Is it too much to ask for a preacher (and I use that term very loosely) to read and (oh heavens!!!) study the scripture that he is going to teach speak from? Is it too much to suggest that taking a single word out of a passage and preaching on it alone is taking the entire passage out of context?

We have visited far too many churches in the area where the preacher must have gotten his ministry degree by wearing a checkered suit and selling used cars at the local buy here, pay here lot. The curse of the bible belt is that there is very little Bible taught. We might be the buckle of it, but the entire belt is falling apart because it’s more interested in looking good and less interested in doing its job. Very little doctrine is taught, and very little is said of the Savior. What is served up in its place is a sour and curdled plate of milky morality. There is no meat! No potatoes! Nothing to grow the soul in the goodness of Christ. Only rotted baby food.

3For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

2 Timothy 4:3-5

Fortunately this is not the case everywhere. There are those who teach God’s Word with reverence and humility. There are pastors who preach Jesus and Him alone as the answer for all that ails us. There are congregations that engage with people where they are and Christians who keep others accountable. There are churches where being like Christ is more important than being like its other members.

There are churches that I walk out of knowing that God is at work and the people desire Jesus. Those churches are few and far between, and are not the norm. But so is the way of the cross…

13 ”Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easyt that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Matthew 7:13-14

Taken on October 16, 2010 at a corn maze and pumpkin patch in Kilgore, TX.

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Took these pictures at the local park. The point of going there this time was to get some pictures together for a single cloned photo. Lt me kno wat you think, and chec out the rest of the gallery.

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http://dwPortraits.com

photo credit: jalalspages

Sometimes it is really hard to understand why God does what He does. But He is still God in every situation and everything He does is good, not matter how it empacts our hearts or lives.

Matt Chandler has been huge influence in my life toward a passionate love of Jesus and he is going through some really tough stuff at the moment. He had part of a malignant brain tumor removed (but the doctors couldn’t get it all), and no one knows what will come of it at this point. No one wants to say it, but he could die. He could die as a result of the tumor or in surgery or he could die peacfully in his sleep when he’s 83 after a lifetime of passionate service to the gospel.

But no one knows, and a malignant brain tumor is about as serious as it gets.  Through this situation I have cried my tears for me, for him, for his family, and for the church. And I caught myself asking God why. Why would He do this? Why would he take a man who at 35 has done more for the gospel than most people will do in their entire lives?

But that is before I was rebuked by the testimoy of Matt, himself, that he gave in a video before his surgery. I have never seen Christ so honored in the midst of such dire circumstances. If you haven’t seen the video, you really need to: you can watch it at http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/blog/pastors/?p=363.

He also posted a blog post on the morning of the surgery that made me weep all day.  You can read it here: http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/blog/pastors/?p=357.

The Dallas Morning News did a story on it and I think God was honored through it.

So please, pray for Matt and his family and the church. And pray for me, it is hard on me as well. But more than anything pray that Christ would be honored through all of this and that the gospel would shine brightly.

Christ is all.

photo credit: eye2eye

We’ve been looking for a church closer to home for the past few weeks. Not that we don’t love The Village church, but that the distance makes it hard to get involved.

I hate looking for a new church. It reminds me of car shopping. I feel like every time I walk into a new church I have to sit through another pitch on why this church is better than the others. This church has bounce houses for kids, and this other one has a coffee shop for young adults, and the third one does hymns to a contemporary beat for the older people.

I know what I’m looking for, but I’m not exactly sure how to explain that to others (but I’ll know it when I see it), but like walking into a Dodge dealership wanting a Ford F150, everyone seems to think that they know what I need better than I do.

The websites and the welcome material are well thought out and flashy (not to mention most of the church buildings themselves), and the people greeters seem ready to pounce on the new family.

I don’t like being the new family. I don’t like my children being sold to either. But more than anything, I don’t need someone to try to sell me glitz, glamour, and good feelings in place of the Gospel.

You know I ran across an old box of letters
While I was bagging up some clothes for Goodwill
But you Know I had to laugh at the same old struggles
That plagued me then are plaguing me still
I know the road is long from the ground to glory
But a boy can hope he’s getting some place
But you see, I’m running from the very clothes I’m wearing
And dressed like this I’m fit for the chase

‘Cause no, there is none righteous
Not one who understands
There is none who seek God
No not one, I said no not one

So I am thankful that I’m incapable
Of doing any good on my own

‘Cause we’re all stillborn and dead in our transgressions
We’re shackled up to the sin we hold so dear
So what part can I play in the work of redemption
I can’t refuse, I cannot add a thing

‘Cause I am just like Lazarus and I can hear your voice
I stand and rub my eyes and walk to You
Because I have no choice

I am thankful that I’m incapable
Of doing any good on my own
I’m so thankful that I’m incapable
Of doing any good on my own

‘Cause by grace I have been saved
Through faith that’s not my own
It is a gift of God and not by works
Lest anyone should boast

That can make it hard to perservere, but my faith isn’t in a sinner’s ability to be holy and carry on the fight, but in a God who promises “that he who began a good work in [me] will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Phil 1:6

Growing up I hated taking family pictures, but continued maturity (and progressive sanctification), have mostly beat that out of me. But it seems that I passed that bad attitude on to Rachael, who was a pain the entire shoot. But alas, we did manage to get some good shots of her, and we all ended up having a good time. 

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