our families, or those that we spend the most amount of time with.  In a lot of ways, we get to help build those legacies and pass them along to the generations that are going to follow us as well.  Just in case you are not with me on the term legacy, Merriam-Webster.com defines legacy as “something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past”.  There are other definitions as well, but this is the one that I have been thinking long and hard about.

Why?  I am a first generation preacher on my side of the family.  As far as I know, I am the first person to make preaching my career path in my family.  My family, however, has a long legacy of being Christ-followers.  More than that has me thinking about legacy though.  My wife’s grandmother just passed away a few weeks ago.  Last week, we were finally able to travel to Ohio to spend time with her family, and a lot of memories were shared.  It was a very quick trip, but well worth it. 

While we were there, we got to talking about the fact that my wife’s dad, brother, and I have all preached from the same stage at their church in Georgetown, OH.  I new that, but being there and seeing it again, it was a great reminder.  I love that we have all had the opportunity to preach God’s word from that stage.  I was sharing that with my mother-in-law, and that is when the real idea of legacy hit me.  Their side of the family has a lot of preachers.  I already knew that, but she told me that they had been counting.  Including me marrying into the family, and my brother-in-law who is currently in Bible College, we have 20 active preachers in the family.

I was blown away by that number.  That is crazy, but that is awesome.  And my wife’s grandmother is a huge part of that legacy.  Her and her husband helped start a church early in their lives, in their living room.  That church today has thousands of people that attend weekend services.  While I have a legacy of being faithful to Jesus in my side of the family, I married into a legacy of preachers and missionaries as well!

But that is not where I want it to end.  I want to live my life in such a way that I can help build that legacy and pass it to the next generation.  Not to make a name for me, but to exalt the name of Jesus Christ throughout this world.  And I have a challenge for you as well.  Find your legacy.  If you find that you have a legacy that you want to change, do so. 

Hebrews 12:1-3 states, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

You see, we have a legacy of those that went before us.  They set the example of how to live as a Christ follower.  But we also have Jesus himself.  This passage also tells us how to continue that legacy so that we can pass it along to those that follow us.  And when the world makes us lose our focus, just remember, “let us fix our eyes on Jesus”.  What legacy do you want to pass along to the next generation?

Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Ministry

Ministers, Guard Yourself

I wrote an article a while ago (click here for that article) challenging my ministry friends to make sure they carve out time to listen to other sermons for their own growth.  Not growth in preaching skills or anything like that.  Their personal spiritual growth.  In my weekly schedule, I try to make time each week for at least a couple of different sermons from preachers that I learn a lot from.  Although I am not perfect at doing this, I try to make an effort to keep this a part of my weekly schedule.

Something took place late last week that reminded me more than ever that we, as Christian leaders, preachers, and ministers, have got to guard our hearts and focus on our relationship with Jesus.  This whole thing is still a little raw, but I want to pass this warning on to you.  All of us, as Christ followers have to work on our relationship, but those that are in the ministry are sometimes more susceptible to not guarding ourselves. 

It is easy to forget to work on your own relationship with Jesus when you are busy with preparing lessons, sermons, worship sets, etc.  The week is gone before you realize that you never cracked the Bible for your own study, or spent any time in prayer.  I get it.  I struggle with this more than I would like to admit.  And it has got to change.  If you do not struggle with that, please guard yourself, because that will be an area that the enemy attacks at some pint. 

So what event took place last week that makes me want to warn all of you, especially those in ministry?  A man that I respected, that had 25+ years in ministry, that was the first worship minister that I remember (from when I was in 4th grade), a man that helped me form who I am in my relationship with Jesus in the way I thought he led his life, went on stage at a Freedom From Religion event in Pittsburgh, PA and announced to the world that he is an atheist, and has been one since 2008.  He did not leave full time ministry, however, until at least 2013. 

To say I was shocked is an understatement.  Sitting in worship with him, seeing him lead worship, participating in board meetings with him, I had no clue anything like this was going on in his life.  I am still processing, and in reality, going through some of the stages of grief.

