Africa - Second Day

Great day of worship at Old Naledi! Wonderful celebration - First time I preached through an interpreter. Once, the interpreter got stuck and looked at me. I told him I sure didn't know the word he was looking for! Had some great fellowship with pastors and missionaries from the area.

The children will wrap themselves around your heart! I meet one baby girl named Wendy - she was so precious. A 10 year boy named Bubulos tried to convince that his flavored water was beer. I told him that beer makes you stupid. Then I asked him if he was stupid! All the kids love having their picture taken.

We did get to see Matatha's new baby - one week old and very healthy. Thanks be to God.

Again ate a genuine African meal - but felt like a southern meal - rice, beef stew, potato salad, cole slaw - but chaklata is definitely not southern - but fiery. We helped set up and tear down - and I drove the truck today! Everything is opposite ! Definitely improved the team's prayer life - and helped some Botswanians get closer to the Lord also!

The feeding station had cooper wiring stolen from their kitchen, so that will be challenge that must be solved this week.

Tomorrow is our recreation day - we are going to a game preserve. All I know is I have to outrun Scott Shipes if the lion starts to chase us!.

Thanks for all your prayers! Please continue!

Africa - First Day

When we were picked up at the airport by pastor Morudi James he invited me to participate in a funeral service of a key volunteer. I came to Africa to serve - so my answer was "yes." That meant an early rise - the funeral began at 6:00pm. There was much singing and then I shared a brief message. I told the crowd that I was sure they were wondering why I was speaking at such a moment. Then I told them that whether we were from Africa, or North America, whether we had black or white skin, this moment - death will come to us all. Only if Jesus is in our life will we have hope.

Then we went to cemetery - a fascinating experience. I led a prayer at the graveside and then the ministers (including me) and the family throw handfuls of dirt on the grave. The men of neighborhood then shovel dirt overthe casket - while the crowd (about 200) sings. What I liked about this was it gave the family time to grieve, not just be hurried. So different than our American way...

In the afternoon we climbed the Khali Hill to look down on the city - and saw baboons!

Mostly I am impressed with the vision of Morudi James, the pastor of Old Naledi Baptist Fellowship. Old Naledi is a very impovrished area. He has devoted his life to live there and make a difference in the lives people in the name of Jesus Christ. He told me that he gives so much, he needs to be filled up. That's part of the reason I am here!

To Africa!

As you read this, I am probably on a plane crossing the Atlantic, headed toward Africa.

Why Africa? My heart was not stirred because of HIV/AIDS crisis, I am ashamed to say. My heart was stirred because of the loyalty I have to a friend. My friend Robert Brown was sensing a tug from God away from the pastorate. He felt a leading to do something for HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa. Led by the Spirit (for that is the only way I can explain such a rash promise), I told Robert that if God told him to work in Africa, I would hold the rope.

Thus far holding the rope has meant supporting Robert and the organization he leads, Churches Together, serving on that board, praying, and casting for vision for our church to involve ourselves. As you know, we have established a partnership with Old Naledi Baptist Fellowship (http://oldnaledifellowship.org/index.html). We have helped them erect a building, purchase a van, and feed 150 HIV/AIDS orphans. We have sent three mission teams to work with them, including a student team earlier this summer.

Why now? I have known for some time that I needed to go to Africa. But the time never felt right. I am not that good at construction that I needed to go and lay block. I am certainly not that good at sewing, so I didn’t need to be on that trip!

What I can do is teach the Bible. On this trip, that is what I will get to do. I will be preaching Sunday as Old Naledi celebrates their 10th anniversary. I will be spending time with Morudi James, their pastor, and people who work with him. We will be talking about how to do church and how to teach the Bible. God has opened the door at this time for me to do what He has uniquely gifted me to do.

What I ask of you: Please pray for Scott Shipes and myself as we make the journey. Pray that we will be open to the leading of the Spirit as we train and as we look other partnership opportunities. Pray that the forces of evil will be kept at bay during our work.

You can follow our work on this blog. We will try to post regular updates.

ADBC believes God wants us to help as many people as possible take their next step toward Jesus. Some of those folks live in Sumter. Some live in Old Naledi. All of them matter to Him.

Ladies Night Out

We just received word that Ladies Night Out has sold out! 700 tickets gone in 8 days! Wow - thanks be to God!

Sunday Download

What a great day at ADBC
Great crowd in worship - 1268 on campus! Student ministry had 132 in Amp Groups - very strong.

Then Sunday evening we had overflow crowd for My Leadership Matters. Thanks to Todd Fleming for orgainizing this event, and thanks to him, Jock, and Mark for leading break out sessions. Nathan Waganer did a great job co-teaching the opening session with me. His creativity is always refreshing! And I want to salute the 185 leaders who care enough about their service to Jesus to come and grow their capacity and competence.

