One of the great strengths of a minister is when he unashamedly claims his people. He is proud to be connected and associated with them. So much so that the bond between the church and its minister grows and grows and becomes so tight and strong.  The minister loves them, identifies with them, connects with them, and becomes like them. And vice versa. A lot of this is seen in the Biblical analogy of a Shepherd and his sheep.

This past week I had my heart stirred in such a great way around this concept.  I was studying the book of Titus.

Titus is a small book. Its only 3 chapters long. Only 46 verses. It many Bibles it all fits on to one page. It is short and simple.

The Apostle Paul wrote Titus this short letter to encourage him as to why Titus is still remaining on the island of Crete.  Paul had recently been there doing mission work. Many people had gotten saved. Churches were set up in each town on the island, and those churches now needed good leadership. So Paul left Titus there to put what remained into order. He was to appoint elders in every town to lead the churches. And Titus’s large task was to go and correct the false teachers who were already in these churches.

The book is short yet so profound on what a church is to be like = How the people who make up the church are to believe the right things according to the truth and then also have faithful consistent godly lives that go in accordance with the truth they so strongly believe. It really is a rich little book of the Bible!

So the setting is that Titus is currently living in Crete. He was not born and raised there. Paul left him there. But he was living and ministering there at the time. Paul however was not. Paul no longer lived there. He used to live there. He used to work and serve there, but he does not live there any longer during the time he was writing this letter to Titus.

This is where my heart was so stirred. So challenged. So convicted. So blessed.

At the very end of Titus, Paul is closing his letter with his final instructions and greetings. There are 15 verses in chapter 3, the final chapter. In verse 14, Paul writes this to Titus:

“And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.”

This is a great verse for so many reasons. But what really got me was that phrase “our people.”

Whose people? Now maybe he was referring to all Christians everywhere. That certainly makes sense too. It works. It applies. But I don’t think so. I think Paul is an awesome pastor and he wants Titus to be an awesome pastor too. After all, Titus is his “true child in a common faith.” So Paul refers to the believers in Crete as “our people.” Paul is identifying himself with the Cretans.

Yes, the Apostle Paul is identifying himself with the Cretan believers. This is remarkable. Those of us who call ourselves ministers today have a lot to learn from this idea. Here are a few comments:

1. Paul is not a Cretan. He wasn’t born one. He doesn’t live there. He doesn’t work there anymore. How are they “his people?” Perhaps Pastoring & Shepherding people is more deep than we realize. Its more than just a job. Its a life calling to love and serve and pray and sacrifice for these people. Quitting, transferring, moving, being “Called to somewhere else” should not change the fact that these people are still “your people.” It sure didn’t change Paul. Even though Paul lived somewhere else & worked somewhere else those Cretans who he once lived amongst, worked for, and loved were still precious to him. They were still “his people.”
2. Cretans were not easy to claim. Perhaps many pastors feel this way. It is so easy to be proud of your all-star church members. The ones who will serve anywhere and do anything. The ones who are always leading people to Christ. The ones who are always giving money to various needs. The ones who play in the NCAA Final Four. What Pastor doesn’t want to claim them. Thats easy. But what about the church members who are messed up? What about the ones that sin a lot? What about the ones that make Jesus and the church look bad and hypocritical? Who is claiming them? Well, Paul was. In chapter 1 verse 12 Paul quotes an influential Cretan who is describing the way Cretans are. Here is what he says “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” Paul said that quoting someone else who knew first hand. Crete was a rough place. And rough places have rough people. And the churches in rough places are made up of rough people. It did not stop Paul from being all-out unashamedly committed to them. He still claimed them. Those Cretans were “his people.”
3. We live in a day where ministers move around a lot. It is very common for a minister with years of experience to have been involved in many churches. I wonder if they still claim their old churches? I wonder if they are still concerned for those people who they used to be concerned about? I wonder if they would even now call them “their people”? Our church is 96 years old. I am the 28th pastor of our church in those 96 years. With the exception of our great former pastor who served here right before me, Josh Powell who regularly calls to check up on our church, I have never heard anything from any of the former pastors who were concerned about “their people.” Why is that?
4. The fact that Paul is claiming the believers in Crete as “his people” is so convicting and encouraging. I am so fired up right now to go and identify with the people of Fairdale. I cannot imagine being younger Titus and hearing Paul speak so proudly of these people.  Perhaps Titus was struggling with how “differently” they did things in Crete compared to the town he was from. And when he hears Paul who had relatively little connection with Crete claiming the Cretans, I am sure that Titus was refreshed & blessed to be committed to the calling of serving in Crete. After all, Paul did not call them “his people,” he called them “our people.” Paul was such a good leader. He includes Titus in on the sacrificial high calling of being a minister in Crete.

