the reluctant leader

Three Controversial But Important Topics We Must Address

Pastors and ministers have countless topics to address and an unending stream questions to answer, but none are as important in 2012 as these:

1. The Exclusivity of Christ - Are all religions equal? Are there many paths to God? Or is Jesus the only way to God as stated in John 14:6? ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.")

2. The Authority of Scripture - Is the Bible trustworthy, or flawed? Is the Bible authoritative, or merely suggestive?

3. The Sanctity of Marriage - Does marriage still matter? Is marriage exclusively between one man and one woman? Is it ok to redefine marriage to fit in with contemporary cultural values?

These questions will not go away. If we don't address them, someone else will.

What is the Source of Corruption and Evil in Society?

Our modern victim culture teaches that people are corrupt because society is corrupt. In other words, people are products of their surroundings. Good societies produce good people. Evil societies produce evil people. We are not at fault. We are basically good people in bad environments. We are victims.

While that idea makes us feel good about ourselves, it is the polar opposite of what God's word teaches. Consider Genesis 6.

Verse 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence (Why was the earth corrupt and violent? Read the next verse...)

Verse 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, FOR ALL THE PEOPLE on earth HAD CORRUPTED THEIR WAYS.

Did you get that? The earth became corrupt because the "people had corrupted their ways." Societies are corrupted by corrupt people, not the other way around. We are not victims of corruption; we are perpetrators of corruption. We are the root cause.

If God wanted to put an instant end to evil and corruption in the world all He would have to do is kill every man, woman, boy and girl. Get rid of the source and the corruption problem is solved.

We are the reason for all corruption.

We are also the reason He came to earth in human flesh, lived a sinless life, died a sacrificial death, rose from the grave and now offers the free gift of eternal life.

Thank God for the gospel that frees us from the temporal chains and eternal consequences of our own corruption.

What to Look for in a Potential Leader

I am often asked by pastors, church planters and missionaries: "What should I look for in potential leaders?" Simple. The starting line for potential leaders is HUNGER & HUMILITY.

HUNGER. Spiritual hunger. I'm not interested in someone who is spiritually fat and overfed, but someone who is hungry for more, hungry to learn.

HUMILITY. I can't teach someone who already knows it all. I can't mentor an expert. Potential leaders know they need to know more. The best leaders are learners, not experts. Humility is a non-negotiable leadership foundation.

It does not matter how gifted, connected or credentialed a person is, it he is not hungry and humble, he is not a potential leader. 

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Bonus leadership thought from twitter: LEADERSHIP. Need more leaders? You already have them. You simply need to equip & empower them - then validate & celebrate them.

 

 

SERMON PREVIEW: Why Can't We Just Have Sex?

A couple of days ago I had the following text conversation with Pastor Ariel Marquez:

ARIEL: "Can you preach at Victory-Alabang this weekend?"

ME: "You trying to avoid the topic?"

ARIEL: "No, I want somebody with more authority on the subject to preach."

This weekend concludes Victory's 3 week LOVE LIFE series: week 1-Love; week 2-Marriage; week 3-Sex. Ariel wanted me to do week 3, and since I couldn't think of an excuse, I said ok. Here are some of my notes...

Everywhere we turn somebody is talking about sex - locker rooms, movies, prime time TV, pop music, hip hop music, country music... We hear about sex everywhere EXCEPT the church & the home - the two places where sex needs to be discussed.This weekend in 80 worship services in fifteen Metro Manila venues, Victory pastors will be talking about sex from 1Thess4:1-8.

My sermon will start with a 45 second edited version of the trailer for a movie called No Strings Attached. NOTE: I did not see the movie, will not see the movie, do not endorse the movie, do not encourage anyone to see the movie - but i did see the trailer and it succinctly captured the exact opposite of everything the Bible teaches about Love, Marriage and Sex. According to the trailer, the No Strings Attached movie is about two people who want sex without commitment and without marriage. At the end of the trailer the Natalie Portman character shouts to the Ashton Kutcher character, "WHY CAN'T WE JUST HAVE SEX?" Apparently he wants a relationship that goes beyond sex, but she does not.

Eighty sermons all around Metro Manila will attempt to answer Natalie's important question: WHY CAN'T WE JUST HAVE SEX?  In providing a biblical answer to Natalie's question, we will bust some commonly accepted myths...

       the sex leads to marriage myth

       the sex will make him/her love me myth

       the sex produces intimacy myth

       the safe sex exists outside of marriage myth

       the I need to try before i buy myth

       the everybody is doing it myth

Our text,  1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 will answer the question WHY CAN'T WE JUST HAVE SEX? Eight verses, eight words, eight reasons we can't JUST have sex. 

Verse 1 - Because we want to PLEASE God - "we instructed you how to live in order to please God" 

Verse 2 - Because God's word is our final AUTHORITY - "instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus"  - in verse 1 Paul uses relational words "asks & urges"  but in verse 2 he uses authoritative military words indicating that God does not give suggestions - he commands.

Verse 3.  Because God's will demands that we AVOID sexual immorality - "It is God's will that you be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality" - The Bible does not teach us to avoid sex, but to avoid sexual immorality.

VERSE 4 - Beacuse we are supposed to LEARN self control - "each of you should learn to control his own body"

Verse 5 - Because LUST  is always wrong - "not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God" - When it comes to moral standards, we are supposed to be different, not the same as the culture.  

