Category: 'Encounter'
Every so often someone writes a book that pushes our thinking and focuses the lenses through which we see the world. The book called “The Shack” has definitely altered the prescription for me. It seemed like every time I saw someone at the ball field, in a restaurant or sat by someone on a plane they were reading it. People who knew me kept asking what I thought about the book. For about a month I considered it a passing fad.
Then one day I bought the book and read it in two days. Once I pushed through the “Great Sadness” and the unusual portrayal of God it began to enliven my thinking and encourage my walk. In these past weeks I have again wrestled with what it means for God to be judge instead of me, for Jesus to be fully human and fully divine, and for God to graciously and painfully give us free will that results in suffering. The book shares some controversial perspectives on the Trinity and on how people view the church.
I invite you to join me at “The Shack”, Encounter, for some of the painful and powerful ways we might learn from this book in relation to The Book (The Bible). Whether it’s a gentle hug or a swift kick every one of us has the potential to find that these next two weeks may be just the visit with “Papa” we need. If you haven’t picked up a copy of the book yet feel free to get one at the church’s bookstore.
Vaughn
What do a chain saw and a tree log have to do with worship?
Preparation Pain!
This past Sunday at Encounter we saw the wood carver take a four foot long section of tree trunk and shape it into a bear holding a fish.
At first glance it looked like nothing more than a huge mess and distraction. The wood chips were flying and the saw dust was everywhere, but over time the image began to take shape.
So often all we see and feel is the painful gnawing of the saw and fail to realize that we too are being shaped by life’s circumstances.
How about you? What is cutting into the “normal” of your life? What distractions seem to be creeping in to make a mess of your task list and agenda?
I invite you to join me in rereading Saul/Paul’s dramatic story of conversion…Acts 22:1-16.
He had an agenda that was dramatically altered in this story. Maybe just maybe the pains and hurts we are enduring might even help shape us into better vessels for reaching the world for Christ.
One never fully appreciates the sunrise unless they have endured the long night of the soul. One best appreciates health if they have been sick and one never knows the peaceful power of hope unless they have dealt with the desperation of despair.
Perhaps the turbulent world we are living in with job losses, home foreclosures and broken dreams is the perfect place for Christians to share the reconciling message of hope that Christ offers. It reminds me that the best place to see the brilliance of night stars is in the dark blanket of the countryside.
Paul’s first countryside was Damascus…where’s yours?
Vaughn
As a kid I loved pal gum and bubble machines. The only problem was that the gum, while a sugar blast on the first chew, lost its flavor within ten seconds and the bubbles were so fragile that they popped as soon as you touched them. I dreamed of summers that never ended and trips to the beach that could last forever, but inevitably the sun burns and sand rashes faded almost as quickly as the hermit crabs within the shells of those stowaways in the suitcase. School restarted and summer baseball, football, and kick the can games came to a screeching halt. Much like the excitement over new things at Christmas and birthdays the lasting impact was often short lived.
This Sunday we will be congratulating our graduating seniors and talking about lives that matter in the final week’s segment “A Lasting Impact”…on and through us. I hope you will join us at Encounter to finish the four week series that began with Depending on Jesus (MP3), Being Real (MP3) and Loving Others (MP3).
A couple questions for you to consider…
Who has had a lasting impact in your life? How?
What experiences have had a lasting impact on you? How?
Rev. Vaughn Stafford
Minister over Contemporary Worship
This Sunday begins a new series of questions to be addressed in effectively reaching the world for Christ. In these three weeks we will answer “Who’s Jesus, What’s Real, and Who’s my neighbor”.
In my growing up years, I was blessed to meet some pretty famous Christian recording artists. One of them had a son who, at the age of nine, used to jokingly say to people, “You don’t know me, you just know of me.” He was saying this as a way to elevate himself or put people in their place. It really made me laugh then, but in recent years has been a comment that has brought a lot of thought. Do we really know people, things, experiences and even God or do we know of Him? Unlike my nine year old friend, Jesus isn’t looking to elevate Himself. As a matter of fact He lowered Himself so that we might have a relationship with Him, through Him and by Him, with the Father. This Sunday, April 6th in the gym, we will be talking about what others say of Jesus, hearing why He came and seeing what He wants to be in us.
I would love to hear your answers to the questions on the Encounter forum as well.
