Revitalize Your Church

“One of the great things about being a pastor is that you have these people stagger in, not every day but on some days, and they have just been plodding along in life, minding their own business, keeping their head down, plowing the same furrow, not expecting, not even wanting conversion, and somehow, God reaches in, grabs them by the neck, shakes them up and down, and they, despite themselves, are different.” (Will Willimon, Wild Journeying, “Suddenly a Light from Heaven”, in A Peculiar Prophet, p. 97).

Pinky was a little slave girl -- only nine years old when her mother died. To lose your mother at such a young age is terrible -- but being a slave child made it even worse. Pinky would not go to the home of loving relatives. Neither she nor her loved ones had any voice in her future whatsovever. She was considered "property". Pinky's owner decided to sell her on the slave market. He figured he might get up to $900 for her. It just so happened that Henry Ward Beecher, a pastor from New York was visiting in town and heard of Pinky's plight. He approached the slave owner and asked if, perhaps, he could take Pinky back home with him. "I'm sure the kind people of Plymouth Church would be happy to provide a loving home for her.", he said. "Not on your life!" declared Pinky's owner. "I could get $900 for this girl! I'll tell you what, give me the $900 and she's yours." Rev. Beecher did not have $900 -- but her persuaded the ow...

"The question I want you to consider is simply this: Which is more important, the birth or the training? I suggested what training can do and what it cannot do. And so the matter comes down to this: the nature we have is the one we were born with. Training can go so far, but birth, especially the new birth, establishes the true nature. And this is the difference between what I will call “denominational churchianity” and true Christianity. We are training people every week to be good church people. But when left to themselves, they will revert to their real nature and act like themselves. They have been trained to act like a good Christian on Sunday, but it is only an act. The rest of the week they act like themselves, naturally." -- A. W. Tozer, "Experiencing the Presence of God"

A dear friend , pulled me aside yesterday, and said a lady from her former church called with a grace concern: "Are you sure you want to go to that Wesleyan Church? I've heard Pastor Mark preaches that there are two ways to get into heaven." "How should I respond to this?" my friend asked. I replied, "Wow, I can't believe they're accusing me of this! Only two? Why, I can think of FOUR ways to get to heaven!!" 1) Die 2) Be like Enoch and walk so close to God that He takes you home without death. (Of course, this has only happened once in history, so the odds aren't too great.) 3) Jesus returns gloriously and brings his children home to heaven. 4) Open up your heart and receive the fullness of Christ and the Holy Spirit -- and you will experience a little bit of heaven on earth.

In a stunning departure from historic orthodoxy, the presiding Episcopal Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori , claimed that prayers of repentance for personal salvation is heresy and idolatry: She called it " The great Western heresy: that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God." Contrary to the Bishop. I believe in personal salvation. Each one of us must give an account before the Lord -- and we all need God's saving grace. True faith, like a good education, does not come by social osmosis. Every great movement of God in history has emphasized this fact. When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus , he said "You" must be born again. He was speaking personally -- not in the general sense. It's personal! Jesus said to the woman at the well, I will give "You" (singular) living water. It's personal! Peter, preaching in Acts said, "Repent and be baptized, every "One" of you." It'...

Today- The Holy One The Lowly One The Lonely One The Only One - Died To reconcile us to God- Amazing Grace! -- Leonard Ravenhill, in Heart Breathings

Thanks to our Children's Pastor, Jeremy Mavis for putting three baptism videos on our church website . (Famous Mavis Productions!) If you haven't had the opportunity to see them, I encourage you to do so - -they're really moving -- and they remind us why we do what we do! The video of our last baptism isn't out yet -- but when it is, we'll post it here as well.

I preached today on John 3:16 -- the Gospel in a nutshell. At the end of the services about 20 people responded to the invitation to receive Christ as their Savior. My heart is overflowing with joy. You just can't go wrong when you preach on John 3:16

Tim Tebow Sports 3:16 in National Title Game

Better get your hankies out for this one: Cardboard Testimonies at Richland Hills Church of Christ This is so moving! God truly makes the difference! (Thanks to my up north friend, Bill, for the lead!)

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, grant us peace

"I remember coming back from a very long tour.... On Christmas Eve I went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. ...It had dawned on me before, but it really sank in: the Christmas story. The idea that God, if there is a force of Love and Logic in the universe, that it would seek to explain itself is amazing enough. That it would seek to explain itself and describe itself by becoming a child born in straw poverty... a child, I just thought: “Wow!” Just the poetry. Unknowable love, unknowable power, describes itself as the most vulnerable. There it was. I was sitting there, and ...tears came down my face, and I saw the genius of this, utter genius of picking a particular point in time and deciding to turn on this. Because that’s exactly what we were talking about earlier: love needs to find form, intimacy needs to be whispered. To me, it makes sense. It’s actually logical. It’s pure logic. Essence has to manifest itself. It’s inevitable. Love has to become an action or something concrete. It...

Scott McKnight is posting a beautiful Advent series at Belief Net From December 15: Three acts of advent: adoration , activism, and community-building . I'm struck in the advent stories of how focused they are on the people of God ... and today's text makes that abundantly clear. It comes from Matthew 1:20-21. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." What do we see here: Joseph is to marry Mary, in spite of what appearances are, because God's Spirit is at work in the conception of the child. The birth of that baby leads to the naming of that child: his name is to be Yeshua (Joshua, Jesus).Why? Because he will be a Savior of "his people." That people i...

Yesterday morning, I was called to the bedside of my friend, Fred, who is dying of cancer. I was deeply honored that he had invited me to come and enter this part of his life with him. I wasn't sure where Fred stood spiritually, and prayed all the way to his house that a door would open, and that I would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's promptings. I didn't want to be pushy -- but I knew Fred needed assurance and peace. The Lord arranged everything beautifully. We were able to talk deep. I shared several verses of Scripture, sang a few hymns, and prayed. God was present. The whole room was filled with love. At the end of our conversation, Fred shared a clear testimony of his faith -- that he is trusting in the Lord completely. I don't know how many days my friend has left upon this earth -- but I do know the peace of God will sustain him. This Sunday, we're going to light the faith candle for Fred.

Chet Davis attends Hayward Wesleyan Church. I had the privilege of baptizing him a year ago. His faith and love for God is an inspiration. Recently, he wrote the following poem: Tears O how many tears must fall before we accept the Savior? Tears of remorse, regreat and sinfulness; Jesus knows them all. Jesus wants to catch them before they fall And wash them away with the blood that he shed on the cross And replace them with tears of forgiveness and joy. O how many tears must fall Before we accept the Savior?

"Have you found Jesus??" the youth pastor implored. To this the astonished 9th grade girl replied, "I had no idea he was lost!!"