In the last week...

In the last week and a half I have traveled over 1,000 miles preached two services watched my favorite college football team win a national championship.  It has been a full week to say the least but a very insightful and good week for me.  When one travels that far by himself he has nothing but time to think of things and I availed myself of the opportunity I was surprised as I thought through core tenets of my faith and how far they reach into my everyday life.  The farther I travel with God the more I see His truth challenging me and changing me albeit very slowly into the man he would have me to be.  How great a realization this is that even as slow as my growth in Christ is God continues to place me in situations into which I can be spurred on to deeper intimacy with Him.

This time of forced (so to speak) introspection greatly enhaced my sermon preparation even though it cut my actual research time down.  I began to see how important my comprehension, to the best of my ability, of the gospel relationship and how that understanding changes the way I view the world.  There is no way I can see how God met my need for me when I couldn't meet it for myself and think that I am somehow better than anyone else.  For it is solely in the grace of Christ that I am even alive now and can be alive forever more and that grace is not reserved for me because of my greatness but offered for all because of our depravity.  This unshakeable truth must change how we who are alive in Christ change how we view those around us.  Christ died for us and for them the only difference is we have availed ourselves of an opportunity to accept God's gift of grace.  This coupled with our call to make disciples of all nations has to change our actions, we are saved to see others saved.  As I thought and studied on that realization I found myself wondering how best to do that and lo and behold God had already recorded over and over again how to live and preach the gospel he saved me and all believers to preach.  We are told to live worthy of the calling with which we have been called and Paul in his letter to Ephesians gives us some characteristics of the life lived worthy of the calling placed upon it.  How great the Father's love for us that He not only saves us from the penalty of sin but also the reign of sin in our lives and shows us how to live a life set free so that we might be able to set others free in Him.

The most recent thing I have experienced is probably the most exciting on a carnal level.  After over 50 years the Auburn University Football team has won its second National Championship.  I have watched almost every minute of every game this season which is a little sad but hey three plus hours a week lets me get away from the rest of the world and not have to worry about anything, so that and the grace of God keep me sane.  I have yelled, jumped, danced and growled week in and week out with this great team as a part of the Auburn family and was prepared to drive through the ice and snow if necessary to get somewhere to see the game Monday night.  Low and behold we won it was a close game and exciting from start to finish but then at about 12:20 Tuesday morning I realized something.  A bunch of guys I do not actually know personally winning a championship fought for every year does not bring a lasting excitement.  Even their head coach said the next morning the time to celebrate is over its time to go back to work.  How telling that even their coach realizes this is great for now but not for long.

I leave you with this there is but one thing that is constantly worth celebrating and working toward and that is the Kingdom of God in Christ that will last forever, yes football is great so is nascar and baseball but only one thing is lasting in its glory and we should chase after it harder than we do any team or driver we love.  That is a deep reaching idea especially as one walks a rural route to righteousness because football is like a religion in the southern sticks.  There in lies the key to balance realizing that while football is great and can bring moments of intense happiness much like a religion, God calls us to a deeper more permanent joy which only comes through a relationship with His Son Jesus Christ.

God's Grace and Peace to you from the Rural Route to All Routes of Righteousness

Anxiety Relieved and Ambition Renewed

I enjoyed a great day at church yesterday.  I went to Sanford Baptist yesterday morning and was able to hear one of Paige's cousins preach and his passion for the gospel was palpable as he proclaimed what God had put on his heart.  It is good to see that which i feel within me alive and embraced in the lives of others.  While I would love to be super spiritual enough for that to have made my day, it is not what did it for me.  On the first Sunday since 07 that I did not have a place to preach I was invited to preach 4 times.  You may not see why that is so blogworthy but it is because when you are called to preach and you have nowhere to do it that can be a monumental struggle and was in my life for the last several days.  As always God came through for me.  At just the right time with just what I needed.  While I still do not have a job or what appears to be an imminent lead God has shown me the next step and I am happy for that and it is enough for me.

On another front I am in the process of reading Rescuing Ambition by Dave Harvey, and his discussion of Christ's perfect life and obedient death imparting to me God's approval so that I would no longer feel the need for man's approval is completely freeing.  Christ by being perfectly obedient paid the price for me that God might be able to approve of me, now that I have His approval who cares about anyone elses?  Now this is not a license to sin and be careless and insensitive but it is inspiration for me to dream big no matter what men might say, not for my glory but solely for the one who has made me whole.  This should make life interesting on the next few miles of this my rural route to righteousness as i dream and strive to do great things for God's glory.  Even if I fall short of my plans by shooting for the moon I shall surely land amongst the stars.  God's Grace and Peace to you and through you to all men.

All dressed up and nowhere to preach

Today has been an interesting day.  This was the first Sunday in more than 3 years that I have not been preaching somewhere, and that hits you hard when you have been called by God to pastor.  I know that God has led me in this move and its His plan for me to be where I am but that only makes it a slightly less daunting task.  It was good to be able to just be a part of a service instead of leading it but I really itch to be in the pulpit.  This is definitely a growing experience for me as I strive to be faithfully obedient to God's direction without knowing what the future holds. Right now I am thankful for the peace that surpasses all understanding and the promises that God is with me and for me always as it has seemed He is the only one from time to time in this journey.  I pray that as I go forward that He will continue to show me each step to take that I might not get out of step with Him.  His grace is more than sufficient and as usual I am left standing in awe of His amazing grace committed to me at Calvary and each new day.