Friday, April 11, 2014

A Lesson From Disney




Last week my wife, Janae, and I took our 2 boys, Joshua(4) & Reid(1), to Disneyworld and we had an amazing time.  We know a number of people who had been in the past, but this was the first time for us as a family.  Based on what we had been told we had very high expectations in terms of guest service (especially in terms of doing anything possible to accommodate guests when needs/concerns/problems arise), the attitude of employees while doing their job, and a general desire of all employees to create an enjoyable stay for all guests.  We did the full service stay: we stayed in a Disney resort, used the meal plan, and went to all the parks; so, during our stay we came into direct contact with at least a couple hundred employees and cast members, probably even more than that.  Of all the hundreds of people we came into contact with during the week we only had two people that didn’t meet up with the expectations we had for our experience.  To only have 2 sub-par encounters out of so many excellent encounters is a testament to the way Disney trains and values their employees.  It is also testament to the level of belief in the product that 99.9% of Disney employees seem to have and actually, even more than all of that, it is a testament to the level of ownership that exists in the hearts of the employees of this monster company known as Disney…and its all for a Mouse?

The reason I am writing about our experience in Disneyworld is because as I was driving the long drive home to Northeast Georgia I couldn’t help but wonder: “If people will believe, buy-in, and take ownership in a company with that level of commitment day-in and day-out…with such a tiny number of sub-par employees (who probably don’t last very long anyway)…for what all comes down to a paycheck; why do we as Christians find it so hard to give that kind of commitment to our Lord and God and the Mission and Vision of His Church?  Why is it that the Church and Christians as a whole have acquired a reputation that turns people away, that is labeled as hypocritical, and in some cases that even repulses people?  If people at Disney who are simply working for a paycheck can have that kind of belief and ownership in a temporary company that will one day cease to exist; why is it that those of us who believe ourselves to be saved from an eternity of pain and torment in hell and saved to an eternity in heaven with the one who sacrificed himself on our behalf can’t have at least that same level of belief and ownership?  Truthfully, we should be outdoing Disney!!  We have something far greater than wishing upon a star!!  We don’t have to wish for our dreams to come true; we know THE REAL TRUTH!!  If we believe in Jesus as Savior and are continually being transformed in all areas of our lives to be more like Him our eternity is set.  We don’t need to wish, we know our eternity is secure!! 

Please don’t misunderstand; I loved every minute of my time at Disneyworld with my family.  They do an amazing job there.  Our boys had a BLAST and Janae and I had a BLAST watching them.  We will go back…we will return to that magical land in central Florida.  But my prayer is that all of us who call ourselves Christians can come to realize that if we are to fulfill the mission given to us by God we need to buy-in, we need to believe, we need to take OWNERSHIP that as Christians we exist to “lead others to a life-changing connection with Jesus” and “we are a church that is on a relentless pursuit of people where they are.” 

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Come to your senses!!!! Use your CASE!!!!


Like many of you reading this…I have a “Smart” Phone.  The store that I bought this phone from has a protection plan that I pay for monthly and if anything ever goes wrong no matter what the problem or whose fault it is I can take my phone back to them and they will order a new one at no cost to me (technically it is a refurbished phone, but I can’t tell the difference).  Also like many of you, I bought a case for this phone to protect it from drops, children, myself, and anything else that might happen.  The brand name of this case is “Ballistic”.  With a name like that you would assume it can take just about anything and it can short of being submerged in water for more than a few seconds.  Now as great as this case is, it turns my thin little phone into a brick I carry around in my shorts.  But as long as I have the case on my phone nothing should happen to it.  However, just in case something does go wrong I have the protection plan to back that up. 

Back in the fall I was getting ready to go with the 12th Man Ministry at the church where I’m on staff in order to serve our local high school’s football team and I decided to take the case off my phone so I could move a little better on the sidelines without this brick flopping around in my cargo pocket.  You can probably figure out where this is going.  While there, I dropped the phone and cracked the screen.  After that, over the next few months I intermittently used the case and eventually the cracking got worse from more drops and the phone started to act like it had been dropped a lot; so, I took it to the store and I get a new one.  I neglected to put the case on the new one and the very next day I dropped the phone one time in a parking lot and by the end of the day my screen was completely black from the liquid crystal oozing all over the inside of the screen.  Long story short I have replaced the phone a total of 3 times now; once because of defect or something, but mostly because I wouldn’t use the case. 

