Tag Archives: church

June 26, 2017 · 5:26 AM

Acting In Love


I work in the retail industry, which means I work with the public. There are times that the customer has done something with their purchase which voids the warranty. When they come in, they want to make an exchange under the warranty. Many times, I’ve caught reps saying, “Sorry. That’s just our policy.” I’ve found that using that phrase usually infuriates people. The rep usually then tries to educate the customer on our policy so they understand why we can’t do it.

I’ve spent some time working with them to help change their approach. I tell them, “Customers don’t care about policy or what you can’t do. They need compassion and empathy along with what you can do.” I explain that knowledge is not enough when it comes to something near and dear to someone. Knowledge does nothing to correct their problem. Even if we can’t do anything for them, showing some empathy will to a lot farther. 

In the days of the Early Church, there were many questions about what Christians could and could not do. Many arguments broke out that created divisions. People argued their side and tried to make each other more knowledgeable so they would change their ways. Paul responded in Corinthians 8:1, “Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church” (NLT). It seemed everyone had an idea or an opinion, but few had love for each other.

Even today, many of us have disagreements and try to prove each other wrong. All that does is puff us up as an individual. God’s desire is that you and I begin to act in love and empathy in order to strengthen the Church. We can’t forget that we are one body. We may not see eye to eye on everything, but we can always choose to act in love. We are co-laborers in Christ, not competitors. It’s time we stopped trying to make the foot a hand or a hand an eye. Let’s act in love towards one another, strengthen each other and learn to work together. 

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October 28, 2015 · 5:30 AM

Pastor Appreciation

“And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!”
‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:12-13‬ ‭MSG‬‬

If you are having trouble viewing this video, click here.

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September 13, 2013 · 7:49 AM

A Church Full of Hypocrites

Sometimes I think we all forget that the church is made up by people like you and me. It’s full of imperfect people who, despite being forgiven of their past, still struggle to escape it. There are people who go, not because they are Christians, but because they think it’s good to go. There are people who go only because they want their children to be exposed to it. There are people who go in order to find absolution for something they’ve done that they can’t forgive themselves of.

There is no one perfect in any church. Not the pastor, preacher, priest, rabbi or person sitting next to you in the pew. Somehow, we expect them to be because they are Christians. We expect them to always say the right things, do the right things and to drop everything to pay attention to us. When that doesn’t happen, we label them hypocrites. We say the church is full of people who are fake. Yet, we don’t go look in the mirror and hold ourselves to that same perfect standard.

If the church was truly full of perfect people, why would anyone want to go there? I’m glad the church has hypocrites, liars and cheaters in it. That means that there are people there who know they don’t have it all together, but they know the place where they can go to get help. They recognize they don’t have all the answers so they go to the place where they can find some of the answers to their questions. The person up front doesn’t have all the answers either. They’ve just chosen to be an imperfect person who has submitted to being the one whom God could speak through.

So many of us have left churches or church all together because we’ve held an imperfect person to a perfect standard. It’s a standard that not even we ourselves could ever live up to. I’ve been on churches all over the world and I’ve yet to meet a person in one of them who ever claimed to be perfect or had the ability to always say the right thing. I’ve learned to cut people a lot of slack for things they have said or done that have offended me because I need that same grace from them. I say and do things that offend others too because I’m not perfect. The fact that I go to church doesn’t somehow prevent me from doing that.

This Sunday is “Back to Church Sunday”. If you’ve ever left the church because you were offended or held an imperfect person to a perfect standard just because they were a Christian, I want to invite you to go back this weekend with a different set of lenses on. Go in with eyes that recognize the people in there are just like you. They don’t have it all figured out, they might be hypocrites, they might be liars, but know that they’re there in order to change from those ways. Put aside your pride and offer them the same grace you want them to offer you.

I look forward to seeing you in church this Sunday. If you’re looking for someone who is perfect, you won’t find them. But if you’re looking for a friendly face on an imperfect person, I’ll save you a seat next to me. I hope that you’ll give church a second chance this weekend.

Click here for a short video that I saw earlier this week about “Back to Church Sunday” that I think you’ll like.

