Ramblings from a Hoodlum Pastor

"What's The Point of The Lord's Supper?"

God is doing amazing things at LifePoint Church.  As a result, we're blessed to have people from every conceivable religious background possible & many from no religious background at all.  So, we wanted to come out of the gate in 2009 by trying to answer the most important questions in life through a series called "What's The Point."  So far, we've talked about the point of life, the church, the Bible & baptism.  Tomorrow, we're going to put a bow on the series by talking about the point of The Lord's Supper.  If you're in the area, I hope you make every effort to join us tomorrow as we close out the service & the series by remembering the atoning sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross as we celebrate The Lord's Supper together.  If you not in this area, you can watch online next week & learn from our authority, The Word of God, why The Lord's Supper is a crucial sacrament of the Christian Church.  

WARNING: WATCH AT RISK TO YOUR OWN COMFORT ZONE

Disclaimer: Only watch this video if you're completely OK with gaining a new perspective on your money & stuff & what's really important.  I promise, after watching this video, your concern about our current economic crisis will seem foolish.  Amy asked me to watch it today and I'm not ashamed to admit that I had to walk away afterwords & cry like a baby.  So, watch at the risk of being shaken to you core.  REALLY...THIS IS NOT AN EASY VIDEO TO WATCH...If you're not ready to leave your comfort zone.    

Alter Calls

Every now & then I'm asked why we don't do "come forward invitations" at the end of our services.  For those of you who are new to our church & have no clue what I'm talking about, most churches ask people to "walk the aisle" at the end of the service & come down front to speak to a pastor & "receive" Jesus as their Lord & Savior or to join the church.  Those who want to "ask Jesus into their heart," are usually asked to simply pray a prayer & BANG, you're now a Christian.  We stopped doing these years ago because we take a commitment to Jesus very seriously & feel people need to know exactly what it means to follow Jesus.  So, sometimes people from a more traditional background begin to feel that churches who don't ask people to "walk the aisle" at the end of the service are watering down the gospel, when, in fact, the opposite is true. 

I received an email today from one of my great friends in Texas who copied this blog post from the pastor's blog of another great friend of mine.  I know this is a long post, but It' so good, I wanted to post it here so you'd have a better grip on why we do what we do.

"I realize a relatively young church in this community that says “we’re not doing it” may seem like we’re being rebellious and trendy.  Actually, what few who fight for the practice realize is that it’s not good ole fashioned evangelism but rather new-fangled man-centered gospel-diminishing malarky.  Here are a few thoughts to explain.

  1.  There are NO pictures of alter calls in our bibles....the practice has ZERO scriptural reference.  
  2.  There are NO pictures of alter calls in the Christian faith until the last 170 years.  Charles Finney didn’t start the practice, but he is largely responsible for perfecting it during the 2nd great awakening in the 1800’s.  Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, George Whitfield and Jonathon Edwards would have no idea what you were talking about were you to ask them about alter calls.  Nor would Peter or Paul or any of the other apostles.  
  3.  It has contributed to a new vocabulary of belief and faith that is also unbiblical.....like “making a decision for Christ” or “asking Jesus into your heart” or “giving your heart to Jesus.”  
  4.  It’s manipulative, especially toward the hurting or the young.  This is why we’re so cautious about camps for children.  We don’t want to send our children or youth to a camp where altar calls are practiced for fear that they may leave thinking they squared-up with God because they walked an aisle when in fact all they may have done is had an emotional experience.   
  5.  It leads to people mistaking a walk down an aisle for “walking in a manner worthily” or “walking in good works prepared in advance” or “abiding in Christ”.
  6.  It’s associated with a VERY high rate of apostasy......for people who simply had an emotional experience will not bear the fruit of one who has over time recognized their wretchedness before a Holy God and repented, placing faith/trust/hope in the finished work of Christ alone.  THIS understanding takes time to develop in the garden of the heart.  
  7.  It’s associated with a numerical emphasis that counts “decisions” in an effort to quantify “soul-winning” results.
  8.  The alter call IS NOT the mark of an evangelistic church as some might suggest.  In addition, the absence of this practice in a church IS NOT the mark of a church that is unburdened for the lost and uncaring about the souls of men.  Burden and engagement are born and lived out in relationships.  The evangelistic church seeks relationships and ultimately disciples....not simply “decisions.”  
  9.  The appeal to “come forward” supersedes or completely replaces an appeal to repent and believe.  
  10.  It redefines the mark of an evangelist as one who can best get ‘em down the aisle rather than one who is gifted by the Holy Spirit to expose the truth of the gospel in a life-altering way.  
  11.  Most of those professing to be Christians in our community, when asked how they know they’re Christians, will point back to a time when they walked an aisle and made a “decision.”  Biblically, assurance does not come from a “decision” or a trip down an aisle.  Looking back to recent sermons, consider John 8:31 where Jesus tells those who have “believed” if they’re true, then they’ll “abide in my word.”  Or even more recent, Romans 8:13 “if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”  These are just a couple of recent samples from the gobs of scripture that point to an engaging dailiness of faith and mortification of sin that are characteristic of true believers......THAT’S where assurance comes from.  
  12.  It confuses people regarding sacred space......the front of a sanctuary where the alter call leads is no more holy than your living room where you read your bible with your family or your bedroom where you snooze.  Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit now........not some special area in our church buildings.
  13.  It inappropriately takes the place of baptism as the public profession of faith. BAPTISM is the biblical public expression of our faith and is how we are identified with the people of God.
  14.  It limits evangelistic calls to the 11:50-12:05 holy minutes on Sunday mornings....at the lips of the beckoning preacher.....with the backdrop of verse after verse of Just as I Am........rather than the beckoning, witnessing work of the people of God EVERY day in EVERY place as a sweet aroma enjoying Christ out loud.  
  15.  It’s filled the membership roles of churches with unregenerate who think they’re reconciled with the Living God because they walked an aisle.  