Verse 6 - Because sexual immorality always WRONGS someone - "in this matter no one should wrong his brother" - Sexual immorality is not merely a victimless sin between two consenting adults, on the contrary someone is always "wronged" - a spouse, a future spouse, a parent, a child...

Verse 7 - Because we are called to live HOLY  lives - "God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life"

Verse 8 - Because if we reject biblical moral boundaries we REJECT God - "he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God"

SUMMARY: Verse 1 gives instruction how to PLEASE GOD. Verse 8 gives instruction how to REJECT GOD. Pleasing God or rejecting God is based on how we deal with sexual immorality.

MINISTRY TIME:

1. Some of you have been wronged - FORGIVE

2. Some of you carry the weight of past sins - RECEIVE FORGIVENESS

3. Some intentionally live in sin - REPENT (TURN TO JESUS)

4. Some are trapped in sin - addicted - GET HELP TODAY

If I Do Nothing Else in 2011, I Will…

My friend Rice Broocks tweeted the following on January 1:

“Finish this sentence, ‘If I do nothing else in 2011 I’m going to...’”

Not sure how others completed that sentence, but here’s my response to Rice’s tweet: If I do nothing else in 2011, I’m going to HONOR GOD AND MAKE DISCIPLES.

I also hope to read more, study more, pray more, give more, exercise more, laugh more, sleep more (5 or 6 hrs just doesn’t cut it any more).

And, I want to eat less and complain less.

What about you? If you do nothing else, what do you want to do in 2011?

Chritsmas: Pagan or Christian?

Living in the Philippines for the past twenty-six years, we've gotten used to celebrating Christmas wearing havaianas and board shorts. White Christmas? As long as the white part is a beach. 

Now we are in the States. And while Christmas might not be white, it will be freezing. No more havaianas and board shorts.

The cold is not our only adjustment to American Chritsmas. In the new hyper-sensitive, super-tolerant, politically correct America we are supposed to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Chritsmas." Apparently pronouncing the letters C, H, R, I, S and T when followed by "-mas" rather than a "cuss" word is offensive to some.

And it's not just the secularists who don't like Christmas. Some of my fellow pastors do not participate in  Christmas traditions because of the ungldly pagan roots. My anti-Christmas religious friends say:

- Christmas trees are bad because evergreen trees were used in pagan Druid ceremonies

- December 25 was not really when Jesus was born, rather it was choosen to Christianize the pagan winter solstice celebration

- the whole modern celebration promotes materialism

All of the above and more may be true, but does that mean we should skip Christmas?

Could God possibly take something that was pagan and make it point to Christ? Isn't that exactly what the incarnation is all about? Isn't the real reason God came to earth in human flesh to redeem things that were pagan - like me and you?

Top 5 Life Lessons (for now)

After church in KL last Sunday, one of the Malaysian pastors asked me: "After so many years in ministry what is THE TOP LIFE LESSON you have learned?"

I can't remember how I answered that question on the spot, but I thought about it the rest of the day, and while I was unable to come up with one top life lesson, I did think of five:

1. Live a CHRIST-CENTERED life not church-centered life.

2. Our job is to MAKE DISCIPLES (build people) not build a church or ministry.

3. Priorities should be FAMILY FIRST then ministry.

4. BE GENEROUS all the time - especially to staff, missionaries and the poor.

5. FORGIVE everyone - especially friends, family and enemies.

 

It Is Finished!

Tweeted this thought this morning:

If someone paid off your mortgage, would you still pay the monthly payments? "Tetelestai" = It is finished = PAID IN FULL.

Got lots of re-tweets & comments, so I'm now blogging the idea...

The English phrase "It is finished" uttered by Jesus on the cross in John 19:30, is actually only one Greek word, "TETELESTAI" which 2000 years ago, was a common word used in commerce to indicate that a debt was fully paid - like a receipt proving you no longer owe your creditor.

Why did Jesus say IT IS FINISHED?
What did Jesus "finish" on the cross?
What debt did He pay?
What are the implications of having someone pay my debts?
How should I life, now that Jesus paid my debts?

That's the whole point of Good Friday & Easter.

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Christians & Muslims

I recently talked to a pastor from the Middle East about how to share the love of Christ with Muslims. Here’s what he said:

- Remember you dealing with real people - individuals who have the same dreams, desires, struggles, fears and insecurities as you.

- Ask lots of questions and listen.

- Don’t debate; don’t argue. Everyone loses in a theological argument.

- Focus on truth, not facts. Facts constantly change. Truth never changes, but truth changes people.

- Be real, not religious.

- Build bridges (relationships), not walls.

- Pray and expect the supernatural.

- Find common beliefs (see below)

Christian & Muslim Common Ground:
- Belief in one God – “Allah” in Arabic
- Belief in angels – both good and bad
- Belief in the revealed books of God
- Belief in prophets - including Adam, Abe, Moses, David & others
- Belief in divine judgment of human affairs
- Belief in life after death

Are We There Yet?

I've heard this quote a lot lately: “What got you here will not get you there.” It's the title of a book by Marshall Goldsmith. I read the cover, but not the book. 
 
If what got us here will not get us there, then we need to ask and answer the following 5 questions:
 
1. Where is here?
 
2. What got us here?

3. Is here a good place?
 
4. Where is there?
 
5. What will get us there?
 
Had a lively discussion with some Victory-Manila pastors this morning, answering these 5 questions.  Time well spent. Try it with your team.

Because of today's honest “round table” discussion, I think we will get there, together. And, we kinds figured out where there is.
 
What are your answers to the 5?