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August 6, 2013 · 7:22 AM

Helping The Hurting

One of my prayers each day is that God would allow me to be His hands and feet to someone else. I had the opportunity to do that last week on the flight home. There was a man beside me on the plane that was clearly anxious. When the crew began their pre-launch emergency speech, he looked at them intently. A few minutes into it, he looked at me and said, “I don’t understand. I don’t speak English.” He indicated he spoke Spanish, so I translated for him.

In flight, I asked where he was headed. He said he was going home to Mexico. I then asked if he knew how to navigate the Houston airport to get to his next flight. His anxiousness turned quickly into worry. I offered to walk him to his connecting flight. As we walked through the maze of corridors, took the tram to the other terminal and navigated our way to his gate, he stopped and said, “I would have never found this without you. There were too many barriers in my way.”

I wonder how many people are on the pew beside us each Sunday who need help navigating this life. I wonder how many times they walk through the corridors of our church, through the maze of our services and classes and then walk out confused and lost. How many times have I gone to service just to sit in my seat, hear the message and then head out the door without helping someone? Too many I’m sure.

There are people placed in our path each day who don’t speak the language of the kingdom. They’re lost and anxious not knowing where to go for help. They don’t know how to navigate the troubles this life brings or who to turn to for help. We see them, but don’t take the time out of our day to help them because we’ve got other things to do. We pass on the other side like the priest in the parable of the good Samaritan. We look the other way and pretend not to see so it doesn’t cost us anything.

I love that my pastor says, “Our church isn’t a museum for the saints, but a hospital for the hurting.” If it is a hospital, we are the nurses and doctors who have the remedy. We are the ones with the prescription for pain. We shouldn’t pretend we have it all together. We need to be honest and let them know we’ve been where they are. We were once confused in this world, lost without hope, disease ridden with sin and were brought to life. There isn’t one of us who are perfect so we shouldn’t pretend to be. It’s in our imperfections that we’re able to empathize and help them.

Who has God placed in your path lately? Who sits on your pew each week that you ignore? Don’t worry about trying to be perfect or to say the right thing. Do the right thing and say hello. Ask how they are really doing. If it’s beyond your ability to help, get someone else involved who can help. Introduce them to others. Help them navigate the twists and turns of this life. You never know what an impact you can have on someone else just by being you. When the man and I parted ways, he said, “I believe God put you in my path today.” Whose path has God put you in today?

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July 10, 2013 · 8:42 AM

What Are You Building?

I was looking at some old photo albums at church last week when I came across one from 1993. It was pictures of my first mission trip where we went to a small village in the heart of Mexico to build a church. Not only was I 20 years younger, I was 20 years skinnier! As I flipped through the pictures, I got excited all over again. I remembered the fun I had, the blessings I received, the people we touched and the work we did. I spent more time on that trip building relationships than building the church building.

That trip not only got me excited for a lifetime of doing missions work, but also taught me the value in building relationships. I believe that the best way to grow the church is through relationships. When you look at the ministry of Jesus, that’s what He did. He went place to place building relationships with the people He came into contact with. He focused His ministry on building the kingdom not buildings.

Paul is another great example of someone who built their ministry on relationships. All the books in the New Testament that he wrote were to people and churches he had relationships with. You can’t speak to people the way he did without having first built a relationship with them. He not only spent time ministering in places he went, he spent time working beside fellow believers. He wasn’t just trying to preach to a large crowd, get an offering and leave. He was investing in the people he was ministering to.

If it was good enough for Jesus and Paul, shouldn’t it be good enough for us today? How many of us truly spend quality time getting to know others we’re ministering to or with? In I Corinthians 3, Paul said that some plant seeds, some water and some harvest. Planting, watering and harvesting are all done through relationships. The harvest doesn’t come unless someone has invested time in a relationship planting seeds and watering them.

If God’s desire is to have a relationship with you and me, shouldn’t we desire to have relationships with others? The underlying story of the Bible is God trying desperately to find ways to connect with us so we can have that relationship with Him. Ministry isn’t only done behind the pulpit. Ministry is done on the streets, in people’s homes, at your job and at dinner tables. Each of us have been called to go and make disciples. Discipleship is done through relationships.