Sunday's message is still ringing in my heart. Just a reminder of the highpoints:
1. Even when you are with Jesus, there will still be storms.
2. Jesus understands how it feels to be emotionally and mentally exhausted.
3. Don't be afraid to go to Jesus and ask for help.
4. You will face a great storm in life - and it will require great faith and great courage.
5. Be amazed not that the storms are stilled; be amazed at the one who stills the storm.

Picking up the Peanut

I was in Walmart today and I saw something I had never seen before. A Walmart associate stopped and picked up a peanut shell. She wanted to store to look clean.

If you live in Sumter you know they just repainted the store. I wonder if environment makes a difference in behavior?

To make a difference, ask yourself, "What can I do to change my environment?"

Your Leadership Matters at ADBC…

If you greet people with warmth at church, they will know they are valued. If you express kindness to someone you don’t know at church, they will know they are loved. If you tell others the simple things God has done for you, they will understand that People Matter to God.

If you welcome people different than you at church, you let them know they belong. If you extend care through word and action to people, you are being the body of Christ. If you encourage and listen, you will help people know that church can be a Place of Grace.

If you will live out the truth of scripture, if you will tell the truth, if you will treat people the way Jesus did, if you build piece by piece integrity, then people will recognize your character is different. If you refuse to live by the standards of this world, but lived out the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control – people will think you are like Jesus. Isn’t that who you are supposed to remind people of?

If you live your life in a direction that is more than taking care of yourself and your family, you will make an impact. If you serve others, give, and share your story, people’s lives will be changed. If you live out your purpose, you will find more joy, more fulfillment, and have more impact than you can imagine.

This Sunday night we will be talking about My Leadership Matters. Whether you lead by setting an example, or greeting at the door, or teaching a class, or volunteering in the Preschool ministry, or hanging out with the students, or loving children, or serving or the Singles Council, your leadership matters! Make it a priority to be present!

Sunday Download

Great crowd today at ADBC - almost probably close to 1170. We prayed for students and teachers heading back to school (By the way, don't forget to join us for Praywalking our Schools tomorrow at 9:00 am). I was struck during the pastoral prayer how everything our students learn is touched by God's hands. He created the ability for art and music, He shapes history, chemistry and biology are studies of His creation, and yes, He even created Algebra. So our teachers are not teaching subjects, they are teaching God's genius.

I am loving the series Unexpected. One of my favorite stories is the healing of the centurion's servant - I am confronted with the question "Is Jesus ever amazed by my faith?"

Great crowd at Starting Point tonight - over 30 interested in taking their next step at ADBC.

Best part of Sunday - Three people being obedient to Christ - and being baptized. I love being part of a church that is reaching people for Jesus!

Trimming the Tree…

Let me back-track a couple of weeks. My family made a trip to ranch in Florida to join with my siblings, nieces, and nephews for a family workday at my folks. The inside work crew needed to clean out closets, sort dishes, and straighten cabinets. The outside crew didn’t have a long list, just a daunting one – trim the 20 or so trees that surround my parent’s house.

My brother had rented two bucket lifts, and he and my nephew rode up to attacked the trees with their chainsaws. I was perfectly content to stay on the ground, saw up the limbs, and load them to be hauled to the burn pile. We put in a good day and half of labor and really made a difference in the place.

One cousin, keeping track of our activities on Facebook, remarked that there had to be sermon in the whole idea of a preacher trimming the dead wood out of the trees. She was right – but Jesus has already preached it.

In John 15:6 Jesus said, “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned.” Branches that are dead are removed so new life can grow, so disease will not destroy the healthy wood, and so the threat of injury from falling wood will be removed.

There are some questions arise from this passage: Can a person lose their salvation? What does this look like – a person being thrown away? I believe a person cannot lose their salvation – but I do believe that a person can choose to be absent from God. After a while, God cuts them away from that which is healthy and growing.

This is an uncomfortable truth – the church is not required to make everyone happy. We are not required to satisfy everyone’s wishes. We are required to remain in Jesus and to bear much fruit.

This leaves the last question – how much fruit is on the limb of your life?

Thickburger Lessons

Chris Nygord, our media specialist at ADBC, wrote about his recent experience at a local restaurant, and reminded me of how what we do here matters:

I’m not normally prone to speak my mind unless asked, but this has been marinating for some time now so please read. It’s not meant as a shot at anyone, but rather a reminder of the importance of what we do here working together as a staff…

The other night I was craving a burger so I decided to go to Hardees for a thickburger.

Too many in the drive thru so I went inside where I was able to walk straight to the counter and order. I was excited. I filled my drink and waited as a half dozen more people filed in to get their fix. Several minutes went by and the person behind me got his meal. I don’t usually let things like that bother me so I continued to patiently wait- inspecting all the cool new graphic designs for their $6 burger and new natural cut fries… “We’re showing some skin”…(potato skin that is) what a great tagline...

