the reluctant leader

Racism and Revival

I've spent most of my adult life as a white guy in a brown world - an American missionary in the Philippines. After twenty-four years living in Manila, I now split time between Manila and Nashville. One of the more shocking experiences as I have re-engaged American church culture is that so many churches are still basically all white or all black or all Latino. And that's not a good thing.

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of participating in the Lausanne Strategic Working Group in Orlando. I learned a lot from the forty brilliant strategists, theologians and missiologists in the room. The meeting ended with an evaluation question: "what was missing that could have made this meeting more effective?" My answer required no deep thought or prayer. Seemed obvious to me that the missing ingredient was color. A room full of middle-aged highly educated white men (plus one Nigerian, three Latinos, an Indian and a Lebanese) can create good strategy, but add more diversity and the ideas go from good to great.

"The color line was washed away by the blood." That's how Frank Bartleman described the early days of the Azuza Street revival a century ago.

Sadly, it didn't take long for good religious people to re-draw color lines.

But not everyone was drawing lines. During one of the most racist periods of American history (1890-1925) most early Pentecostal churches were bold exceptions to the culture of racism and segregation.

In 1897, several years before the Azusa revival, the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) became the first legally chartered Pentecostal church in America. COGIC founder CH Mason grew up hearing about the vibrant faith of southern slaves from his parents who had recently been freed when he was born. He would build COGIC on the foundation of prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit and racial unity.

For many years COGIC had as many white ministers as black. (Read that sentence again, and remember we are talking about one of the most racially divided periods in American history.) This unity and diversity effectively ended in 1914 when most of the white COGIC pastors broke off to establish the Assembly of God. Undaunted, Mason continued to work on both sides of the racial divide, often speaking at AG conferences for many years.

My favorite Mason quote is as true today as 100 years ago: "The church is like the eye. It has a little black in it and a little white in it, and without both, we cannot see."

Without ethnic diversity, the church cannot see. That explains a lot about the blindness in the church today.

If we want correct vision and fresh revival, maybe we should look at the Azusa Street playbook and embrace unity with diversity.

Can I Get A Witness?

Can't get the idea of being a witness off my mind today. Here's why:

- At church yesterday (Bethel Franklin) the band played one of those "Can-I-Get-A-Witness-Shout-Amen" gospel songs.

- This morning I opened my Purple Book to page 113 and answered questions based on Acts 1:8 that asked, "What is a witness? What does it mean to be Christ's witness? Where were Christ's followers to be witnesses?"

- Then I clicked the sports page and read about Tim Tebow's latest football exploits and how his teammates admit he is a 24/7 witness.

A witness is someone who tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

1. THE TRUTH. A long time ago a powerful, but misguided political leader asked Jesus, "What is truth?" (John 18:38) Good question. Jesus pre-answered that question in John 14, "I am the way and the truth and the life." Do you talk about the Truth, not just the facts, but the Person? 

2. THE WHOLE TRUTH. It is common for pastors and church people to edit unpopular truth out of their sermons and conversations, but a true witness will un-apologetically tell the WHOLE truth, and...

3. NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH. Nothing added. No matter how popular and relevant the ad-on might be. Even if Oprah's latest guru of the month endorses it. A witness tells nothing but the truth.

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be MY WITNESSES in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." --Jesus in Acts 1:8

Can HE get a witness - one who will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

 

 

Sometimes You Have to Break the (religious) Rules

While driving to the office this morning, both local sports radio talk shows were talking about Tim Tebow's technical problems. (Note to non-American readers: Tim Tebow is an American football player. American football is a game where the ball is thrown and caught with the hands, and should not be confused with international football where the ball is kicked with the foot.) It didn't matter that Tebow's team won the game. The talking heads only talked about the problem: Tebow's passing accuracy.

When it comes to problems, everyone has an expert opinion. Just listen to talk radio, water cooler conversations and presidential debates. Yea, we love to talk about the problem. The topic doesn't matter - politics, poverty, parenting or passing fundamentals - experts about the problem abound. But unfortunately most have little to say about the solution.

One of the most hopeless problems in New Testamant times was leprosy. It had no cure and therefore left its victims in a hopeless situation. Jewish religious and cultural tradition taught those with leprosy (and other infectious skin diseases) to SHOUT THE PROBLEM. 

“Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!’ As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp. (Leviticus 13:45,46)

Lepers were required to "live outside the camp" in isolation from the rest of society. And, if they ever happened to get near another human, they were supposed to shout their problem: "UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!"

Most church people have that "shout the problem" thing down pat. We're good at identifying and shouting about our problems. The same way lepers of old shouted "UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!" we love to talk about our problems: "Bad marriage! Bad marriage! Lousy job! Lousy job! Rebellious kids! Rebellious kids! Boring sermon! Boring Sermon!"

Jesus encountered lepers several times. They all had hopeless cases. There was no cure for their problem. They were rejected and lonely, left to beg. And when they had human encounters, they were supposed to shout their problem, "UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!" 

But twice Jesus encountered lepers who broke the rules. They did the exact opposite of what their religious tradition expected of them. Rather than shouting the problem, they shouted the ANSWER!

"Lord, if you are willing, YOU CAN MAKE ME CLEAN." -LUKE 5:12

"Jesus, Master, have pity on us." -Luke 17:13

These two shouted the answer, and these are the ones Jesus healed. What about you, do you shout your problem or do you shout God's answer?

 

NOTE: This blog is a summary/preview of my Thanksgiving sermon that will be preached this weekend at Bethel Franklin as part of our "Living by Faith" series. 

