The “NO!” Box

Let’s get real!  At one point or another you have been “rejected”.  Whether it was years ago in kindergarten, and you passed a note to “her” (that first girl, other than “mom”, who caught your attention), and she checked the “No!” box …or yesterday at a bank, applying for a loan.  Most of us have a pretty good grasp of rejection.  Unfortunately, some are unhealthy enough to carry a mental list (worse yet: an actual/physical list) with them, of all the rejections they have experienced.  There is no greater prison!

As a church planter, i know the word well.  When we first launched “Greenbrier”, any time a family left the church for any reason (even moving to China…or Ohio), i felt like the “R” in my name (my middle initial) meant “rejected”.  I had to fight the pitty party voice and turn off the volume.  Perry Noble (my stunt double & pastor of NewSpring Church) has a humorous but so accurate way of putting it for churchianity. (my paraphrase) “Don’t work to close the “back door” of the church and stop people from leaving that are convinced they don’t belong there. If the church is the “body” of Christ…what happens when you shut the back door of your body?!  Not good!”"  ANYONE who leaves our body, we want them to know we truly love them in Jesus Christ, and want God’s very best for them! We are about His kingdom, not our own.  That doesn’t mean we need to serve in the same mission outpost.  …BUT, in love, we must serve The One who knows rejection greater than i will ever comprehend – Jesus!

A passage that continually haunts me is John 6:66-69!  In it, Jesus has just said a hard word to all who were following Him.  He wanted them to know the true cost of following Him. He was tough and laid the smack down. I have no doubt, the angels in heaven were playing the soundtrack to “Gladiator” as He spoke!  It was a HUGE moment in history!  …and EVERYONE left Him, except a handful of disciples.  Did you get that?  EVERYONE walked away from Jesus …they turned their backs on Him… they rejected the Savior of the World!  They were standing in the presence of sovereign God, and they checked the “No!” box…right in front of Him. Oh My God!!!

Was He surprised?  No!  But dang…Rejection hurts…even God!  Especially, when God knew how far He was willing (and would go) to show His love!  THEN, Jesus turned to the disciples and asked if they would leave too!  OW!!  I think of every kid i have known that has had a parent walk out on them…every spouse that has begged the other to Please NOT leave.  It tears me Up what Jesus must have thought!  …and i wonder how often i tell Him “No!”  Whew!  God forgive me! Then God pushes me to read on;  My hero, Peter (the A.D.D. poster boy, jump-out-of-a-plane for Jesus…without a parachute), answered for the souls of humanity…”Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”  Such an obvious answer, but it seems too often we seek every other solution possible.  Sorry – just speaking for my wretched sinful self.  Not you …of course!

Rejection: Dudes & Dudettes, You have been there…or are there…whatever form and for whatever reason!  Did you deserve it or is it a result of consequences? – that is between you and God to wrestle with.  All i know is that in time, i have learned (and continue to learn) that the rejection i walk through is either for my benefit (i have SO MUCH to learn) or for the blessing of the body! All said and done you and i will never experience the depth of rejection Jesus walked through.  Even though He knew it was coming…even through brutal beating and death on a cross, He was willing to endure it completely out of desire to draw us to embrace Him. This is your crossroads. “Do you want to leave too?!  Show Him your “No!” box (whoever gave it to you), then know He alone is your hope!  He alone is your joy!  He alone is your salvation! He alone has the Words of life!

So, who are you going to follow today?!

Pursue my Jesus recklessly!

WHAT’S HE SMOKING?

As a church planter, i am blown away that a body called Greenbrier Church follows my lead! In fact, there are very few Sundays that it does not literally freak me out to see that the Evans 14 Cinemas parking lot has cars in it…people coming to one of our services. If that is not big enough, i circulate in a world of some of the most gifted church planters on the planet, (…and yes, occasionally there are a few that are full of themselves and think they are God’s gift to humanity…but that’s another blog). It is often incredibly humbling to be around these people.   I literally find myself asking God; “Look around at these other guys! …And what were you thinking when you recruited/called me?!?”(I want to say, “What were you smoking?” ….but theologically i am not sure if God would appreciate it.  Then again – he made me, so i believe He would expect it…and laugh!)

