Kairos Moments

God of the Individual

  More thoughts from "The Building of the Church"..."

  "God delights in the work of shaping and guiding the individual. Science tells us that life began upon our planet in jellylike, undifferentiated masses...."Measure your success as preachers not by the size of your congregation, which may after all be only a huge ecclesiastial jellyfish, drifting aimlessly and uselessly through the social sea, but by the stature and girth of the manhood which you develop in individual believers, by the brotherliness and serviceableness and Christlikeness of the separate disciples whom you build into the Christian brotherhood."~C.E. Jefferson

  God himself is an individualist. He knew "you" before you were ever formed in the womb of your mother. He flung every star into place within the massive sky, yet He knows every star by name. He doesn't just gaze at the beautiful beaches that he created, He has counted every granule of sand. If you believe that we are created in the image of God, and believe the Jesus set the stage on how we are to love and minister to each other, then why do we pass by so many lives from day to day, not taking the time to be used of God in another life besides our own? Jesus is the Savior of the world, but He is also "your" personal Lord and Savior. 

  Take the time for one today, for One takes time for you.

If Only For One...

 If there is one book that I would recommend to pastors, preachers, or teachers, it would be the book that I have been reading by C.E. Jefferson called, "The Building of the Church." I have shared excerpts from the book recently and I will continue to do so. Here is another page from one of the greatest books I have read....

  A sharp distinction ought to be made between a church and an audience. It is to be regretted that we have come to rank churches by the size of their nominial membership, and to judge preachers by the number of persons who listen to their sermons. A superficial man is consequently tempted to work, not for a church, but for an audience. An audience, however, is not worth working for. An audience is a set of unrelated people drawn together by a short-lived attraction, an agglomeration of individuals finding themselves together for a brief time. It is a fortuitous concourse of human atoms, scattering as soon as a certain performance is ended. It ia a pile of leaves to be blown away by the wind, a handful of sand lacking consistency and cohesion, a number of human filings drawn into position by a pulpit magnet, and which will drop away as soon as the magnet is removed. An audience is a crowd, a church is a family. An audience is a collection, a church is an organism. An audience is a heap of stones, a church is a temple. Preachers are ordained, not to attract an audience, but to build a church. Coarse and ambitious and worldly men, if richly gifted, can draw audiences. Only a disciple of the Lord can build a church.~C.E. Jefferson

 Remember that Jefferson wrote this in 1910, almost one hundred years ago. Sounds like he is speaking of today's times, huh? This book has taught me a lot about myself and the responsibility of the call. I hope that it does the same for each.

My Bigman

 

  I have just a moment this morning as I am waiting for the rest of the family to awake. I have my son's baseball game to go to in a few hours and love spending that time with him. When I watch him it is as if I am him on that field all over again. But instead of having that competitive spirit as I use too, I just enjoy the joy of the game, the great weather, and time that I know is slipping through my hands. It's a beautiful weekend. I will make the most of it with the beautiful family that God has blessed me with.

Lost In The Crowds

 In some form or fashion, I have had discussions with friends and co-workers lately that circle around relationships. It is amazing how so many things stem from relationships with others and how they are similar in many ways. Relationships between spouses are similar from person to person. Parents to children are very similar. Relationships you have with relatives tend to gravitate to a lesser connection than the ones you have with mere co-workers or friends. Fellowships with meaningful people are needed for a life to grow in any rewarding way. The book that I am reading now, "The Building of The Church," is going into detail of the fellowship that is need between believers in the body of Christ. I won't take away from C.E. Jefferson's words by elaborating on it, I will simply give you his words...

 A man's love for his church depends in large measure upon the relationship established between himself and his fellow-members. Fellowship is of the essence of church membership, and to cultivate and enrich this fellowship is the primary task of the Christian preacher. A sharp distinction ought to be made between a church and an audience. It is to be regretted that we have come to rank churches by the size of their nominal membership, and to judge preachers by the number of persons who listen to their sermons. A superficial man is consequently tempted to work, not for the church, but an audience. An audience, however, is not worth working for. An audience is a set of unrelated people drawn together by a short-lived attraction, an agglomeration of individuals finding themselves together for a brief time. It is a fortuitous concourse of human atoms, scattered as soon as a certain performance is ended. It is a pile of leaves to be blown away by the wind, a handful of sand lacking consistency and cohesion, a number of human filings drawn into position by a pulpit magnet, and which will drop away as soon as the magnet is removed. An audience is a crowed, a church is a family. An audience is a gathering, a church is a fellowship. An audience is a collection, a church is an organism. An audience is a heap of stones, a church is a temple. Preachers are ordained, not to attract an audience, but to build a church. Course and ambitious and worldly men, if richly gifted, can draw audiences. Only a disciple of the Lord can build a church.

