Without My Wife…

I love my wife. Seems kind of obvious for a man to love their wife, or is it? Read the stats on divorce and this is not the case.

As many of you know, my wife is still working in Gainesville. Most of the time she works out of her home office, but on certain weeks she has to go there to do work. She was gone last week, and because of all the tax stuff that has to get done she is gone this week again. I miss her. A lot. There is a growing concern that pastors do not spend enough time with their families and so now there is a big push for people, especially pastors, to “date their wives.”

I have decided I am not going to date my wife. Dating is a process that people go through before they make a decision about the person. Dating gives you a way out if you do not like what is going on. I am not going to date her anymore.

Pastors that are reading this…MARRY YOUR WIFE AGAIN! I am not talking about the ceremony, but about the commitment you have made to her. Marriage is about making your spouse the first and most important thing in your life. ( I know aside from your relationship with God…all you spiritual people out there!) I want to reaffirm that she is the most important thing again.

I will no longer just be a helper to my wife. I will no longer be a roommate. I will no longer be a co-parent with my wife. I will be that newly wed husband that drives us all crazy. I will be that naïve newly wed that thinks love will get us through everything…because maybe just maybe…it will.

Sunday Rewound

This past Sunday ECC had their first guest speaker, and it was a definite great change from the norm. Here are some highlights…

·        Dr. E. Bob Kuschel was the guest speaker from Westwood Hills Church of God in Gainesville.

·        His style is the other end of the scale from me. He is one of the best. He is emotional and deep at the same time. Many times preachers get loud but do not say anything with depth. He has the ability to do both.

·        Great attendance!!! Your support of ECC is tremendous.

·        Part of our new First Impression Team was in action today. It is great to see Jennifer and Laurie get involved in this team!

·        Arron and the band did a tremendous job. Their Spirit led worship set up Dr. Kuschel for success. It is great to see all the people worshipping in their own ways. From those seated to those standing with hands raised, God is pleased.

·        I enjoyed being fed. Many times it is the pastor that has to find ways to get fed, and for this week, it came to me. I was challenged and encouraged by the message.

·        There were several “Pentecostal” moments. Many of our new people looked a little confused. Much of our church has not seen things like this before and so now the teaching must begin. It was a good thing though. When God manifests in that way, I am always in awe.

·        Finally, Arron had a new arrangement of an old song. Dr. Kuschel loves the song, “Just A Closer Walk With Thee,” and Arron rocked it out. The great part was how Much Dr. Kuschel loved it!

 

Next week we start our February series entitled “Unlovables.” It will be all about loving those people that seem unlovable. If I read correctly, that is exactly what Jesus sat out to do, so will we…

Renovation is under way!

Our renovation is under way! To try to enhance the worship experiences at ECC, we have decided renovate the sanctuary. This will include taking out the pews, adding chairs, divider walls, an information/resource center, and yes a fully functioning internet coffee café. This is an exciting time, but one of great thought as well.

People have asked me why put a café in the sanctuary? Am I trying to be relevant? Maybe. Am I trying to be hip? No. Do I just really like coffee? Yes, but I can drink that in my office. There is more going on at ECC than just a café. The entire look and feel of the sanctuary will be new and different. It is part of the sweeping changes going on here. Will everybody like the changes? Probably not, but they are for the long term growth and development of what we are trying to accomplish. The vision God has for this campus is bigger than all of us can imagine, but to accomplish it will take the dreaded “C” word. You got it  - CHANGE

Why is change hard for so many people? Part of the reason is that somehow they believe if they change, they have to admit they were doing it wrong in years past. This is not true. What we do today will have to be changed in five years, but that does not mean we are wrong now. Culture moves at light speed, and we must be willing to move at the same speed to keep up. It is about being relevant to the place that God has placed us. Does it make me relevant because I wear jeans on Sundays? It is not the jeans that make me relevant, it is understanding the culture around this church and knowing that for them, seeing a “preacher” in jeans is comforting. If people do not feel comfortable around you, they won’t listen to you. Christianity is not comfortable, but the personal relationships that form the platform for me to speak need to be. The day that clothing is the barometer for relevancy, we are all in trouble.

Be relevant. Be life changing. Be hopeful, merciful, and loving. But most importantly, do it for others.  

Apples To Apples

So I have fallen in love with a new game. First let me say I am not a big board game fan, but I have been introduced to a game that has me addicted. The game is called “Apples to Apples,” and it is basically a word association game. Each player has seven cards that are all nouns ranging from inanimate objects to actually people (I had Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in my hand at the same time last night. Forget about it!) So then the judge picks a card from another deck, and this deck is full of cards that have adjectives. Then each of the other players play a card face down to match the adjective card. The judge then picks which one is a winner without knowing who played each card. The person who wins gets the card, and the first person to 7 wins is the winner. Really a simple game, but addictive.

            After I played for a few minutes, I realized one important fact of the game. I had to play the judge as much as the cards. For example, the adjective given was “painful.” I played the card that said “Barbed Wire,” and I thought it was a sure fire winner. But then to my surprise the card that said “homework” was chosen! The judge was my 12 year old niece, and to her, homework in more painful than barbed wire! So I realized that the person who was the judge had to be taken into consideration. My perception of painful and hers was quite different.

            It’s not that much different that life, especially that of a Christ Follower. When the “Christian,” card is played, what will those is your communities respond with? How do they see Christianity, and is their perception warranted? We talk about culture, context, and a host of other things that are all very important to making Christianity what it should be, but maybe we better figure out what our community’s perception is first. How can we change perception, if we are not sure what it is?

            I am going to be dealing with this as the New Year has begun. I need to be aware of what the perception of Christ is before I can change anyone’s perception. Now you will have to excuse me, I am going to make my niece sit on a barbed wire chair…maybe that will change her perception.