In Christ,
Rev Vaughn Stafford
Minister over Contemporary Worship
In watching Super Bowl XLII, I couldn’t help but think about the different reactions by the “winners” and “losers” to the most watched game in history. While there were 148.3 million people that watched the game with strong feelings and reactions to the underdog, the undefeated, the little brother, the Home team, and the break from Political polls analysis. The victorious New York Giants made me think about 9/11.
Somehow my thoughts moved from the fanfare of confetti cannons to the devastation of tumbling towers. That sky was eclipsed and the air cluttered under totally different circumstances. It was another chapter in the book of New Yorkers and indeed the human condition’s victory over emanate defeat. The strong feelings of Patriots, Giants and teams across the globe united a country and world with a common pain.
A few months after the attacks on the World trade center I found myself leading a group of nearly fifty youth and adults to the “Ground Zero” site. As we approached the blocks that surrounded the buildings I was astounded by the amount of dust and debris still flying in the air. Rounding the corner of an adjacent skyscraper my heart sunk at the sight of buildings draped in black fabrics. It was truly as if we were walking through the visitation of a large funeral. I found myself engulfed by the deafening silence of respect and mourning.
For what seemed like eternity we walked around the perimeter of the excavation site. I hadn’t worked up the audacity to look through one of the gaps in the fence toward the actual plots where towers fell, worlds collapsed and families were altered forever. Finally, with the courage of a child taking his first leap into the swimming pool I turned my head to peak into what seemed like absolute despair.
Instead, the first thing my eyes latched onto was the cornerstone beams of a large building. The horizontal beams actually broke off on either side of their vertical counter part to form a cross. For the first time on the trip I took a deep breath and with tears streaming down my cheeks remembered that God still reigns and Jesus is very much present.
Ironically, this and so many powerful revelations in my life came through one of the deepest hurts in our nation’s history. Why is it we often have to walk through the dark to appreciate the light? Paul says, “I have learned the secret to be content in all circumstances” (Phil 4:12). Perhaps this is the secret…to know that we who are in God win because He reigns!
Rev. Vaughn Stafford
Minister over Contemporary Worship
[be sure to read the first part of this series - "Fasting (Part I)"]
Jesus didn’t say “if you fast” he said, “When you fast.” In this statement Jesus put fasting up there with praying and giving to the needy. Fasting is the physical way in which we can change our inner personality. As Christians we understand from scripture that our “old nature” or “our flesh” is always at war with the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is not just our physical nature, but rather all of who we are in mind, will, and emotions. This is all the stuff we inherited from Adam, our first father, way back in the Garden of Eden.
Through salvation our lives are transformed, and we receive a “new nature.” This new nature is the Spirit of God present and at work in us. Unfortunately, the old person is always trying to come back in and take over our lives. Salvation doesn’t mean that magically all of our old nature is washed away, and we never have to deal with it again. There is always a struggle between these two sides as we try to live the Christian life. The power that makes the Christian life possible is the power of the Holy Spirit. On our own, it is impossible for the Christian to live the life God calls us to live. It just can’t be done in our own strength. It can only be accomplished when we walk in full dependence of the Holy Spirit. In Galatians 5:16-17, Paul says:
16) But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
17) For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. (NASB)
The key for successful Christian living is walking in the Holy Spirit. That’s easy enough –right? The problem is how does this “walking in the spirit” happen? The “real key” is how to release the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, so we can live the life that we can’t live in our own strength.
Paul, in Ephesians 3:20 states, 20) “Now to him [God] who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work in us…”
Paul is saying that we can do more than we can ever dream possible and that we can live the life God calls us to live, but it depends on God’s supernatural power being released in us and through us. The “key” again is to know how to release that power. Our “old nature” can be summed up like this: our mind says “I think;” our will says “I want;” our emotions say “I feel.” At a very base level, these are the expressions of man’s ego that controls our thoughts. This is how our “old nature” operates. So the “key” to walking in the spirit is to bring the “old nature” into submission to the Holy Spirit. According to God’s pattern, found in the scripture, this is accomplished by fasting. Jesus and Paul both accomplished it through fasting, and today you and I are expected to do it through fasting.
Read 1 Corinthians 9:25-27 (NIV) and think about these questions.
What are you controlled by? Are you led by your own desires (mind, will, and emotions) or are you led by the Spirit?
I once heard a preacher say, “Your body makes a wonderful servant but a terrible master.”
Jody
As a child I remember getting caught with toys in my hands during Sunday school or with cookies in my hands before dinner. The question, “What’s in your hands?”, was usually a confrontation that led to a reprimand. In God’s same question to Moses in Exodus 4:1-5 it is a confrontation that led to new life and blessing. Moses is struggling with whether or not people will believe he has had an experience with God. He is questioning himself and God. God doesn’t rebuke him, but reinforces him as the shepherd’s staff turns from what was once alive, in Moses hands, to new life, when it is laid down for God. This theme is carried forward throughout the Old and New Testaments and throughout the lives of Saints alive today. Whether we are nervous observers with Abraham and Isaac on the mountain or grateful participants watching the little boy bring his loaves and fishes in the Gospel account, it is clear that God wants to use that which is in our hands for greater good than we can imagine.
This past week I heard many great messages at the Catalyst conference. The message that really hit me like a ton of bricks was Rick Warren‘s message on this very Scripture. I sat there amazed as I heard him share how he was a reverse tither (giving 90% of his earnings back to God)! He shared how he was using his influence and affluence to further the kingdom with leaders, nations and causes around the globe. After a long time of rationalizing my way through his message with comments like “yeah, but that’s Rick Warren” or”sure, but he has more money than Midas”. I heard God’s voice whisper in my ear. My heart was humbled and impassioned as I listened to God ask “that’s fine Vaughn, but What’s in your hands”? I pray that you will join me this Sunday as I share a message at Encounter that pushes each of us to consider the content of our hands.
In Christ,
Rev. Vaughn Stafford
Minister over Contemporary Worship
I am starting a new series this Wednesday in the chapel from 6:30 - 7:30 pm for 4 weeks. Also, I preached this past Sunday and will again next Sunday on this same “Good to Great” topic at Encounter.
So now that the commercial is done, why so much attention on this “Good to Great” topic. Some of you recognize the title from a business book, “Good to Great” written by Jim Collins on how good companies become great. A few others of you may recognize the Christian title, “Good to Great in the eyes of God”, as a new book by Chip Ingram. The reason that I think so many people have been fascinated by this topic of going from good to great is because that is the way God has built us. There is something in us that wants to see great things happen in our lives. We want our life to amount to something that means something significant.
So this raises another question. What is significant? What really matters? In Jim Collins book, he did not go into what is the value in being a great company; his goal was simply to use empirical data to identify what causes companies to be great. In Chip Ingram’s book the goal is a little more philosophical and a little less scientific. As he looked over all the great Christians in today’s world, as well as in history, he asked the question what did they all have in common? In other words, what seemed to be the common denominators between those Christians that were not merely good Christians but great Christians, Christians that have made a big difference for God’s kingdom.
This raises one other question. How do you define greatness? Jesus made a big deal of the idea that those who would be the greatest would do it by being the least. He said that those who wanted to lead in this kingdom would do it by serving. (Luke 22:26) It is with all this in mind I believe that it is important for us to take a look at going from good to great. When we are only good Christians (and truth be know, we often aren’t even that) it may help in keeping the world from becoming a worse place, but that doesn’t show God’s greatest. Being a good Christian does little to inspire us or anyone else. If God is great and He lives in us then great things should come out of us, not great in the way the world defines it, but the greatness of God. Loving your enemies, cares for the least, leading by serving, sacrificing yourself for others, this is a greatness the world does not know and usually does not even want. But once again, there is something inside of us, because of how God created us that longs for a greatness beyond how the world defines it. There is a greatness that Jesus speaks about that calls us to a life of sacrifice. (Luke 9:23-24) There is a greatness that marked the life of Christ that caused others to become their best selves, their highest self. In being this greater person, that most people only talk about and never really live out, God shows himself to be truly great and others are drawn to this greatness.
That is why I want to spend a few weeks talking about “Good to Great in the Eyes of God.” God made us for greatness, but most of us never even get close. God intended that our lives would count for something eternal. However, many of us never get beyond the day to day. So for the next few weeks, through my teachings and my blogs we will take a look at going from Good to Great in the Eyes of God. And it is my prayer that God will take us all just a little further in this child-like greatness that is unlike anything the world knows. This is a greatness that changes lives, a greatness that saves lives and a greatness that is what we were really created for all along – greatness in the eyes of God.
