Moody's Heart

I have a love / hate relationship with vacations. Being a pastor is not my job...it's who I am. Turning that "off" for a week is extremely difficult. I LOVE my church and really don't care about being anywhere else on a Sunday. I'll sit at _____________ Baptist Church on Sunday and think, "I wonder how things are going at Cornerstone. I hope the fill-in preacher is challenging them and loving them. I hope the worship service is going well..." and so on. It's torture!

That is until I look over at my family and realize how precious it is sit in church together. You see we never get to do that. I'm always up front and never in a pew (or chair). While other families get to sit together in church every Sunday, we get to do that only twice a year.

Vacation is a week that I can totally focus on them. I can put ministry aside for a few days and give them my full attention. THAT is where the LOVE of vacation comes in. Spending time with them is wonderful and precious...well worth the difficulties of "turning off" ministry.

For this vacation, Courtney had a wonderful idea. We are having "special days" with each of the kids. We'll get a sitter for two, and take one for a day of doing whatever they choose. So far, it's been a BLAST.

Yesterday Courtney and I took Landen to the Lego Store in Chicago. The kid would rather build legos than do just about anything esle. That includes, sometimes, sleep. It's not rare to wake Landen up in the morning and discover a pile of legos in his bed....a late night project, I suppose. We knew the trip was going to be a blast for him....very special.

We boarded the South Shore Line in South Bend and took the train into the Windy City (by the way, Landen loves trains too). Though we nearly missed the ride over, the parking lot dash to get "on board" was the most frustration we experienced all day. The rest our time in Chicago could not have been more smooth!

But I was caught off guard by all the people. There are a lot of people in Chicago and there are a lot of different kinds of people; business men, college kids, families, homeless people, store clerks, tour vendors....the lady with all the dogs....the guy on the side walk sweeper that nearly ran us over.... People...lots and lots of people. And though they were all different, two things grabbed my heart about how they are all similar. First, they all had something they were concerned about. From securing that business deal, to finding enough food to eat. From building the next great hotel in America (we saw the new Trump tower) to finding a place to sleep that night. They ALL had something they were concerned about. And as I watched them, God brought to my mind the other thing they all have in common. All their concerns...every one of them, don't' really matter. In the end the ONLY thing that DOES matter is what they believe about Jesus Christ. Did they know Him? Did they accept His payment for their sins? All other concerns will pale when they are before Him. And even Trump will one day stand before the King of Kings and his money and achievements will mean NOTHING.

It must have been the very thing that Moody thought when he looked at the faces in Chicago. That very burden must have motivated him to have the zeal for evangelism that he did. I was challenged, heart-broken, and for a moment I felt helpless. How in the world can we help so many people? They will ALL stand before Him...every single one of them.

Not knowing what else to do, I prayed. "God help Cornerstone to have some impact. Help us to share Your gospel with those around us. Lord just help bring some into a realtionship with You." As I pondered this, it put me in a melancholy mood. It was daunting and frustrating and depressing.

Then I looked at my little boy with a smile he couldn't just wipe off his face. And I looked at his mother who, though tired and a little nervous, was setting it all aside to give her boy a special day. I had to remember that today was not about street evangelism. Today was about my family. I didn't want to lose the zeal, but I today had to be abou them. So I prayed again, "Lord, let me not lose this burden. Help me to keep it and share it with my church. Let it drive us to reach Elkhart for Christ. But Lord help me love Landen and Courtney today with just as much zeal."

We enjoyed a great day and I hope it's one I'll never forget...both as an evangelist and pastor...and as a father.

"Walk It, Don't Talk It" - Wrap-up from 8/3/08

"Are you on your way to heaven?"
"Yeah."
"Why do you believe that?"
"Well...I'm saved."
"OK...what does that mean?"
"Well...it means I got saved."
"Right. But what do you mean by 'saved'?"
"Ummm...I'm not sure."

I've had that conversation (or one like it) too many times. People know the terminology and they will say what they think you want them to hear. But in reality, they really don't know the answer for sure. And if you looked at the way they live, there is no evidence that they are really and truly different.

James 2 takes the conversation above a step further. The people in James' example had the right answer. "I'm saved through faith." But when it came down to living it, they fell short. The kind of faith they were clinging to was a professed faith....words only. James says that kind of faith is dead. REAL faith will have some from fruit. Saving faith will show itself in works.

I hope it was clear from the sermon that James and Paul are more in agreement than many give them credit for. Paul was clear in Eph. 2:8-9 that faith alone saves but he was also clear in verse 10 that "we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works." True saving faith will be accompained by a changed life. That was exactly what James was saying. Many translators skip an important articile in James 2:14 that is crucial to a proper understanding of the text. I appreciate how ESV translates the verse...."can THAT faith save him?" (emphasis mine) meaning that KIND of faith. A faith that is words only.

So what kind of faith do you have? Is there a difference in your life from those around you? Is the pattern of your life identical (or close) to the pattern of the world? If there is NOT a marked difference, then I would encouarge to you examine your faith! Do you REALLY believe this stuff? Or, are you playing a game?

One point I'm not sure that came across clearly was that I DO believe a person can be saved and still struggle with sin. The book of Corinthians is written to Christians who were struggling BIG TIME with sin. There are Christians that come to church every Sunday and "play church" then try to live like the world the rest of week. They are miserable people....never truly getting on fire for Christ (which brings great joy) but never fully living for themselves either...and when they do they are convicted by the Spirit. That's why we went to 1 Kings 18. Elijah is confronting Israel who had been "kinda" worshipping God and "kinda" worshipping Baal as well. Listen to this verse...
1 Kings 18:21
21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. (ESV)

Here's was my challenge. Get off the fence. As James MacDonald said in a recent message:
"If you are NOT going to serve God then go home, burn your Bible and live for yourself. But you say 'Oh I would never do that.' Fine. Then get SOLD OUT for Jesus Christ."

Here are some application questions:
1. Are you on your way to heaven?
2. Why do you believe that?
3. What changes have you seen in your life recently?
4. What sins are you still holding onto?
5. How can we as a church / grow group help you make those changes?
6. Do you really WANT to change? Why or why not?
7. What's keeping you from being sold out to Christ?