I must confess, I’m pretty disgusted with the practice.......even as one....maybe especially as one who once called for “decisions” myself.  I repent from that man-centered effort to harvest new believers and I trust that God will be glorified and His sheep will be found in the daily and weekly out loud enjoyment of Christ by the People of God." 

  

Inaugural Prayer

A few years ago, I was blessed to receive an all-expense paid trip to "The Purpose Driven Church" conference at Saddleback Community Church in California.  I received this invitation because of the faithfulness of the people who make up LifePoint Church & the growth we had experienced.  So, Kyle & I packed up & flew to California for a wonderful week at a wonderful conference.  

Sadlleback was started several years ago by Rick Warren.  He not only invited but paid the way of several pastors all over the world because of his love for pastors & the local church.  God has given Him a world wide influence through his books, "The Purpose Driven Church" & "The Purpose Driven Life."  He's even been called, "America's Pastor."  Today, his influence got even larger as he delivered the inaugural prayer at the inauguration of Barack Obama.  

I received a Twitter from Mark Driscol about his blog post about Warren's prayer.  Go read it because it's a great post.  He also had the text the prayer posted on his blog.  It's incredible, although I don't think Dr. King or anyone else in heaven, except God The Father, God The Son & God The Holy Spirit, is watching what's happening here on earth.  Thought you might enjoy reading it as well. 

Almighty God, our Father:

Everything we see, and everything we can’t see, exists because of you alone.

It all comes from you, it all belongs to you, it all exists for your glory.

History is your story.

The Scripture tells us, “Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one.” And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.

Now today, we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time, we celebrate a hinge point of history with the inauguration of our first African-American president of the United States.

We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where a son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven.

Give to our new president, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity.

Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the Cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.

Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans—united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all.

When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you—forgive us.

When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone—forgive us.

When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve—forgive us.

And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes—even when we differ.

Help us to share, to serve, and to seek the common good of all.

May all people of good will today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy, and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet.

And may we never forget that one day, all nations--and all people--will stand accountable before you.

We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life—Yeshua, 'Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus—who taught us to pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

      

The Dream is Alive & Strong

This is one of the most historic weeks in history.  Today we celebrate the birthday of one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known, Martin Luther King.  King gave many speeches throughout his campaign to end racial inequality but, the most famous of them all was his "I Have a Dream" speech given on August 28, 1963 in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.  In this speech, King told us about his dream that America would live out it's creed that "All men are created equal."  Sadly, King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.  Even though King died 41 years ago, the heartbeat of his dream beats stronger than ever.    

There is no greater proof of Kings dream becoming a reality than the historic events that will take place tomorrow, January 20, 2009, as Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the first black president in the history fo the United States of America.  Although I'm not excited about his politics, I'm extremely excited about the fact that his election is proof that racial prejudice is getting further & further in our rear view mirror.  We still have much work to do, but I thank God for how far we've come. 

I'm so grateful for what God has done in LifePoint Church to break down those barriers.  He has sent some amazing black leaders into our church to help lead the way in LifePoint becoming a very multi-cultural church.  Then, a few years ago, He set our church aflame with a passion for the Glory & Supremacy of God among all the nations of the earth. 

One of the results of God's call for our church to become multi-cultural was His call for my family to adopt a little girl from China.  We brought Jadyn home in May of 2007 & she is the absolute joy of our lives.  This year, we will continue pursuing the call as we go to Ethiopia to bring home another daughter, Alyza Kate.  I'm definitely getting a double barrel shotgun. :)

I challenge each of you to spend a few moments today reflecting on the significance of King's dream & even dream new dreams about you can continue to break down barriers of separation.  My family & I will sit down this evening & watch the "I Have a Dream" speech in it's entirety.  Then, we will go to God's Word & talk about things we can do to continue to break down walls of separation.  What will you do? 