Oswald Chambers nailed it today!  If you are like me, and wonder how you could be used by our Sovereign, Powerful, Omniscient God, this is for you.  If you wrestle with how the salvation of mankind would be entrusted in your faux-humility, your seeming “Dollar General” giftedness, your mistake riddled past , you owe it to yourself to read Oswald’s grapling with our worth and usefulness to God!

The Brave Friendship of God

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He took the twelve aside . . . —Luke 18:31

Oh, the bravery of God in trusting us! Do you say, “But He has been unwise to choose me, because there is nothing good in me and I have no value”? That is exactly why He chose you. As long as you think that you are of value to Him He cannot choose you, because you have purposes of your own to serve. But if you will allow Him to take you to the end of your own self-sufficiency, then He can choose you to go with Him “to Jerusalem” ( Luke 18:31 ). And that will mean the fulfillment of purposes which He does not discuss with you.

We tend to say that because a person has natural ability, he will make a good Christian. It is not a matter of our equipment, but a matter of our poverty; not of what we bring with us, but of what God puts into us; not a matter of natural virtues, of strength of character, of knowledge, or of experience— all of that is of no avail in this concern. The only thing of value is being taken into the compelling purpose of God and being made His friends (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ). God’s friendship is with people who know their poverty. He can accomplish nothing with the person who thinks that he is of use to God. As Christians we are not here for our own purpose at all— we are here for the purpose of God, and the two are not the same. We do not know what God’s compelling purpose is, but whatever happens, we must maintain our relationship with Him. We must never allow anything to damage our relationship with God, but if something does damage it, we must take the time to make it right again. The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to give our attention to, and it is the one thing that is continually under attack.

-Live nothing but reckless for my Jesus!

Spitting In Jesus Face

Ok, i acknowledge i have been a very random blogger…

and it has been too long since my last blog.  Glad some of you faithful blog subscribers have not given up on me and love me for more than my looks (ha!)  Over the next few weeks, i purpose to be hitting my blog much more consistently.  There is A LOT God is putting in front of me, and i look forward to sharing it…challenging us with His call on each of our lives!

I was wrapping up some study time i had yesterday morning, and i read something in Oswald Chambers (My Utmost For His Highest) that blew me away!  What he wrote about my Jesus, almost 100 years ago, haunts me in God-awesome ways! This morning, just wanted to share it:

You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am —John 13:13

“Our Lord never insists on having authority over us. He never says, “You will submit to me.” No, He leaves us perfectly free to choose— so free, in fact, that we can spit in His face, as men did; so free that we can put Him to death as men did; and yet He will never say a word. But once His life has been created in me through His redemption, I instantly recognize His right to absolute authority over me. It is a complete and effective domination, in which I acknowledge that “You are worthy, O Lord . . .” ( Revelation 4:11 ). It is simply the unworthiness within me that refuses to bow down or to submit to one who is worthy.”

I so want my life marked as not dominated by any competing passion or cause, except my Savior! … To be so fixed on a relationship with my Jesus Christ that i count it a nothing less than a privilege that He would entrust me “to sit with tax collectors and sinners”…of which i am one (Luke 15:1-32)! …To be so compassionate  through Him that i would embrace the hurting and destitute (Luke 17:11-19; Matthew 9:1-8; 18-34 …and so many other passages)!  …to be so Confident in His presence and purpose that i would boldly lead people away from the practice of religion (a southern social icon), and lead people to discover a true relationship with the One & Only Savior – Jesus! (Luke 18:9-14; 18-30)

Jesus Christ – the one and only bailout we all really need!

-Live reckless for my Jesus!

UN-STINKING REAL!