  My heart goes out to Jefferson. It is amazing still how these words that were penned in 1910 are still relevant today. I am learning much from this book. It is becoming one of my favorites of all times.

Impressions Of The Master Printer

 My pastor gave me a book today that he wanted me to read. I am only 15 pages into the book and it is blowing me away! It begins with a discussion in the first chapter of the relationship between the pastor and the church body. Focusing more on the role and attitude of pastoring, chapter one nails in 15 pages what I have experienced within thirteen years of leadership and pastoring. Whether it be my own attitude as pastoring, or friends of my own that hold a pastor position within the body of Christ, I have never heard someone hit the nail on the head like the first chapter of this book has, AND....it was written in 1910 by an author named C.E. Jefferson. So without me adding anymore to what Jefferson is saying, I will let you see what he has spoken and is still resounding in truth today.

  Notes of chapter 1 from the book "The Building Of The Church".....

 It is sad to see a man turning away from the ministry because he does not understand the church, but it is tragic to see one entering the ministry with a wrong attitude to the church. Young ministers sometimes look upon the church as a necessary evil, an inherited encumbrance, a sort of device by which preachers are handicapped in their movements and held back from largest usefulness. Men of this type are eager to get at what they call the world. Their desire is to reconstruct the social order. They want to do things on a broad scale. To deal with so small and insignificant a body as a church seems parochial and belittling. All they want is a pulpit, a place in which to stand and thunder forth their message. They eye church officials with suspicion. They would rather work alone. They are sorry they must stay in a church building. A theatre would suit them better. As for pastoral visitation, they abhor it. It eats up time which ought to be given to the proclamation of ideas and the correction of evils. To be sure, a church has its uses. It can furnish the minister's salary and pay the sexton, but, outside of this, its usefulness is problematic.  When a minister of this stripe goes into a parish the first man he visits is the printer. He believes in the printer's ink. Printer's ink will let the people know he is there. He does not know that a living church is better for advertising purposes than all the printing presses in the town. He scatters cards to reach the masses. He has yet to learn that the preacher best reaches the masses who knows best how to reach his church. If it is a blunder to ignore the church in an effort to reach the masses, it is a more serious blunder to slight the church in one's direct dealings with it. Some ministers take hold of a church as though it were a lump of putty or a piece of wood to be shaped at their will. They do not give it credit for having a soul of its own. Blessed is the preacher who realizes that he is only a sojourner as all his fathers were. He stands in the line of a long succession. Other men have labored and he is entering into their labors. It is not for him to start out as though the world were just beginning. The church was there before he was born. It will be there after he is dead.

 I am going to let these last words finish the thoughts of the day. My prayer is to let these words continue to mold me into what the Lord desires...The preacher is not a clerical Robinson Crusoe on a desert island. The shore is covered with human tracks. If he is a man of sense he will take note of them, and observe the direction in which men have been moving. The first thing in the town for a preacher to take notice of is his church. Let him begin at once to study it, to strive to understand it, to come into sympathy with it, to plan for it, to render himself a part of it, and in this way he will come to love it. When he once loves it, he will possess the first requisite of a successful preacher.

  Pastor Robbie, I know that God has ordained such a time as this for these words to penetrate my heart and soul. Thank you for your obedience and your willingness to listen to the voice of God's Holy Spirit.

