Theology
Ephesians 2: 8 - 10 (ESV) - "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
For the past several years, the slogan on my facebook page has said one thing: "Love is Liberty not Law." Oddly enough, no one really asked me for any sort of explanation about this. I understand that it seems really warm and fuzzy, but I wanted to take a little time to dig into my thoughts behind this. First off, I want to be clear that I'm not sharing the message that some guys I met in seminary liked to rant about. They always went on and on about the fact that they were "Free in Christ," so they could do whatever they wanted. After all, Christ already died on the cross, so their sins were already forgiven. Any sin that happened in their life just made them a greater consumer of God's grace. So why should we be that concerned with trying to follow any kind of law or rules we see in Scripture? Shouldn't we just want to enjoy the grace of God?
These kind of ideas are a poor interpretation of Scripture. Paul deals with this issue in Romans 6: 1 - 2 (ESV) - "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" Paul is pretty clear that we don't sin just to experience God's grace abounding. His grace has already gone far beyond we could ever imagine in bringing us from death to life. We are already chief consumers of His grace. So, this is not the kind of liberty that just allows us to do whatever we want. It must be some other kind of freedom.
In Ephesians 2, Paul speaks about God's grace saving us through faith. It isn't because of anything that we do (Law), but we are given Liberty because of the Love that God has for us. The interesting thing about this Liberty from God's Love is that, according to Paul, it should lead us to Law. According to Paul here, we aren't saved by our works, but we are saved for our works. As God's workmanship, we are created to do good works that God has set for us to do. We are set free so that we can serve. God's love rescues us so that we can live in obedience to Him. That is freedom. Not that we are free to be who we want, but that we are free to be who we were created to be. We are free to live according to God's desire for us. Nothing else could bring us more joy. Love is Liberty not Law, but it leads to obedience.
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Culture,
Me
Proverbs 5:23 (ESV) - He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.
I'm going to have one of those really honest moments with you. I'm not always the most disciplined person. I've always found it pretty easy to be decently organized and disciplined with school and work, but the area that I struggle is in my personal life. Oftentimes, when I come home from work, I just want to sit and do nothing while I watch some Netflix to 'relax' from the day. The problem I get into with this, is that I'm not very great at getting everything done that needs to get done in my personal life. I don't always take time to pick up around the house, do a load of laundry, spend enough time in God's word, work on getting in shape, and finish writing all those things I started.
Emily and I have been reading through the bible together this year, and it's been such a great experience for the both of us to do it together this year (Youversion.com). That structure has made me think of alot of other areas in my life. I have alot of wasted time in my schedule. It's not that downtime isn't important, but when it keeps us from accomplishing things that need to be done to be more obedient to the Lord, or to be a better husband, it needs to go.
So I'm setting up a daily schedule for myself of my free time. In doing this, I understand that it can be easy to lose the meaning of things if they are just being checked off of a list. This is a struggle I'm willing to face in order to become a more-focused person for the Kingdom. I don't want to lead a life of ease, I want to lead a life of my discipline to His glory. I think it's time to re-read Celebration of Discipline.
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The Church at Cane Bay
One thing that has always been a strong theme in my life is the constant faithfulness of God, and my occasional inability to recognize it until later. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 is a great reminder to us: “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” Yesterday was a great reminder to The Church at Cane Bay of His incredible faithfulness.
Charlie and I spent a great amount of time planning and praying for our Discovery Lunch over the last month. We wanted to create a time and place where people who were interested in The Church at Cane Bay would be able to come and hear the vision that God has placed on our hearts for Berkeley County. One night, I had a dream that about fifteen people were gathered together at a meeting like this and were interested in becoming involved in the work that God is doing. I woke up excited and hoping that we could be able to gather a group like this. Our best hopes were to have fifteen to twenty people come out to get a glimpse of the vision and mission. Yesterday, God proved that His plans were far better than our hopes.
After the morning service at Journey Church, our sponsor church, 36 people met together over an incredible barbecue lunch served by Journey! It was a humbling and exciting experience centered around God’s glory and His gospel being made known in the Cane Bay area. Will Browning, teaching pastor of Journey, took some time at the start to share about Journey’s vision to plant this church and their desire for their people to be involved in making it happen. Charlie took some time speaking about the need in South Carolina, and our area, for a new church to be started, as well as sharing some personal stories that provided a picture of that need. I was able to share a little about our vision for the church, outlining the values and actions that will guide the things that we do. We also answered some questions, and were able to let people know how they could be involved in the mission.
We had a good number of people sign up to be involved on our Core Team, which means that they will partner will us fully and go through our Core Team training beginning February 13th. Several people also signed up to join us on a temporary basis to help get us started until we get our feet on the ground. Many people also volunteered to help out with childcare, worship, setup, etc. whenever they are needed. It was an incredible day, and a wonderful reminder. The high point of all of this is God’s faithfulness. He has called us to this mission, and He is faithful to provide what is needed to carry it out. It is His work, and He will surely do it.
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Me,
Mission
Tonight was probably the most difficult night of my ministry so far. I had the responsibility of standing in front of a group of students at First Baptist Church that I love so much and let them know that God is calling me and Emily to start/plant a new church alongside another couple in the Cane Bay area of Berkeley County. I have been able to work with the best students in the world at First Baptist, and I was amazed by their Kingdom mindset in this difficult time. This has been something that God has been dealing with us for a couple of years now, and recently, it has been made very clear to us by Him. We are confident that God is calling us to become missionaries to Berkeley County and He has made it very clear to us. Leaving First Baptist, however, is a very difficult move because of all of the incredible relationships and amazing people that we have encountered and grown with.
So why church planting? Church planting is a movement to start new churches because of the increasing lostness in our American culture. It is reported that around four thousand churches close their doors each year in America. From 1991 to 2004, the number of unchurched in the US has doubled. There is a great need to continually start new churches that will reach the massively growing unchurched population of our country. With much prayer and consideration, Emily and I have agreed with the Lord for me to accept the position of Community Pastor at a church plant in Berkeley County called The Church at Cane Bay. The Church at Cane Bay is a supported church plant of the North American Mission Board and the South Carolina Baptist Convention, which will be a part of the Southern Baptist Convention, South Carolina Baptist Convention, and the Screven Baptist Association.
Please pray for Emily and I as we leave behind a wonderful, secure ministry at First Baptist to step out in obedience to God as missionaries to the Cane Bay area of Berkeley County. Pray that we would be obedient to the call of Christ to leave all behind to follow Him. Pray that we would answer His call in Luke 9 to follow and keep our eyes on Him, never looking back. We love each of you greatly, and are thankful for your love and support over the last several years. Please continue to pray for us!
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