She Must Be Crazy

It is 4:55 p.m. on Friday. I have been home sick for the last two days. My wife, Pam, has been sick too (as has our daughter), but at least Pam caught the bug later than me and got to the antibiotics earlier in the cycle. Still, she is not feeling well herself.

Pam knows I need to catch up after missing two days of work, and offers to make me something to eat before she goes to get some sleep. But first, she hands me a contract relating to the new church building that I need to sign and send back before 5:00. Church business, it seems, doesn't go away just because I am sick. Pam, though, thinks nothing of it -- "church business" is just part of our life.

When I was first asked to serve as the Executive Pastor of Heartland Church, my first thought was "what's Pam going to think." You know the saying: "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." Well, I wasn't really sure that this "offer" was going to make her very happy. When Pastor Dan and Pastor Sherry told Pam what they had in mind, her immediate response was that this was something I had to do. It was like we had no choice to make. In fact, her response was so quick and so confident I thought "she must be crazy."

You see, Pam doesn't make big decisions just like that. She asks questions, she does research, she wants to talk it over. If it is a really big decision, and to me this was a REALLY BIG decision, she insists that we get her father's opinion.

Well, Pam isn't crazy. In fact, when Pam signed us up for this job I think she had a pretty good idea what kind of sacrifice she -- and the whole family -- would be making. I also think the reality has fully met her expectations!!

So, what was it that made this decision so easy for her? I think it comes down to one thing -- faith. Its not just that Pam has great faith that God exists and that God wants each of us to serve in Him some way. If that were the case, she could have simply declined this invitation and been content with the other ways we were serving at the time. Rather, I think it was Pam's great faith that God has a very specific plan and purpose for each of us that, for her, in this case meant there was really no decision to make at all.

Casting Shadows

"Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he came by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those with unclean spirits, and they were all cured."

Acts 5:14 - 16.


As Peter walked through the streets of Jerusalem, do you think he fully appreciated the impact he was having on people? Do you think Peter realized that people thought if his shadow would just pass over them their illnesses would be cured?

Personally, I doubt Peter was thinking much about where his shadow was falling. I suspect he was more concerned with preaching the good news.

The truth is, though, that as Christians we all "cast shadows" whether we are aware of it or not. By that I mean that we impact people just by the way we live.

John Ferris is an Elder at Heartland Church and is one of many men who have profoundly impacted my life. Whenever I thank John for being an inspiration, though, John always shrugs his shoulders and gives me a puzzled look. John's reaction is no doubt partly due to modesty, and partly due to John's desire to give any credit to God. I also think, though, that John is truly a bit perplexed about what exactly he has done and why it has been so meaningful to me.

Of course, the shadows we cast can have the opposite effect as well. I can't tell you how many times people have told me that the reason they either don't believe or don't go to church is because people who do go to church are hypocrites. In other words, they believe that Christians, and particularly church-going Christians, say one thing and do another. Ouch!! Could that sometimes be true?

In my last post I talked about a choice we all have. We can choose to live our lives in a way that is mostly indistinguishable from our neighbors. Or, we can strive to live a "more excellent way." I guess my point is that which option we choose doesn't just impact our eternity -- it very likely impacts the eternity of many others as well. Something to think about.

The Radical Christian

What an exciting time in the life of Heartland Church!! I am really looking forward to the move to Carrollton and am anxious to see all the great things God has planned for us there. I hope you are excited about the move too.

What I'm really excited about though, and what I want to talk about, is what is happening right here and right now. I am excited about how focused we are as a Church on who we are and what God has created us to do. I am excited about the momentum that is building (which happens to be the subject of the current sermon series!). I am excited about how we are growing together as a church family. I am excited about the four goals we have set for our partners. I am excited about changed lives!!

Speaking of our four goals, if you have not taken time to study and think about them I really urge you to do so. (You can find them right on the first page of our web site) The more I think about those goals myself, the more I realize they are not so much goals as they are a challenge. And the challenge is this: for each of us to continually strive to live our lives according to God's will. Simple, huh?

I read a sermon recently where the preacher observed that there are two types of Christians. Paraphrasing a bit, this preacher described the first group as believers who generally try to do the right thing, who do good works from time to time, who "abstain from gross evils," who regularly attend church and so forth. Though these Christians are certainly redeemed by the blood of Christ, their day-to-day lives are for the most part indistinguishable from non-believers.

The preacher described the second group of Christians as people who not only avoid any appearance of evil, but as people who are zealous to do good works of all kinds, who take up their cross daily, who constantly strive to achieve God's will at the expense of their own pleasure and who "agonize without intermission" to achieve a life of Christian holiness. (think about how this description ties in to our four goals of inviting and investing, living generously, taking the next bold step and living without limits).

I want to emphasize that the point of this sermon was not to condemn or criticize the first group of Christians. Instead, the point was to remind us that the Holy Spirit invites and prompts all believers to pursue a "more excellent way." Like faith itself, God issues the invitation but gives each of us the free will to accept or reject His offer.

I am not by any means suggesting that I myself have made any real progress in my own pursuit of the "more excellent way." There are many things in my life that bring no particular glory to God.

What I am saying is that I am grateful to be part of a Church that is not afraid to challenge us, no matter where we are on our walk with God, to do better. I am excited about applying the four goals of Heartland Church to my own life.

By the way, in case you are wondering, the sermon I am talking about was written by John Wesley over 200 years ago. Wesley believed that through devotion to prayer, the reading of scripture and so forth God can transform believers so that His love reigns supreme as the guiding force in their lives and in their hearts. : )