Open House Sunday

We would appreciate your prayers for our Community Open House this Sunday morning. We have been able to get the community college into presentable shape; we’ve been seeking to equip our people for ministry to visitors; we’ve been inviting; and there are advertisements throughout our community. We’ve had some visitors already the last few weeks, and we are praying “that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified” (II Thes. 3:1).

The flyer in the gutter

A couple of weeks ago a mission team helped us canvass down in Murrieta. This morning a visitor attended our church who found a flyer in a gutter in Murrieta. Apparently he was at work blowing leaves or debris from a gutter (he must work in landscaping or something similar), and saw the flyer as he was blowing. Surely God’s ways are higher than ours!

Latest Update from the Trues

In case you’re worried that Eric & Alicia might be bored, or not diligently serving the Lord here, their April – July Update should pretty much clear up that concern!

Sweet and Messy

That was my dessert at lunch this past Sunday: sweet and messy. Hot chocolate brownies with peanut butter inside, vanilla ice cream on top. Sweet and messy, kind of like the fellowship of God’s people. We’re stuck in the same bowl together: individually members one of another (Romans 12:6). Like brownies and ice cream, it is an intentional mixture: God has placed the members, each one of them, just as He desired (I Corinthians 12:18). But is is also a messy combination of sinners that requires immense grace: Live in peace with one another … admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil… So it’s messy. But I insist that it is also sweet. Sweet because here the power of the cross can be demonstrated in a most remarkable way.

I wonder: do we try to hard to avoid the messiness? Are we too scared of disagreeing with one another? Too nervous about confrontation? Too careful to cover up our own heart messiness? If our church appears to be a calm oasis with no relational messiness, could that be a sign of a dangerous truce (“you’re relationship with God is your business, and my relationship is my business”)? Here’s what I’m telling myself today: “Stop trying to flee from the messiness. Stop dreaming about the day when you’ll have a church of perfect people and no messes. Embrace this God-given messiness, that the power of the cross might be seen.”

The messiness will never go away until we are made like Him when we see Him. But until then, God’s grace will be magnified in the mess, through moments that can only be attributed to him: moments of love, repentance, and reconciliation. Sweet!

Family, Stitches, Three Girls, and More

I’m sorry about the long pause.

• We had the Facenda family with us over the 4th of July weekend. They are on their way to Gwangju, South Korea – one of those huge Asian cities with little gospel witness (I just saw a list of 55 Chinese cities with populations over 500,000).
• My family drove to Reno, Nevada to visit with my sister and her family. We had a wonderful visit with them, and I enjoyed being able to visit their church, Community Bible Church. The Lord providentially allowed a few complications – stitches for Katie and pink eye for Abby.
• While we were gone, a team from Hampton Park Baptist Church was here. They did door-to-door canvassing in brutal heat, making several good contacts. One 14-year old boy made a profession of faith in Christ and one new family visited on Sunday. They also did an excellent program of music and testimonies on Sunday morning.
• Kristalyn’s ultrasound yesterday showed that the baby is most likely another girl!

The next four weeks will be extremely busy for us. By God’s grace we’ll work hard, pray hard, and look forward to reporting back about what the Lord is doing.

When the sermon is over

Pastors experience a wide range of emotions when they finish teaching a lesson or sermon: euphoria, heartache, disappointment, apathy, concern, relief. I put very little stock in my emotions at those times, because they often seem to be founded upon entirely subjective evidence (why did he raise his eyebrow at me when I said ___?). If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ (Gal. 1:10). What should a pastor say when the sermon is over? World magazine has an article on “last words,” and it includes these sweet words from the end of Augustine’s The City of God:

From all who think that I have said either too little or too much, I beg pardon; and those who are satisfied I ask, not to thank me, but to join me in rejoicing and in thanking God. Amen.