 

 

 

"I Wish I Was A Better Father"

A couple of weeks ago while reading the latest on-line sports news, I clicked on a link to Dennis Rodman's NBA Hall of Fame acceptance speech. That 12 minute speech answered a lot of questions about the enigmatic basketball star. After viewing the video twice, I tweeted that Rodman's speech was "sad, heart-breaking & refreshingly honest." Here's a quote from speech that many can relate to:

"I have one regret: I wish I was a better father." --Dennis Rodman

Inspired by Rodman's gut-wrenching honesty and by Psalm 127, last Sunday I preached a sermon about NO REGRET PARENTING.

My basic premise: if we see children the right way, we will treat them the right way. And seeing them the right way is seeing them as the Bible describes them. The last 3 verses in Psalm 127 give us a proper, but uncommon, picture of how we should view children.

1. HERITAGE. "sons are a heritage from the Lord" (Ps 127:3) That word "heritage" comes from the same root word as inheritance - something valuable given to us by another. 

I am a watch collector. While preaching Sunday I was wearing my most valuable watch. Not my most expensive (because i didn't pay for it), but definitely my most valuable. It was a 1959 stainless steel Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust. You can find a similar pre-owned Rolex Datejust on eBay for $3000. But I would not take $30,000 for mine. Why? Because of WHO gave it to me. That watch was made in 1959, the same year I was born. My Dad wore it every day of my life. He wore it to work and to coach my Little League games. He wore it when we went hunting and fishing. He wore it to my wedding. He left it to me when he died nine years ago. Maybe it is not that valuable to anyone else, but to me it is priceless - because my dad gave it to me as an inheritance. Kids are like that, times 1000. They are a "HERITAGE FROM THE LORD." Valuable. Priceless. Irreplaceable. Given to us by God.

2. REWARD. "...children are a reward from Him" (Ps 127:3) Do you see your kids as rewards, or as accidents? Did your parents see you as a reward, or as a distraction? 

3. ARROWS. "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in ones youth" (Ps 127: 4) Arrows are point & shoot, not remotely guided smart bombs. If we point arrows (kids) in the right direction, they will hit the target. But after pointing them in the right direction, we must let go, take our hands off. Some parents never take their hands off, so their kids never hit the target. Some parents take their hands off too soon. Other parents obsess over trivial details rather than direction. When we realize children are lilke arrows, we will be concerned with DIRECTION not with PERFECTION. 

I don't know how you see your kids, or how your parents saw you. But I do know that while we will never be perfect parents with perfect kids, we can avoid major regret if we learn to see kids from a bible perspective.

You can listen to this & other sermons on the Bethel-Franklin podcast page

 

 

SERMON PREVIEW: "Today in Paradise"

Preaching part 3 of our Bethel-Franklin CROSS TALK (what Jesus said on the cross) series tomorrow.

TEXT. Luke 23:43 "Today you will be with me in paradise."

CONTEXT. Luke 23:39-49

2 KEY WORDS:

    "today" - criminal was probably surprised his request was granted so fast

    "paradise" - 3 times in NT (Lk 23, 1Cor12, Rev2), picture of heaven

SUMMARY:

    3 men - 3 crosses

    2 guilty men - 1 innocent man (according to Pilot, Herod, criminal #2 & centurion)

    1 guilty man mocks - 1 guilty man asks for help

    3 bodies die - 3 souls live

    3 bodies stay on cross - 3 souls cross from earth to eternity

    1 soul goes immediately to paradise with Jesus - the other does not

END:

    vs 45 "curtain of the temple was torn in two"

    vs 49 "all those who KNEW him, including women who had FOLLOWED him... STOOD AT A DISTANCE"

    some who KNOW him & FOLLOWED him still stand at a DISTANCE

    the curtain is torn, time to come near

 

 

Remember the Poor

Too busy to blog lately, but I'm re-posting another Christmas blog from the arcives. This was originally posted Dec 22, 2006.

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Last night I made a Christmas memory I hope I never forget. I went with my 18 and 16 year old sons to a Christmas party for about 400 "at risk youth" and their families. It was sponsored by Nashville's Youth Life Learning Center and included kids and staff from all five Life Centers in Nashville.

After the meal, it was gift time. Youth Life Learning Center director, Pastor James Lowe, was better than Santa in the gift giving department. I wish you could have seen the smiles on the faces of these kids when they were given brand new bicycles, skate boards and other gifts. One little boy even received a flat screen TV. When I asked James how he decided what gift to give to each child, James told me he gave them exactly what they asked for. When I asked how he paid for all these gifts, he pointed to the people serving the food and said, "Bethel church members."

These kids went home with much more than nice gifts and a great meal. Pastor James told them one of the best Christmas stories I have ever heard, with Jesus in His rightful place right in the center. I am so impressed with the Youth Life Learning Center staff and volunteers who selflessly serve "the least" as if they were serving Jesus Himself. The best part was knowing that this was not just a one-time-shot, but there is ongoing ministry to these kids, their families and their communities through the Life Center staff and Bethel volunteers.

Last night with the Life Center kids made me think of one my favorite Christmas traditions back in Manila. For as long as I can remember, our church, Victory, has received a Christmas Eve offering for the poor. In past years our Christmas Eve offering has helped orphans, typhoon victims, tsunami victims, and others in need. This year the whole offering will help students through our Life Scholarship fund. Please give as generously as you can this Christmas Eve. I am proud of the fact that the Christmas Eve offering is usually our largest offering of the year, and 100% goes to the needy.

Proverbs 28:27 He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.