Have you ever had a phone call with news that is just un-stinking real?  It’s the kind of call we all want to get!…the kind i received this past Sunday!

Greenbrier, here is the deal: I am loving being away with my family on much needed vacation – absolutely the #1 place I want to be!   That said, the update call I received from one of our Greenbrier pastor team on Sunday afternoon was un-stinking real!  It made me jealous…wanting to rush back to be a part of what God is doing at Greenbrier!  On the other hand, it made me want to stay away longer so I would not mess up anything.  Ha!

What happened at Greenbrier on Sunday morning?

-The Set-up CREW was at the Evans 14 Cinemas early (as always), praying, serving Christ by setting up church campus so that many could meet and worship Jesus!

-Brier Patch and 3D CREW had done an incredible job ministering to our pre-school and children, even with a bunch of CREW out on vacation!

-…and worship was powerful, with 3 people making an eternal/life changing decision to trust Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord…while watching a “One Prayer” video message!!!

-Did you catch that? THREE LIVES are changed for eternity…AGAIN!

Folks, God is moving in and through this body!

-People are beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ most every week at Greenbrier!

-20 adults and students from our church body are returning tonight from a week+ mission trip in Costa Rica.  Rumors are that Jesus was working in huge ways!

-Two weeks ago a Big group of Greenbrier students and adults terrorized a whole bunch of children with the love of Jesus for four days in downtown Augusta.

-Two more adults from our church are heading out to Thailand on a mission project this week.

-In August, we will be assisting one of our team (Nick Carnes) in launching a church (NewPassion Church) in Grovetown!

Folks, as we partner with over 1700 churches around the world to glorify God through “One Prayer”, God is showing off.  Whether video or live message – He is transforming lives in our body. Our church is stepping out and being Jesus to the world, instead of waiting for the world to come to us.  Our church is blessed by all the people you are bringing in, and even more, by how many we are sending out for His fame!

God is blessing this church, my Greenbrier family!

Keep…

-INVOLVING God by Praying for our church and the people He has placed in your life (family/neighbors/work).

-INVESTING in lives of those same people.

-INVITING anyone/everyone He places around you that may not know the power and hope of Jesus Christ…to join you at church!

Dudes & Dudettes, I love ya’ll and we are pumped about being back with you this Sunday!  Until then, live reckless for my Jesus!

THE BEST HOUR

Greenbrier was so incredible to be a part of this past Sunday!

Our set-Up & Break-Down Teams did an amazing job in record times! The worship was powerful! Brier Patch (pre-school) was loaded up and loving on a mess of kids.  …And what happened in 3D (our children’s environment) was awesome! – A first time guest brought their kids to the 1st service (9:00AM).  After the service was over and the kids were checked out, they realized there was a second service (10:15AM).  The kids had such an awesome time that they begged to stay for the second service!  …And that is what happened!  The family stayed and the kids went home knowing Church is cool and Jesus is INCREDIBLE!

This is why we are ORANGE!  All of our ministry environments teaming together to Impact entire families for Christ!  I hear different versions of this happening on our campus with kids and families almost every week!  3D CREW  – I am PUMPED about this!  Praise God & Thank You…and ALL our CREW (Set-Up & Break Down Teams, Brier Patch, Host Team, Usher/Parking Team, Worship & Tech Teams, 3D) for uniting to make this happen! AWESOME!  Kids and parents realizing JESUS is nothing less than Incredible…and us taking advantage of that truth in every environment – that’s what it is all about!  TOGETHER, Greenbrier, you made this one of the best hours (if not THE best hour) of the week for this family…and MANY MORE!

God continues to move in our body and provide in powerful ways!  This Sunday, we continue “Dirty Laundry” (Parenting series).  In that,  I cannot wait  to share with you This Sunday some very cool opportunities He has in front of us and Huge ways He is providing for us!   Whew!  -Can’t wait!

-stay reckless for my Jesus!