 

As I am thinking through all of this, I am wondering if the inability to call your old church folks “your people” says anything about whether they were ever truly your people. Maybe they never were. Maybe ministers sometimes just have jobs and never connect. Maybe once you move “your people” are out-of-sight out-of-mind. I hope not. Praise God that surely wasn’t the case for Paul.

Maybe Paul was just so gripped by that stunning truth at the end of Hebrews. Verse 13:17 that says leaders are keeping watch over souls and will have to give an account for “the people.” Surely, surely, surely if they are “our people” we will proudly, boldy, sacrificially claim them!

 

This past Sunday I preached from Luke 13:1-9. Verses 3 and 5 both say

“No I tell you, unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

You can listen to the whole sermon here.

Here is an excellent quote from J.C. Ryle on the nature of true repentance:

“The nature of true repentance is clearly and unmistakably laid down in holy Scripture. It begins with knowledge of sin. It goes on to work sorrow for sin. It leads to confession of sin before God. It shows itself before man by a thorough breaking off from sin. It results in producing a habit of deep hatred for all sin. Above all, it is inseparably connected with lively faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance like this is the characteristic of all true Christians.”

One of the simplest ways to study the Bible is to see which words are repeated the most often.

In our Men’s & Women’s Bible Studies (Wednesday & Thursday mornings respectively) we are going through the book of TITUS.

Titus is a short book of the Bible. It is only 3 short chapters, only 46 verses total.

But in this brief letter written by the Apostle Paul to a younger fellow minister named Titus, the word Sound is used 5 times.

Titus 1:9“He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in SOUND doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”

Titus 1:13 “This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be SOUND in the faith.”

Titus 2:1 “But as for you, teach what accords with SOUND doctrine.”

Titus 2:2 “Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, SOUND in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.”

Titus 2:8 “and SOUND speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.”

Being “Sound” means being “healthy.” It is as simple as that. Are you healthy in life? Are you healthy in your faith? Is your Faith a sound faith?

Studying the Bible this way is so simple yet so impactful. Try it out.

We recently started reading the through the Jesus-Storybook Bible again with our boys.

I was curious to see how much J.J. knew, or remembered, from the previous times we have read through it. He is four years old now and beginning to process a lot of the deep truths of the Gospel.

On our 2nd day of reading the Bible, it covered the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden when they disobeyed God and ate the fruit. The JSB (Jesus Storybook Bible) does an excellent job clarifying that God told them what to do and what NOT to do.

As we all know, Adam & Eve did not listen to God. They did not obey God. Instead, they listened to the serpent and disobeyed God. This is wrong and bad.

To a 4 year old, direct disobedience is really wrong and bad. I was encouraged as we were reading as I could see sadness and disappointment on the face of JJ that Adam and Eve did not listen to God.

I asked a few questions to make sure that JJ was understanding what they did; why it was wrong; why it happened; etc. He then asked me some questions about the serpent. Why would the serpent do that? Why did he trick (deceive) them? Why does he oppose God?

After that small discussion, we concluded that the Devil is evil and he hates God and he wants to get other people to hate God. This discussion was a tough one for my 4 year old son. As he was sad & puzzled that anyone would not love God. Because God is great!

However, after this was when JJ really showed me that he is learning a lot and understanding the message of the Bible. As I closed the Bible to begin to pray, JJ said with excitement “Wait, now lets read the passage where Jesus kills the snake!”

I paused for a moment and thought to myself “How do you know about that?” (After all, most adult believers are unfamiliar with the protoevangelion of Genesis 3:15)

I then said, “what are you talking about?” JJ replied “Lets read the story where Jesus kills the snake. The snake is bad. He doesn’t like God, and now I want to read the story where Jesus kills the snake.”

