???FREE???

Throughout my life there have been a few statements that I have heard over and over again. One of those statements is, "nothing in life is free." It is amazing how this statement has affected the world in which we live and serve.

Yesterday (Saturday, August 20, 2011) LifePoint Community Church
had its first outreach as a new church. All we did was simply give out popsicles (so named, "Project Popsicle"), for free.



It's amazing how many people don't know how to receive something for free. One man asked me three times if it was really free. We didn't even require that people learn about LifePoint, though when asked, we did share with them.

This outreach was about getting out into our community, meeting and serving the people.

We provided a cold refreshment on a warm summer evening. That was it, no strings attached. And as a result, we got to meet 100+ people right in our own community.

You may be wondering why we would chose to do our first outreach in a way that didn't draw everyones attention to our church. The reasons are simple. In the grand scheme of things, it isn't about our church. It is about God and His love as displayed through Christ Jesus. Jesus came into the world to give a free gift. He laid down His life that we may experience the blessing of a saving relationship with God the Father.

As we simply give out a cold treat...

...hearts will begin to be prepared to accept the greatest gift of all: eternal life through Jesus Christ.

In Ephesians 2:8-9 it says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." There is nothing we can do to draw closer to God. Our salvation is a free gift of grace through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It is the work of the cross that sets us free from sins penalty.


May we learn to accept that the best thing in life is free, because it cost so much.

"I AM"

Sometimes in my quiet time with God I like to reflect on a passage that I think I understand and I will ask God to move me into a deeper understanding of that passage. The other morning I woke up thinking about Moses and the burning bush. I was really drawn to Exodus 3:14.

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

As I thought over this line again and again another verse came to mind. John 8:58 states, "“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

With these two passages on mind I thought back to Bible college where I was taught that God's introduction of Himself as "I AM" was a simple statement of God's eternal nature. The name "I AM" means the existing one. The one that lives from everlasting to everlasting. In college I learned that this statement was what separated the infinite from the finite.

As I was meditating on these passages I asked God what it means for Him to be the "I Am" feeling in my spirit that the simplistic view I had been taught in school was just that: too simplistic. (Though how simplistic is the concept of eternal?) As I was driving to work I began to feel a stirring in my soul. It was then that the Holy Spirit began to speak.

"I Am"

I Am goes so much deeper that just supplying an attribute of God. I Am defines who God is, in contrast to who we are. God is: our everything. He is our creator, our life, our breath, the food we need to live (the bread of life), our hopes, our dreams, our aspirations. He is the source of light, and rest. He is our comfort, our joy, our love (agape), our patience, our endurance, our strength, and our peace. God is all of this and much more.

He is a doctor for the sick, a Father for the fatherless, peace for the troubled hearted, assurance for the scared, courage for the fearful, justice for the downtrodden.

As I began to ponder the extent of who God is. (Knowing that I will never come close to rapping my mind around the depths of who God is.) I found myself in awe!

Then the Spirit spoke again and said, "but who are you?"

The fact is that the beauty of the "I Am" is who we are and can be in Him.





The truth is separated from God through sin we are nothing. We are dead. We are wicked and evil. But through the sacrifice that Jesus made on that cross we can become the very children of God, "children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John 1:13t us embrace all we can

Let us embrace all we can be in God!

Shifting Perspective

I am often amazed by the self righteousness of people in general, especially by self-proclaimed followers of Jesus Christ. (I know that this might come across as offensive, but it is something we are all guilty of from time to time - myself included.)

The reason I wanted to write this is to share what God has been showing me and breaking my heart over in the church. God first began to open my eyes as I was around a large number of Christians (I won't mention where, out of respect for my fellow sinners). What God started showing me was how often we as Christians put on a show of great spiritual maturity followed by our ramblings of our sinful life while constantly condemning others for their ungodly behavior.

I recently was told that a group of people would put on a front and say how they were Christians though they didn't live it. (These are generally the type of comments I ignore.) The reason I share this is because two days later I heard this same person talking about the male stripper at the party she was recently at.

I have also recently overheard one lady condemning another lady for sleeping around, then had her talk to me about her boyfriend that lives with her. I have heard many Christians verbally attack homosexuality, yet they think it is just natural for men to lust after women and see nothing wrong with pornography.

As I think about this I am drawn to 1 John 1:5-10, "This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."

So often we like to come across like we somehow have got it all together. We want to spend our time looking at what other people are doing rather than looking at ourselves. I know that it sounds like I am doing that very thing right now, but just today I found myself getting upset because someone made a mistake and I just wouldn't let it go. I was letting it boil inside, I was angry and in my anger I was sinning because I wasn't forgiving the lady who made me mad even though she apologized. (Forgive me, Lord.)

Very few of us would ever "claim" to be without sin in our words, our attitudes say it clearly. We start looking at others as if our thoughts, our actions, our calling, our social class, our educational level, our moral fiber... is the standard that other people can't live up to. When the truth is that it is God's character that we can't live up to.