Words and Stones

 I am encouraged this morning to encourage others today with a word from last Saturday night. Shoot, that's my passion. But I want to encourage you with a little something I spoke about while sitting in my living room talking to my wife and kids on the Saturday before Easter. One particular moment during Jesus' arrest, flogging, crucifixion, and burial was the moment when Jesus' body had been resting in the tomb,surely not even chilled yet in the earth, and the chief priest and Pharisees gathered with Pilate to say this, "Sir, we remember, while he was still alive, how that deceiver said, "After three days I will rise.' "Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and saying to the people, 'He has risen from the dead." So the deception will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how." So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. 

  Have you ever been kicked when you were down? I mean, it's bad enough to go through something, but for others to keep jabbing at you is just wrong. Have you ever had someone keep talking about you, calling you names, after their dirty deed was done and over with? It's almost if they are rolling stones in front of your beaten down life to shatter all hopes to rise again. This moment in time, Jesus being in the tomb, the Pharisees running their mouths, shows that hope can live in the coldest of places. Hope can move away the heaviest of stones that leave you feeling trapped in isolation. There is hope today, and that hope is found in the resurrected life of Jesus.

  Today, through the power of His resurrection, you shall overcome!  

The Power of Touch

It has only been a couple of years since my Father passed away, but I can still feel his touch in my heart. His hands were strong, but loving. The other day I was driving down the road with my eight year old son, Malachi. The radio was playing, windows were down, and it was a beautiful spring day. Every few minutes I would reach over and rub his ol' head or pat him on the knee. It brought back memories of riding down the road with Daddy. I was the kid then, receiving the father's pat.  I am a very compassionate person. I have been known to overwhelm my wife with affection, but I cannot help it. I have what my wife calls the Davis pat, where when I love on them I naturally give a pat on the back. It's been captured in family videos, and God forbid you get the Davis family together...whole lot of patting going on. As Malachi and I journeyed down the road the other day, something happen that took me back to me and my Daddy. I had my hand rested on Malachi's knee as we were driving down the road, and suddenly Malachi put his hand on top of mine and begins to study my hand. He kept it there forever it seemed, looking at my hand without saying a word. I just watched as I was taken back. In my mind it was me all over again with my Daddy, studying his hand. 

David wrote about the hand of God in Psalm 18:35 saying this, "You have given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great." I do believe that we are to teach our children about life and the ways of the Lord. There is a lifetime of things to learn and teach, but sometimes there are things that we learn by simply sitting in the presence of each other. My father may have not shown me some things during important times in my childhood, but there was something understood without a word being spoken. Holding his hand gave me something that he alone could not put into words. I miss holding your hand Daddy. What I would give for a big hug from you. But the memories of hugging you and holding your hand, feeling your pat, are strong, and if I think on those times with you, I can feel your hand. I miss your hand. So until I hold your hand again, I have mine in the Father's. His hand will lead my back to yours one day.   

 

You Title This Post

  It's four am this morning. There's a thunderstorm taking place just outside my window and a cool breeze is entering in over my writing desk. I shouldn't be up before six, but a thought that has been on my mind from yesterday has me pondering too early. So I went downstairs, punched the coffee pot that was preset to go off later, and came back upstairs to write through these early morning feelings.

  Instead of starting with the thoughts that have hung with me from yesterday, I will begin with the same issue that Jesus was cornered with during His life here on earth. The scene takes place in Matthew 20:20-28, and it reads in such a way, "...the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom." But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those whom it is prepared by My Father." And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. Jesus went on to say, "...whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant, and whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave-"just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 After the previous paragraph, the thunderstorm has turned into a light show and an early alarm clock I'm sure for the neighbors around me. Going back to what brought me here early this morning, these thoughts that went off before my alarmclock, are firing inside like the lightning of the morning sky. The question of "Why?" Why must mankind struggle against each other to be number one? You and I have heard that competition is healthy. It helps one get stronger and grow individually. Yes, the stronger ones of the litter will rise to the top like cream, but does that mean that the rest sink to the bottom or are thrown out like dung? I will give you a good example, I was a state champion baseball pitcher throughout my childhood. I rarely missed a game and never sat on the bench. If I was not pitching, due to so many hours one could pitch during a certain period, I was playing shortstop. Through my years, I would see the kids that sat on the bench and had minimal playing time. I have always been the compassionate one, ok, a big baby, when it comesto loving others. Though I had more than enough playtime on the field, saw enough action to play back memories as an old man, my heart still went out to those that watched from the bench behind the fence. I see the men of my day trying to live out their success or failures as a child through the young ball players in little league today. As I catch myself yelling like an idiot over the fence along with the rest of the dads as two teams battle it out, my eyes are drawn to the ones that sit in the dugout as if they were in Lo debar. I won't go into the teaching of a town called Lo debar, but it was a place in Bible days where the ones that just didn't cut it were placed. 