But as time continued to pass and the line of waiting people grew, I began to notice the random ladder by the cash register, the boards that hadn’t been painted, the dinginess, and the fact that there were 6 employees leisurely going about their business without any regards to the customers standing around. The manager was running around frantically trying to get all the orders through though not one of them was interacting with the customers. I hadn’t eaten that day and was starving - Patience was wearing thin as I watched three additional people get their meals before I finally had to step up only to find out I hadn’t been given a number because they didn’t place my order. None of them even bothered to look at me. After a couple minutes I was handed my bag with the standard issue four-word disingenuous apology- “sorry for your wait.”

I don’t know why but my mind just began to see the situation as an illustration to share. See, the employees were working, but they weren’t paying attention to the overall goal of providing a positive experience for the customer. While the product itself was pretty good, it was completely overshadowed by the frustration caused by their lack of communication and disregard for working together as a whole to take care of me - the hungry one. Do you think next time I am hungry, I will choose a thickburger or consider any one of the many other options available to me?

Working at a church, everyday we have people come in that are “hungry” hoping to find whatever it is they are hungry for. And since we’re not talking burgers here, it impressed on me that it makes it that much more vital that we work together to make sure we offer the best experience possible so that their next step is towards Christ and not towards the door to find something else that will suffice their needs.

I am thankful for the ability to work with such a great team here. I truly believe we do a lot of things well. I also think there are many areas we can all strive to improve in closing the loops and becoming an even stronger and healthier team. My hope is that we continue to strive to become better at what we do, and in so will that will hopefully translate on to the people we serve. When you receive bad service, think about how that affects your perspective of that experience. If we only do our jobs, then we are not really doing our jobs. It really does take a collective team effort….

Sunday Download

Sunday's message was interesting to me - I knew it would really hit some people because of what they are going through right now, and others would be tuning out - because they weren't in the right place. The truth is, everyone will need the core truth of the message - Jesus is willing to touch all the untouchable places of your heart - sometime.

Don't miss any of the messages in this series, Unexpected. We are doing some pretty neat video shoots for them.

We had a woman profess faith in Christ at 11 - that was great. Good crowd. Thirty first time guests! Thanks to Michelle Blassengale, Leroy Steigerwalt, and Sarah Lee for leading in worship while Jock was on vacation.

ASK THE PASTOR is this Wednesday at 6:00. I hope you will come ready to ask whatever questions God has put on your heart.

Passing the Flag

This week I was priviledged to attend a change of command ceremony at Shaw. David Peteraus, the four star general in charge of Central Command (that's all US forces in the Middle East) presided.

The change of command ceremony had rituals - the relinquishing of the flag of the unit by the old commander, the taking of the flag from the new commander, the last salute to the old commander, the first salute to the new commander.

What's the point? The military has developed rituals to affirm that the leader may change, but the mission remains the same.

Most Evangelical churches miss this! We think a new leader means a new mission. Sometimes, sure. But didn't Jesus give us our mission? Isn't it eternal? How do we affirm that despite leadership transitions?

Unexpected…

What do you expect from God?

Do you expect words of harsh condemnation? Do you think He is waiting to dangle you over the fires of hell, and snatch you back at the last minute? Is your image of God painted with a palette of anger, wrath and rage?

Do you expect God to indulge you? Do you expect Him to wink at your sin, because after all, everyone sins a little bit? Do you think He’s not really paying attention to the lust in your heart, the lie on your lips, or the look of envy in your eye?

Do you think God will give you extra points for showing up at church? Do you think following Jesus is about keeping score - +10 points for putting a dollar in the offering plate; +20 points for being nice to your in-laws; - 15 points for cheating on your expense account? As long as you come out positive, do you think you will go to heaven?

Do you think God should say “yes” to every prayer you raise? Do you think you understand all of God’s power? Does God work for you or do you work for Him?

Does God love someone you can’t stand – someone who is manipulative, someone who lies, someone who stabs you in the back – does God love these kind of people? Would God ever make you so uncomfortable, you’d want Him to leave you alone?

Do these questions make you squirm? Are they what you expected?

This Sunday, I begin a new message series – Unexpected. Jesus does not behave as people expect Him to – He never does.

One last question: Will you come with an open heart to worship this week – and be ready for the unexpected?

Amazing ADBC

I was gone this weekend, gone home to do some work around my parents house. As one cousin wrote on my Facebook page, "A preacher trimming dead wood out of trees - there's a sermon in there somewhere!"

Heard Nathan did a great job in my absence - and set off a debate about the best Red Velvet Cake of all time.

Mark P. told me that we received over 700 bookbags to give to needy children in Sumter - Way to go! This conservatively represents an investment of over $7,000 for the poor.

Our volunteers have done a great job hosting the volunteer room at the Dixie League World Series this weekend. Julie Daniel, our Preschool Pastor, was told on Sunday that the group that committed to feed the teams on Tuesday canceled - and then the powers that be asked her if ADBDC could step up and do it. The answer was "YES!" I love the "can do" spirit of our church.

Can't wait for the new series to begin - Unexpected. It's all based out of Matthew 8 - where Jesus encounters the unexpected and does the unexpected.