Everyday, in some way I fail to live up to God's perfect standard. Everyday, I fail to live by God's design and I sin in thought and deed. And trust me I would love to say it happens only once per day, but that would be a lie. All to often I feel like Paul as he in Romans 7:19, "For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want."

It is for this reason that Jesus taught in Matthew 7:1-5, "Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye."

Jesus wanted us to focus on the sin in our own life before we start pointing the finger at others. When we do this we will be more honest, more transparent, more accepting, more loving, and more humble in our interaction with other people. We will also experience a greater dependency on Jesus. Our eyes will be on the cross not on other people's struggles. Maybe it is time that we shift our perspective.

It is on the cross that Jesus paid the price for our sins. The ones we committed before accepting Him as our savior, the ones we will still commit, and even the ones we are committing now. Jesus died for them all and conquered the grave that you and I might have a new life through Him.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

God's Apology - Are You Serious?

This past Sunday we were on our way to look at an apartment when we passed a church with marquee sign that said, "May is God's Apology for January" which is just a cute saying about being happy about spring.

Maybe I am too analytical but this sign really got me thinking about what that sign said about God. My first thought was why would God apologize about January? Was January a mistake? If so, has God continued to make the same mistake every year since 45BC when January was created as a month? Or what if, like my friend Dan and my dad, you live in Florida and January is a nicer month than May, does that mean that God is apologizing for giving you a nicer month and then giving you something worse? Or what does it mean if we get record rain fall in May?

Yes I know, right now you're thinking, "Brad you thought way too much about that sign!" However, let's take it a little further. What if we took a serious look at what we as Christians credit God for saying. Does God hate some people because of the sin issue in their lives? Would God not allow anyone to go to hell because of His love? Are the death of soldiers God's judgment?

These are all statements that people have given credit to God for. The question we need to ask is, do these statements that are accredited to God match what God says in His word? In Acts 17:11 the Bible says, "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

I love this passage. It tells us not to just accept what we are told is true by our pastors, teachers, priests, rabbis, or religious friends and family members, but to examine what we are taught. To study the scripture, to see if it is true. Not our thoughts, not our beliefs, our ideas, our hopes, but to examine the scriptures. Sometimes, this requires setting aside ourselves and taking up our cross and following Jesus even when we don't like what we find.

Let us be like the Bereans and be people of more noble character, studying the word of God, letting it shape our beliefs rather than letting our beliefs shape how we interpret the Bible.

When Words Are Not Enough

Believe it or not there are times when I find myself speechless. Times when words "seem" so empty and meaningless even when you mean them with all your heart. It is at these times that I want to say something that will bring healing, comfort, encouragement, the kind of words that will take the pain away. It is at these moments that words are never enough.

Today is one of those days.

I have thought and prayed and cried as I searched for the words to bring comfort to others. Words to bring strength to others who are feeling so weak. Words that will bring hope in the midst of despair. Yet, the words do not come.

Suddenly I was reminded of a verse in scripture. The shortest of all the verses in the Bible. Just two simple words, "Jesus wept." (John 11:35) These words so profound, so deep, so moving. Jesus, the God-man, the creator and savior of the world, wept.

Sometimes, words are not enough, and it is okay. There is nothing wrong with not speaking at that moment and mourning too.

You see when Jesus wept with Mary and Martha, what everyone understood was that Jesus loved Lazarus. That was more important than any words of comfort. He loved so much that His heart broke too.

For those who are mourning the loss of a loved one, know that Jesus is mourning with you.

In Memory of Bette Haag, 10-6-63 ~ 5-14-11
Survived by her husband Allen Haag, Sons Jeremy and Erik Haag, sister Lisa Black, and countless other people who's lives were made better because they had a chance to know her.

Worship: The Hymnal Wars?

Warning! This blog post may (unintentionally) offend some people.

Ok, now that I have that out of the way, I want to just start out by saying, "I am a Christian - unashamed, and unrestrained, a Christian." I believe that the Bible is the word of God. I believe that Jesus is the only way for salvation and that apart from Jesus' death, burial and resurrection we are lost and trapped in our sins. I also believe that the world tends to view Christians as a joke.

Yes, I said it. The question is "why?" Why would I say that the world views Christians as a joke?

As I start this answer, I want to preface my answer by saying, I love being a Southern Baptist Pastor. I love the fellowship I have within my denomination. I also love my brothers and sisters in Christ that are in other denominations.

With that being said, it is time we wake up and look at what we are doing.

In John 13:35 Jesus said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Yet around our country and around the world, the church is so fractured, so split apart, that the world is laughing at us. We argue about doctrines, we argue about music, we argue about Bible translations, we argue about how to dress, what is ok to read, what we can watch, what we can or can't say, and on and on... Churches have split over the meaning and mode of Baptism and churches have split over the color of the carpet in the sanctuary.