    

"Southern Baptist Fight Decline"

Yesterday's article in the Tennessean on the decline of the Southern Baptist Convention was very revealing.  For instance, the article revealed that we've lost 455,000 children in Sunday School in the last 36 years.  I'm no mathematician, but my trusty calculator tells me that's a loss of 12,638 (and some change) each year.  At the same time, our population has increased by 46%.  If that's not depressing enough, SBC baptisms have declined to the levels not seen since the 1950's.  Last year, more than 9000 churches reported 0 baptisms.  Do you see what I mean by REVEALING?

This is not why Jesus established the church.  I've heard people say the church is the only organization that exists for those who are not yet a part of it.  But, I think I disagree.  The church exists to be the Body of Christ for the GLORY OF GOD.  Now, living for the Glory of God always results in people seeing & falling in love with Jesus... it's the produce, not the purpose.  But, just like any organization in existence, the church has to fight hard against the urge to be self-serving.  Have we not fought hard enough in the SBC?  Have we lost the fight?  Have we given up the fight? 

I've talked to many pastors who've entered the fight by trying to develop new strategies & innovation in such areas as Children's Ministry only to get beat up by people with good intentions who simply don't want to change.  The boat is taking on serious water, but rather than getting in another boat, they just try to paddle harder & faster, & they continue to go down. 

So, many pastors are faced with a decision to either lead their church to make necessary changes to continue building God's Kingdom or keep everyone happy while the ship goes down.  This tension has led to many churches claiming rapid growth, but the growth isn't from new believers, it's from discontented Christians moving from churches trying to engineer new ships to churches just trying to stay afloat.  (Forgive me if this sounds a little...cynical, but I've seen too many Christians lose focus on THE Kingdom & be more concerned about THEIR kingdom.)

I'm so thankful for pastors & leaders like Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Ed Young, Andy Stanley, Mark Driscoll... (the list could go on & on) who have stood strong in the fight, giving inspiration to those of us in the trenches.  Any dead fish can float down stream, but it takes someone with strength to go against the flow.

I'm also thankful for the people who make up LifePoint Church.  You have stepped in the ring & fought hard to build God's Kingdom.  LifePoint is full of people who have laid aside their own agenda to passionately pursue God's Agenda.  Some of the changes we've made over the years have been tough, even for me, but Lifer's have stood strong in the battle so that kids & adults alike can see & fall in love with Jesus.  It's an incredible joy & tremendous privilege to lead a people who are so passionate for the supremacy of the Glory of God in all things.

LIFEPOINT IN THE NEWS

Check out this article about LifePoint Church in the Tennessean.  I'll post some comments later.

LIFEPOINT CHURCH PREVIEW VIDEO

Check this video that our communications/media team created to preview our new Glocal Identity.
LifePoint Church from LifePoint Church on Vimeo.

WELCOME TO LIFEPOINT CHURCH

Today was a HUGE day for our church as we revealed our new GLOCAL identity...LIFEPOINT CHURCH.

Our vision is to move from one church at one location to one church in many locations by starting additional campuses that will have our some identity & DNA.  In order to pursue this vision, we must move from a local identity...First Baptist Church, Smyrna, to a GLOCAL identity...LIFEPOINT CHURCH.  This new identity will allow us to launch new campuses anywhere in the world.

The key passage for our new identity is John 10:10, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."  This was Jesus' mission statement.  After He said this, He died our death in our place, defeated death & then ascended to heaven to be at the right hand of the Father where He is at this moment.  The Bible teaches that we are now the body through which He continues to accomplish the mission of giving abundant life to people in the world & eternal life in the next. 

So, our mission to POINT people to a Christ centered LIFE.  Do you see how LIFEPOINT CHURCH very clearly identifies us with Jesus' mission to give people abundant & eternal life?  Do you see how this identity can easily be applied to any campus in any culture in any country?  So, WELCOME TO LIFEPOINT.    

Our New GLOCAL Identity

This is a HUGE week in the life of FBC Smyrna.  Several months ago, in our "Dare U to Move" series, I laid out our need to change our identity from a local identity, First Baptist Church, Smyrna, to a GLOCAL identity that will help us better reach people by starting satellite campuses throughout our region & even the world.  We've worked hard for several months & involved more than 500 people in our quest to find a GLOCAL identity that best represents who we are.  I'm super excited to tell you that this Sunday is the day our new GLOCAL Identity will be revealed.

Believe me, this is no easy process.  If you think naming your children was stressful, you ought to try to name a church.  We had many suggestions, some good & well,  some not so good.  But, in the end, I'm confident you're going to love our new GLOCAL Identity.  So, if you miss this week, you're going to miss a historical time in our church as we take a giant step!  What an exciting time in the life of this church.  I believe, with all my heart, that we are standing on the edge of something big.  God has blessed FBC Smyrna over the past years, and as we move forward into the future, we are confident that if we remain in Him, He will continue to bless us in ways that only He can.  I don't know about you but I, for one, cannot wait to see what is going to happen next!  See you Sunday!