I had forgotten that the JSB covered that part of the Bible. So I let him show me. He turned me to the page that recalls Jesus’ death on the cross as the defeat of sin and death and satan. The JSB has a picture of Jesus hanging on the cross with the crushed snake under his feet. It is a powerful picture of the redemptive history in the Bible. What God promised to Eve in Genesis 3:15 about her offspring crushing the serpent’s head came to fulillment in Jesus when He died on the cross for sin.

Thats incredible! The whole Bible beginning to end is about God’s plan to redeem people from their sins through Jesus. Many adult Christians today still do not understand this.

Praise God that because of the writing and illustrating of the Jesus Storybook Bible my 4 year old already has a healthy Biblical Theology!

We read that part and celebrated together that sin and satan do not have the final say!

This past Tuesday a small group from our church went to read at Hazelwood Elementary School. We were invited as a part of the “Annual Community Reader Week.”

Mrs. Annette Darnell is the Family Resource Director at Hazelwood, and she is also a member of our church. It was great to see her in her work environment.

Jettie Haines, Tish Hardin, Gail Deaton, T.J. Krages, and I went and spent the afternoon reading to various grade-level classes.

I read three different Dr. Suess books to the Mrs. Chapin’s 2nd Grade class. We had a great time participating in this event.

Thank you to Mrs. Darnell and Hazelwood Elementary for having us!

 

 

Last night Jared was our guest speaker at our church.

If you would like to listen to the audio of Jared’s message, you can here.

I was very encouraged and impressed by the way Jared carried himself and spoke with a calm confidence.

Northwestern University is going to be very pleased with this young man and student-athlete!

With his right hand leaning on his walking cane and his left hand holding his wife’s hand, he turned to me with tears in his eyes and said with a shaky voice – “would it be ok to bend over and kiss her?”

I answered, “Absolutely!”

Forty-two years ago this gentleman had stood before his wife, a minister, and a small crowd of people and verbally spoke a vow to love his wife “for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for better or worse.”

Loving your wife is what the Bible says Husbands are supposed to do (Ephesians 5:25).

Today I was the minister at her funeral. This was a funeral I was called to do without knowing the family. For the record, I did not know a single person in the entire chapel. But that did not at all keep God from blessing me so greatly.

The dear lady that passed away was 65 years old and had been married to her husband for 42 years. He got choked up speaking with me about his wife prior to the service. I could sense then that he really loved her.

We live in a day when deeply loving your wife and expressing it is rare. So when I get a chance to observe it, I really watch and learn. I have only been married 7 years. But I love Valeria, and I often tell her that I cannot wait until we are 70 together. I love her so much now and can hardly imagine how deep our love will be then after 45 years together.

But today as the funeral service concluded and the congregation filed out, I was eager to see how this faithful & simple husband would handle saying his “final words” to his wife before the casket was closed.

I was so impacted.

He slowly walked to the casket all by himself. With his right hand he was gripping his walking cane and with his left hand he reached down and grabbed his deceased wife’s hand (like he had done that countless times before). It was then with tears in his eyes, he turned to me and asked “Would it be ok to bend over and kiss her?” My eyes immediately teared up. I quickly responded “Absolutely.”

The gentleman bent over, kissed his bride, and then wept as he slowly exited the chapel.

He loved her! He loved his wife. That is what he was supposed to do. That is what he had vowed to do 42 years ago. And that is what he did. Even as she lay there in the casket with a few people standing around, as a farewell, he wanted to kiss her. awesome!

That moment blessed me so very much today.

As I got in my car to drive to the cemetery, I sent this text to my wife Valeria:

“mi amor, Vale,  I love you so very much. Im yours forever. I mean it. Im never letting go. You are so so so special to me.”

Yesterday C’eira Ricketts was drafted 12th in the 2nd Round (24th overall) by the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA.

Ricketts played her college ball in the SEC for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

C’eira played her High School basketball right here in Fairdale at Fairdale High School where she graduated from in 2008.

Ricketts was an absolute star in high school. I recall watching many of her games and being amazed at how much better she was than every other girl on the court. She also had great success at Arkansas. This article here reviews her college career.

Not only do I remember C’eira being a fantastic ball player, but I also remember her being a great person. Our church often fed the Boys & Girls Basketball teams pre-game meals, so C’eira has been in our church many times. And I recall eating and talking with her. She was a blessing to be around.