The fact is we are called to love each other, but the divisions in the church have become so wide that we even have denominational hymnals. You can get: The Presbyterian Hymnal, Baptist Hymnal, The New National Baptist Hymnal, The Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal, The Pentecostal Hymnal, The Lutheran Hymnals in America, The 21st Century Universal Denominational Hymnal, The Psalms & Hymns Of Reformed Worship. We can even get The African American Heritage Hymnal if we would like to have our worship songs based on race.

Really? What if we were to put Pentecostal hymnals in a Baptist Church? Or we could put Lutheran Hymnals in a Methodist Church while putting their song books in a Presbyterian Church. Is one Hymnal somehow more holy or more sacred than another?

Wait! That makes me want to ask other questions: Do we even need a hymnal? Do we need music to worship God? Do the instruments used in worship determine the holiness of a song? If so, what about the rhythm or beat of the music?

Or maybe, the worship that God really desires is a worship that results in lives being changed for the good. Maybe God wants our very lives to be worship, our thoughts, our actions, our relationships, our jobs, our words, our deeds, our creativity, our play, our relaxation....

Maybe worship, true worship, won't build walls of separation but instead will tear them down. Maybe we can embrace our brothers and sisters rather than bash them. Maybe we can encourage, strengthen, and inspire one another.

Mark 7:6-8 says, "He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."

Wow! Can you imagine what it would be like if we thought of these words as applying to us rather than "those guys". We read these words and think, "Way to go Jesus! Stick it to those Pharisees!" Yet, what if these words, that God put in the Bible for us today, were intended to open our eyes to our own flawed worship?

What if we began to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24)and truly embraced the words of Paul in Romans 12:1, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship."

When we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice we won't be caught up in having to be right all the time, and we might just start reaching out to others no matter where they are in their spiritual journey and show them the type of love that stretched His arms from one nail to the other.

Jesus paid the price! Let us honor Him in all our ways!

final words part 5 / ?Christian?

When you hear the word "Christian" what pops into your mind? I find it crazy how broad of a range of thoughts come to mind from this word. To some we think of Ned Flanders from the Simpsons and his great quotes such as, "Ok, boys, when you meet Jesus, be sure to call Him Mr. Christ." or "Now let us upload the holy Tweet of the Lord." or "No one comes back as anything, except for Jesus as bread, and that's it." Others might think of the guy on the corner of every event that requires a stadium with a sign that says "Turn or Burn" or of the people protesting soldiers funerals. Or we might take a completely different approach and think about christian books, christian movies, christian t.v., christian music or christian bumper stickers.

It amazes me what some people define as "christian" or what is even more amazing is what people call "not christian"

This makes me wonder, does putting the word "christian" in front of something automatically make it good? Does calling something christian make it godly? Does it make something evil if the most vocal christians are against it?

Let's think about this... In Isaiah 1:18 God says, "Come now, let us reason together..." You mean God wants us to reason, to think things through, to come to conclusions that make sense?

What is it that makes one thing secular and something else sanctified? As I think about this from a stand point of reason, it must have something to do with how it is used. For example, if I listen to a "christian" CD I am drawn to God, but when I listen to a "secular" CD I'm not. Right? So what happens if I am listening to a song by Simple Plan such as...



What happens if I'm listening to that song and find myself being drawn to God? What if, instead of being so focused on removing ourselves from the world, we were to start meeting God in the world we are in?

"Do you ever feel like breaking down?
Do you ever feel out of place?
Like somehow you just don't belong
And no one understands you
Do you ever wanna runaway?
Do you lock yourself in your room?
With the radio on turned up so loud
That no one hears you screaming"

Then I remember Jesus, who knows what it is like to feel so utterly alone. To feel rejected, mistreated, abused, hated, mocked, beaten down, spit upon, broken hearted, abandoned, betrayed, despised, etc.. Who was in that Garden the night He was arrested "overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death" (Matthew 16:36-46) He asked His closest friends to watch over Him and they slept. He pleaded with the Father, "if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

Jesus understands our pain, our suffering, and our heart aches, yet He goes on knowing that it will only get worse. This is a Jesus that can relate with me. Who is my strength. Yes there are times when I am drawn to great spiritual songs that inspire me to sing praise of victory to my God but there are other times that I am drawn to great spiritual songs (though not labeled "Christian") that draw me to a God who has experienced every temptation I battle with yet was without sin. Sometimes I need the Jesus who taught in the temple and sometimes I need the Jesus who ate with the tax collectors and sinners.

While Jesus was on that cross He cried out in a Loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."

Father take it all! I don't want it anymore. My sins, my lust, my filth, my pride, my arrogance, my selfishness, my anger, my pain, my brokenness, my depression, my addiction, my loneliness...and the list goes on and on. And He took it all on that cross.

God is at work all around us, we just get so caught up in our idea of spirituality that we miss what He is doing. Jesus, while praying in John 17, said this, " My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world."

Christians, Jesus paid the price, and He chose not to take us out of the world but to send us into the world so that people can see Jesus in us!