Some of you are probably thinking, “You’re an idiot,” and maybe I am, but this morning I became okay with that because this morning it hit me; isn’t this how most of us Christians live out our faith?  We have the protection plan for our eternity in place called GRACE; this grace wipes away all our sins (past, present, and future) and assures us a new body and eternal life with God in heaven.  Whether you realize it or not, as Christians, we also have a “ballistic” case which is made up of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Bible, and the Holy Church, which when used properly can help us live a life that is as sin free as possible and it also keeps us from experiencing too much damage when we do sin.   

The problem is we often neglect to use the case properly…or AT ALL for that matter.  But we still have the protection plan right?  That’s all we need right?  WRONG!!!  Without the case in tact we will be less likely to resist temptation, we will fall into sin more and more frequently, and we will not be able to withstand the damage sustained from the falls because it will destroy our lives and our ability to serve our function which is to glorify the name of God.

         Paul in Romans chapter 6 talks about dying to sin because of our commitment to a new life in Christ.  I know it is more than a simple scripture reference or a few verses, but I think this larger passage is appropriate.  Here is Romans 6:1-18:
1 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Just because we have the protection plan of Grace doesn’t give us the right to go on sinning.  We must have changed lives, a new focus; living for the glory of God and not ourselves.  If there is no change in our lives then apparently there was no change of heart and that would lead me to say, you have not fully become a servant of Christ.  You may have intended to, but you have not began to be obedient and that is a dangerous place to be.  James 2:17 says “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

The “ballistic” case, otherwise known as, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Bible, and the Holy Church is required equipment for an active Christian life.  We MUST use it properly to protect our ability to function as ambassadors of salvation to the world in the name of Jesus Christ.

  A few weeks ago I got my most recent replacement phone… this morning I finally came to my senses and put the case on the phone.  As I walked into the office this morning feeling the weight of the brick back in my pocket…God gave me the inspiration to write this post and give you this encouragement…


COME TO YOUR SENSES!!!!! USE THE CASE!!!!!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Being Offended vs. Casting Judgement


This article is about a subject that is very real for me and I’m guessing to some extent will be very real for many who read it.  Too often, we as Christians are extremely quick to cast judgment on people based on what WE believe to be truth and holiness.  We forget that many people out there do not believe what we believe.  Many people out there have not accepted that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior of the world and so what they see as good and acceptable is not the same as what we (Christians) see as good and acceptable. 

Though we often forget or don’t realize that we are doing this, I do believe this is where the problem starts concerning the topic of “being offended verses casting judgment.”  When we go from being offended (which is not a bad thing on its own) to casting judgment on the offender (which is not our job) we have now placed ourselves on the throne of God, because only he has the right to judge all humanity. 

A few recent events have really spurred me to write this; specifically and most recently the Grammy’s.  As I set there watching the popular award’s show I could not help but get upset, angry, even disgusted at many of the things I saw.  I felt like my personal belief system was being publicly trashed and insulted by people who didn’t even know me.  So, the next thing that happened was I started mentally cutting the people on the T.V. down.  I mentally started judging them, calling them sinners, heathens; the list could go on.  As I set there silently getting more and more angry, and honestly more and more ugly towards them with my thoughts and inner monologue; it occurred to me that I should not be thinking this way.  It occurred to me that it wasn’t my place to cast judgment on these people; partly because I don’t know them and can’t confront them about their actions, but the main reason is because the majority of them do not hold to the same beliefs that I do. 

The Apostle Paul talks in Romans and other places about loving instead of judging; specifically, when those you feel like judging have not chosen to follow Jesus.  The only one who has the right to judge is the one who has been sinned against, namely GOD.  As a follower, I can be offended and I think I have the right to be offended at the actions of the world and those who do not follow my King, BUT I DO NOT have the right to cast judgment on those who don’t claim my King as their own.

Now on the other hand, if I see or hear about a fellow Christian doing things or saying things that are sinful, that are outside the lifestyle of a follower of Jesus, then Biblically it is my duty to confront, rebuke, disciple, and redeem my brother or possibly find someone who can do so more appropriately than I…and do it all “IN LOVE.”  Now even then, even with our brothers and sisters in Christ, I think we should refrain from passing judgment upon them, because we do not hold that power, but confronting and redeeming is commanded of us by Jesus. 

In conclusion I’ll say this: We cannot expect those who do not follow Jesus to act the way we think they should and we cannot hold them accountable to a standard they have not accepted as truth, BUT we can be offended and with love pray for them and try to be Christ to them.  We can seek to be agents of reconciliation as Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 5.  We are ambassadors of Love for the name and glory of Jesus Christ and so we should try to think, speak, and act with love as the driver.   Fellow Christians, do not Judge; rather, let the offense you feel be healed by love through the Holy Spirit. Forgive the offense, because it was your offenses that were forgiven first by Jesus on the Cross.  Then be compelled by that same love to be Christ to the one who offended you.