As a Fairdale citizen and supporter of Fairdale athletics, I am very proud to see Ricketts fulfilling her dream of playing basketball professionally.

Last week I was blessed to be able to attend the 2012 Together for the Gospel Conference.

This is a biennial Pastor’s conference that meets in downtown Louisville, KY at the KFC Yum Center.

I was so encouraged by going. Here are a few reasons why:

• I am thankful to my church for sending me to this conference and for seeing it as important for me to continue becoming a better pastor.
• I am thankful to my wife Valeria for allowing me to be gone all day long for three straight days.
• At T4G I ran into so many old friends. I was in seminary fro 2003-2006. Many of my seminary friends I have not seen in years, but at this conference I ran into so many of them who are spread out all over the world doing ministry.
• I was able to take a friend in the ministry who had never attended T4G before. He was so blessed to be a part of the conference.
• The Preaching was outstanding. I do not recall ever being a part of something where I heard so many outstanding Biblical sermons. My soul was challenged, convicted and stirred.
• Pastors with years of experience are such a blessing. God gifts many men to preach well. Young guys with little experience can preach great sermons, but there is something extra poweful and mighty about an older man who has served the Lord and His Church for many years who is able to speak with maturity and confidence.

The Conference theme this year was “Together for the Underestimated Gospel.” There were 9 sessions. We heard 9 different preachers preach. I was there for every session except the Wednesday night session when David Platt preached. I will have to watch that sermon online someday this week.

Here are a few quotes from each of the sermons. I hope they bless you as they did me:

C.J. Mahaney-  -“We are not innovators; we are proclaimers.”
-“Paul never got over the mercy he received.”
–“When you cannot see God’s hand, you must learn to trust His heart.” -Charles Spurgeon

Albert Mohler- -“St. Francis of Assisi most likely did not say the quote that he is often known for. ‘Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary use words.’”
–“Our responsibility is to get the Gospel to their ears, and God will get it from their ears to their hearts.” -Martin Luther
–“Romans 10 is the whole machinery of salvation.” -Charles Spurgeon

Mark Dever- –“If you are not willing to wake up an hour early to go and pick up a 90 year old man and give him a ride to church, then I seriously have to              wonder if you are saved.”
-“False conversions can be the suicide of the church.”
-“Pastors should always be evangelizing steadily and well.”

Thabiti Anyabwile- -“The biggest hindrance in the Middle East is Christians lack of confidence in the Gospel.”
-“Be careful with new converts. Most are not like Paul.”
-“Preach the Gospel every sermon. Remember God only has one sermon. Genesis to Revelation God has the same message.” (This was my favorite quote from the entire week.)

Kevin Deyoung- -“The Spirit’s work is to being glory to Christ. (John 16:14)”
-“If you have an anger problem or a bitterness problem, you can be sure what you really have is Gratitude problem.”

David Platt- -(I have not heard this sermon yet, but here are 2 great quotes I’ve heard from it.)
-“There are more believers in some of your Sunday School classes than there are in the whole country of Yemen.”
-“God is not calling you to be involved in His work among the nations because He needs you, but instead because He loves you.”

Ligon Duncan- -“David Platt’s sermon at this year’s T4G is the best sermon I have ever heard on missions.”
-“When the bottom falls out & disappointments come, you will learn what you believe, what you love and what you treasure.”
-“When you start hearing or thinking you can get what you want or you deserve this, then you better believe that voice always comes with a hiss.”

Matt Chandler-

John Piper- -“I am utterly amazed that after all these years, I am still a Christian.”
-“If God called you, you will be kept.”
-“You should be absolutely stunned that you are still a Christian. It takes all of that (Jude 24-25).”
-“Jude is a book about being kept by God’s power.”

 

Yesterday morning I preached a sermon called “Something Greater is Here” from Luke 11:29-32 and in this passage Jesus says: “It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given…”

There are many people today looking for “signs” from God that will show them or convince them what is true, or right, or what they should do or believe.

Jesus has answered this desire already. What we need is not signs, we need to see our own inabilities, our faults, our shortcomings, our sins. And when we do, we should turn to God. He is gracious and merciful. He understands us. He forgives people.

You can listen to the whole message here.