For my purposes here, I do not want to go into the details of why this man did what he did.  I want to use this as a warning to all of us.  Guard your heart.  Guard your relationship with Jesus.  Do not put your job, even if it is ministry, above your personal relationship with Jesus.  Paul challenges us in Romans 12 to not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed.  Let me just quote it here.  In Romans 12:1,2, Paul states, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

When we lose sight of our relationship with Jesus, and trying to be transformed into His image, the world begins to transform us into what it wants us to be.  For those in ministry, it can be even harder if we do not guard ourselves more vigilantly.  Let’s rally around each other, and help each other to not lose sight that our relationship with God has to be strong before we can try to help others with their relationships.  As the author of Hebrews tells us, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…”

Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, Encouragement, Newspaper

Make It Real (10-22-16)

A few months ago, I wrote about preparing to be a sponsor at a week of church camp at Guadalupe Christian Camp.  The week went extremely well, as did the whole summer schedule there.  In fact, I would say that none of us involved could have expected it to go any better than it did.  God moved in the lives of all those involved. 

As we enter the fall, with only a two and a half months left in 2016 (which is unbelievable), my attention is turning to another camp event.  I have the privilege of getting to plan Guadalupe Christian Camp’s MidWinter retreat.  This event is for Jr. and Sr. High students (6th-12th Grades), and is held on January 13th through January 15th with the option for each group to stay through lunch on the 16th if they do not have to be back for school (it’s also Martin Luther King Jr. weekend).

As I am starting to get a framework put together for this weekend, the theme of “Make it Real” has me thinking a lot about how we make our faith real in our own lives.  Mark 8 records a conversation between Jesus and His disciples.  Jesus has asked them who the people say He is. They give Him some of the titles and names that others are saying about Jesus.  And then Jesus turns the conversation.  Mark records Jesus’ next question in verse 29 this way, “‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’” (emphasis mine).

I have talked to way too many people throughout my life that say they are a Christian, but when I ask about how they are living out their faith, they cannot really give me an answer.  Once you do a little more digging, what you discover is they say they are a Christian (or more commonly they identify themselves with a denomination, Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, etc.) because that is where their family members go to church.  It is how they were raised, and they identify themselves that way.  But when it comes down to if it is real in their lives, their faith and the way they live their life in regards to following Jesus has never become real to them.

Before you think I am being harsh, let me say that I was in the same position early in my life as well.  That is why Jesus’ question is so important.  He does not say to us individually, “who do your parents or grandparents say I am”.  He looks straight at us and asks, “Who do you say I am.”  How we answer that question has a huge impact in how we live our lives as well.  Making our faith in Christ real, or our own, is sometimes a difficult process, but it is a necessary process if we are going to truly follow Him.  So my challenge for you today is simply this: Make it Real!

Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Life

How Much Time Do You Have?

It seems that every time we turn around anymore, there is more news of tragedy.  Whether it be a school shooting, bad storm or flooding, a fire, an accident resulting in an untimely death, illness, or anything else you can think of.  Life is not something that we should be taking for granted.

I was reminded of this even more over the weekend.  As an avid sports fan, I try to stay up on all the major sports news happening across our country, and in some sports even all around the world.  There are so many ways to do this, and getting sports news updated on my phone is one of the ways that I stay up to date with what is happening in the athletic world. 

Baseball is one of the sports that I like to follow, and have been a fan of the Atlanta Braves for as long as I can remember.  Over the weekend, tragedy struck in the MLB.  A pitcher for the Miami Marlins, Jose Fernandez, who was only 24 years old, was killed in a boating accident Sunday morning.  The Marlins just happened to be playing the Braves over the weekend, and because of the accident, the game on Sunday afternoon was rightfully cancelled. 

Over the last few days since his passing, the MLB and specific teams have been paying tribute to Fernandez, and mourning his loss.  Unexpected death is always something that is hard to understand and to deal with.  My thoughts and my prayers go out to his family and loved ones that are grieving over his death. 

The situation happening in Miami, while tragic, has got me thinking.  I saw a quote somewhere this week, and honestly cannot remember where, but I want to share it with you.  It said something along the lines of “you are only one breath from eternity at any given moment”.  It is so true.  None of us knows what is going to happen later today, tomorrow, or next week.  We never know how much time we have left on this earth.

In Philippians 2:9-11, Paul writes, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  In other words, one way or the other, everyone is going to acknowledge Jesus as Lord.  You never know how much time you have left.  Have you acknowledged Jesus as Lord of your life and are trying to live for Him?  If not, you might want to give it some serious thought.  “You’re only one breath from eternity at any given moment”, and you want to make the acknowledgement of who Jesus is before you get to eternity.  If you have questions, I would love to talk with you. 

Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak