How God moves

This weekend, especially Sunday was another reminder that God is moving and working all the time. Unfortunately, we often miss God's work by defining it as coincidence and brush it off with a "that was weird". Because God is calling all of us to Him and because He has a plan for everyone; it is evident to me that He is working in all of our lives all the time. Let me give you three examples, which may or may not line up with your theology. At least consider the possibility that God was moving/speaking. 1. I was doing my usual routine Saturday night wondering through the auditorium after I had practiced my sermon and praying for Sunday when suddenly a young man appeared (actually startled me). He said he was looking for his daughter who may have wandered in, but when he re-introduced himself (he reminded me that I had met him 10 years earlier) and I asked him how life was going - I knew God had an appointment in mind! He started crying and talking about his life and we prayed. I told him, God set up this appointment - pay attention God was pursuing. 2. A lady introduced herself after I preached yesterday. It was her first time to Eastview and she is an avid marathon runner. How God ordained was it that the passage from Philippians 3:12ff was about the Christian life as a race and I related it to a marathon of faith all throughout? It was a connection that made this woman feel as though God was speaking to her directly. Cool. 3. A lady came to the cross to tell me that she had been stirring spiritually lately and then she woke up at 1:17. Since she was staying at her brother Mark's house - she turned to Mark 1:17 (yeah, it's not what I would have done either..I would have been mad that I was wide awake at 1:17). Anyway, Mark 1:17 is Jesus' invitation to follow him and she took that as an invitation to go to church for the first time in many years. She was there and wants to follow Jesus, who am I to say that the Spirit didn't call her with a night time wake up call? My point? Watch your relationships, circumstances, and environments today - I'm convinced you'll see God in each of them!

Mikey

Twenty five years ago, I was a 23 year old youth pastor in Lexington, Ky when I held my firstborn son, Michael Robert Baker II. I think there are pictures with me in sweats and a mullet with a tootsie pop in my mouth and a grin on my face. I was thrilled to have a son and I still am. A lot happens in 25 years and unfortunately, I have to say the old man line, it goes by so fast. Since that time, another son was born, my father has died, ministry has taken us to three different states, I'm no longer a youth pastor, and thankfully I know longer wear a mullet. You have so many ideas about what your child is going to become when they are first born, and you realize along the way that you don't really control that. God does something special in each life and each person has millions of choices to make along the way. This means that at some point you have to let go. I never thought that my first born would have grown up to be one of the most talented tattoo artists imaginable, but he did. I didn't think he would get his high school diploma via GED, but he did. I didn't think he would fall in love with Normal, IL, but he did. I didn't think that I would have the privilege of him living in the town I ministered in for so long, but we did. I didn't know that he would find a woman to marry him that would be just right for what he needed, but in Abby he did. I didn't think that he and his brother would be so different and so highly admire each other, but they do. I wasn't sure that my church would love my tattoo artist son as much as my preacher son, but they do. I didn't think that after all these years, the tough journey would all be worth it, but it is. Twenty five years later, I must say that at the time I didn't think that God had a better plan for Mikey that I did, but He did. Happy Birthday son, I wouldn't change a thing.

language problem

The latest scandal with the Miami Dolphins locker situation is symptomatic of a culture that has a language problem. Interestingly enough, Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. I believe the problem that we see from some of the texts that have been released from Martin and Incognito simply reveal something about the words in our culture. Once again, the Bible, the word of God guides us by telling us to watch our words...if only we followed God's way with our language. Below I've outlined this culture's problem with words. 1. Our words are too crude. Howard Stern has been glamorized in our culture as a "shock jock" for talking about anything and everything. Very sexually dirty. Very vulgar. Filled with expletives. And he's not the only one...he's just the poster child. It is shocking to hear the curse words, the sexually explicit comments and filth communicated in our media, our schools, our workplaces, etc... This is true especially of a younger generation that has been weaned on crude talk and curse words. They don't even understand that dropping the "f" word as an adjective in a public place is inappropriate. The Bible encourages us to us words that are loving, and encouraging, and to remove filthy talk from our mouths. Our world would be better if we did. 2. Our words are too cruel. The onset of trash talking, bragging, and self promotion has lent itself to tearing other people down. Calling people fat or ugly - talking about their family heritage - or just being cruel about the way they look, or how poorly they perform on the field or in the office...We have become a nasty culture that easily uses harsh words to put others down. It is epidemic. We have become mean with our words, knowing fully how powerful they are. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me" is what our parents taught us about those who say mean things. The problem is that the saying isn't true. Words can be way more hurtful than sticks and stones. 3. Our words are too quick. Too many people say too many things too quickly. Part of this is our 24 hour news reality that is compelled to create grand headlines about half information and assumptions. Most of what we hear on the news is not as big as they make it with their graphics and music backgrounds. This is not to mention the ease with which anyone (and I mean anyone) can speak their mind via a tweet, post, or even a blog like this one. I'm reminded that James, the brother of Jesus wrote, everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak... Our culture should try this one. 4. Our words are overly scrutinized. Everyone, who has ever opened their mouth to communicate has misspoken. It is human to say things we don't mean, and even have words come out that are not part of our vocabulary. Yet even thought we know this, we tend to jump on every verbal mistake made. As a preacher of 28 years, I've said a lot of things I didn't mean to say - mostly they become jokes about my inability to communicate. But I have said things that in no way reflected my heart and passions...they were just misspoken words. Again, our social and paid media plays a hypocritical role of judging others by soundbites and gaffs when we have ALL made them. We should first try to contextualize it all before being overly critical of someone's words - we may need that same grace some day.

Jesus infomercial

Yep, I know it's been a while since I've blogged due to my traveling schedule...but I'm full of words today...so you may get two or three entries this week. Let's start here. Yesterday I started off my sermon with a make-believe infomercial to introduce our Ephesians 4:11ff text. It's not a real commercial, but all of the stuff in it is true. Here it is... Are you tired of that flabby prayer life? Wanna lose some of those unsightly sins you've been carrying around for years? Do you lack the energy to serve and love those around you? Have your friends noticed your lack of maturity? You need the body of Christ. All over the world, people are turning to the body of Christ to help them grow into the person they were created to be. Order now and we'll send you the complete disciple-making kit. This amazing offer includes: 1). your very own, one-of-a-kind spiritual gift. 2) Membership into a loving community. 3) Free admission into 5 million churches worldwide. 4) our exclusive 24/7 God hotline. And 5) a lifetime supply of measurable spiritual growth - guaranteed! How much would you pay for such an offer? $1 million? $2 million? $3 million? Don't be fooled by imitations! You may pay millions of dollars for worldly offers, but not get any of these results. But for a limited time Jesus is offering all of this to all who would follow Him absolutely free! That's right...absolutely free. He has paid the price for all who will just believe. But wait, that's not all. If you call in the next fifteen minutes, we'll throw in a year's worth of sermons from Deuteronomy and a "fearless at five" t-shirt! Now, how much would you pay? It's still free. Plus, if you order now, you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and a Matt Ludwig worship c.d. Please hurry, this offer only last until Jesus returns, which could be at any time. Angels are standing by.