For His Greatest,
Carey
I’ve received many questions regarding my sermon comment about “fasting on Fridays.” (note: You can listen to Jody’s Podcast from September 16 to hear what he is referring to.) The cool thing is all of the questions have been followed by “I think God is leading me to join” the Friday fast. So why the “Friday fast?” John Wesley fasted on Friday. He would begin on Thursday evening after the evening meal and continue until mid-afternoon on Fridays. During this time Wesley would not eat solid food, and he spent his time in prayer and seeking the presence of God. Wesley wanted all of the Methodist ministers as well as church leaders to practice the spiritual discipline of fasting. Wesley felt so strongly about the spiritual discipline of fasting that he would not ordain ministers who would not agree to do it. In Matthew 6:16, Jesus said, “When you fast…” not “If you fast.”
Fasting, for me, is the way I get my heart right before God. It is the key component to renouncing the natural and invoking the supernatural. You’ve heard all the jokes about preacher’s eating habits? Well I’m no different, I love to eat. The most natural thing we do as human beings is eat. You don’t have to teach a new born to eat, it’s completely natural. When I give up eating, I’m intentionally turning away from the natural, and I turn to God for the supernatural. There are times in my ministry when I feel God calling me to step up to the task and my response is “I can’t do it.” The truth of the matter is I can’t do it, and only God can. I must get “me” out of the way. Prayer and fasting brings me to a humble place where I can get “me” out of the way. When I get “me” out of the way then I can begin to see God.
Jody
[note: part 2 of this series can now be found here ]
It’s late right now. I am getting ready to go on a quick trip to the Gulf, early in the morning to see one of our Katrina Relief Service Projects. I had a wedding of one of my original youth from my youth ministry days this past weekend. When I get back I have family and friends, meetings and ministry that all need and expect my attention. So in the midst of juggling my schedule, in the same way you juggle your schedule, this question came to me. What matters? And so my mind began to race to order my life by my priorities and then what was urgent and even by my interests, but after a few moments my mind began to clear and a word came to my mind, one simply word,…….. GOD.
I know that is the easy way out, the pat answer, but not this time. This time sometime else came to my mind when the answer came up God. God said to me, I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.(Rev. 21:6) God has always been important to me and sure, we know He is the most important of all, but God calls us not to live as if He is important, but instead as if He is IT! The beginning of every day and end of every thought, the beginning of my longings, the end of our brokenness that leads us back to him.
What I am trying to say, is that He is not the most important part of life, but in fact He is life. Remember, I am the way, and the truth and the life. God is not the most important thing in my life, He is the only thing that truly matters. All other things flow from Him. Now, before you start to thinking this is more of a philosophical concept to be discussed by philosophers let me make it a little more practical. When I try to make a decision, when I set my schedule, when I have a meeting, when I interact with people at work and in the world, when I spend time with my family, when I serve in church, when I go to Africa, when I do anything without Jesus Christ from the beginning to the end of it, then I have done something that doesn’t matter. Wow! How can I say that? When I go on mission trips or serve in my church or spend time with my family, then that should matter whether God is in the middle of it at that particular moment or not, right? Well, not according to Jesus, In John 15:5 He simply says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” In other words what you do apart from Him amounts to nothing. It doesn’t matter. Although that may sound extreme or maybe even harsh the reason it is true is because you were meant for God. He designed you that way. When He fills you, whatever you are doing matters, whenever He is with you, your life becomes what it was intended to be. Now, here is even the greater news! If He become all that matters, He will beginning to arrange your life and create your schedule and remove your unnecessaries, but more than that simply having his Spirit alive within you, will make everything matter! It will matter because He is in it, bringing about His will, His purposes, even His Kingdom. Then your life will be a life that matters. Tell me what you think!
Carey
Every so often someone writes a book that pushes our thinking and focuses the lenses through which we see the world. The book called “The Shack” has definitely altered the prescription for me. It seemed like every time I saw someone at the ball field, in a restaurant or sat by someone on a plane they were reading it. People who knew me kept asking what I thought about the book. For about a month I considered it a passing fad.