  For example, you can see the same thing going on in the church today and all throughout the world. I have been in leadership meetings within the church I have attended and served at in years past, and leaders of our times have spoken about some of the weak or "needy" as burdensome. No, they may not appear to have reached the pinnacle as some celebrities have, but is that what Jesus is truly looking for?  Maybe Jesus is looking for some backseat drivers. Not those that tell you how to drive like I do my pretty wife when I am in the car with her, but those that drive without the shades on or the cool music. Those that have their hand on the wheel and no one sees. Maybe, just maybe, Jesus is looking for those that will teach, give their livesfor others, not be a self-promoter yet promote others in their place, and go the distance till there is nothing left to give...and then give more.

  Ok, I need to stop writing or I risk, or may have already, writing a post that others will not read because of length. So I leave you with these thoughts, Who are you holding the door open for? Where are you in the line? Are your eyes focused on the right thing, not on yourself? Can you, no, will you make a difference today without being recognized?

 Post titles for this post could be "Backseat Drivers," "Greater Than The One on the Mound,"Servants Behind the Fence," or one of your own creation. You tell me.      

A Prodigal Awakening

  How I love You...You are the One...You are the One...How I love You ...You are the One for me.  I was so lost...You showed the way, because You are the way...I was so lost, You showed the Way to me. I was lied to...But You told the truth, because You are the Truth...You showed the truth to me...And how I love You...You are the One...You are the One...and how I love you...You are the One for me oh, God....How I love You...there's a longing for You...And I was dieing...You gave me life...Because You are the life....I was dieing and You gave Your life for me...and how I love You...You are the One, God's risen Son, oh and how I love You...You gave your life for me...Hallelujah....You are the One for me....Hallelujah....Oh I sing out Hallelujah....Oh I sing out Hallelujah!

  That was a worship song that I am listening to today by Jason Upton from his Great River Road Cd. The song title is "You Are The One." Oh, how God is the only One worthy of receiving all of my praise. I am thinking of God's love, how it is unfailing and always present in our lives even when we are unaware. I am so thankful for God's pursuit after my life. He has truly sought after me far more than I have ever Him. He has patiently waited on me. He is there in the quiet, and there in the midst of celebration. He is forgiving and worthy of more than I could ever offer. But what I have, I surrender.

  I am in a place in my life where worship has been restored to me. Have you ever gone through a season in your life,maybe years like me, when worship from your heart was silent? It wasn't that I had forgotten how beautiful worshiping God can be, but I had allowed the frustrations of life to steal what God longed most from me. Huh, wonder who had his hand in that? Many of you have known me to have words of encouragement for you in the past and wondered why I have been quiet for several seasons. It's not that I am going to focus on the why, but the stretching of the wings as I awaken from a prodigal absence. I am safe in the arms of my Father. It feels so good to feel his loving presence in my life again. I had stepped away, He never moved. 

  I say these things today because I want you to know that I have awakened and found my way home, but the journey, or slumber has changed me. I welcome the waiting, waiting on His hand, His embrace, His voice that I have missed as I distanced myself . I have experienced a prodigal awakening...once again.   

I'm Only Getting Started!

 

  Well, last week cost more than I had imagined. It was my oldest daughter's junior prom and I do not want to mention what was spent on it. For an evening that passed as fast as it did, the only thing that returned an investment for me was the time spent taking pictures. I set up the backdrop and softboxes in the livingroom with the light metered just right so that all my wife had to do was pose and shoot. Of course I was at work, but I got to see the pictures later and hear how the evening went. The time spent for the photo shoot set up and breaking down was a good investment and can be looked at for years to come. Aren't I the blessed one to have two daughters.... I think that when the RIGHT guys comes along for my daughters that each will have to take out a loan to pay me for the raising of these two girls of mine. Care to share your investments?