Preachers, evangelists and missionaries aren’t the only ones called to ministry. If you bear the name “Christian”, you are called to ministry. You are called to build relationships. You are called to plant seeds. You are called to water seeds. You are called to harvest. You are called to disciple. You may not think of yourself as a minister, but you are. It is the responsibility of each of us to share what God has done in our lives with others.

What relationships do you have in your life that need work? What relationships in your life have you neglected? Who do you have a relationship with now that needs Jesus? You don’t win them by forcing Him down their throat. You win them through relationship. You win them because you’ve earned the right to share what God has done for you personally. Don’t spend more time building a ministry than you do building relationships. If you build relationships, the ministry opportunities will come.

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June 27, 2013 · 8:55 AM

The Walk of Shame

One of the things I love about our car is when you get low on gas, not only does it notify you, the navigation screen automatically shows you where all the gas stations are. If I keep going, the alarm will continue to let me know every few miles that it’s time to fill up. So far I haven’t run out of gas in it. That’s a good thing because I know what it’s like to run out of gas and to have to do the walk of shame to the gas station.

What about you? Have you ever run out of gas? How about spiritually? Again, I’m guilt of that too. I’ve let myself run out of gas spiritually and I’ve stalled. There were things that I did that caused me to run out. One of the first things I quit doing was reading the Bible daily. It was more of a box to check off for me at the time and I saw it as a chore. When I quit reading my Bible, my faith took a hit.

Romans tells us that faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God. I can increase my faith by putting God’s Word in me. I wasn’t doing that. I quickly found out that I was susceptible to attacks. It turns out that faith is also our shield that helps to protect us against the fiery darts of the devil. I began to slip in areas I had never had trouble in. I started to go places and do things that I never dreamed I would have.

After that, I noticed that my church attendance began to slip. “I wasn’t getting anything out of it,” I would say. I wasn’t getting anything out of it because I wasn’t trying to. I wasn’t listening because I didn’t want to be convicted of the things I was doing. I didn’t want to chat with people at church so I started leaving as soon as the pastor ended his sermons. I cut myself off from the community of believers.

Hebrews 10 tells us not to forsake the assembling of fellow believers. I looked up “forsake” and dictionary.com said, “to quit or leave entirely.” Because I did it, I know why the writer said we shouldn’t. I left a group of people who loved me, prayed for me and lifted me up when I needed it. Church is more than just a group of believers going to hear a message. It’s a place where we connect and find a sense of belonging.

After I left, it didn’t take long before I ran out of gas. When I couldn’t move forward in my life anymore, I decided to take that walk to the altar. The good news is that this walk isn’t a walk of shame. It’s a walk of rejoicing because God comes in and fills us with His love and restores us to a right relationship with Him. If you’re on empty today, you might have made the same mistakes I did. The good news is that He’s waiting to fill you up again and to restore your life. He did it for me and my church accepted me back with open arms. There’s no shame in walking home.

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June 13, 2013 · 6:59 AM

Wake Up!

I use a white noise app to help me sleep, especially when I’m at a hotel. It makes the noise of a constant waterfall to bleed out all other noises around. With it, I don’t hear people in the hall or in the room next to me. I become oblivious to just about everything going on around me and I can sleep. It’s very handy to have.

In a spiritual sense, there is a lot of white noise all around us. It is designed to keep us from hearing God speak to us and to help us fall asleep. It is a tactic used by our enemy to keep us from doing what we’re supposed to do. We don’t hear or notice things going on in the spirit realm because we’ve been lulled to sleep.

I Thessalonians 5:6 says, “So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded.” Paul was telling us to be awake spiritually. Others have allowed the white noise of this world to put them to sleep spiritually. They aren’t paying attention to the signs of the times or to what is happening all around them because their eyes are closed. They wander through their spiritual life sleepwalking.

It’s time we wake up as the body of Christ. It’s time we quit sleeping and realize that it is still day and we must work while it is day. Jesus said, “The night is coming when no man can work.” We have a brief window to wake up and do real work for the Kingdom of God, yet most of us are sleeping because there is no urgency. We have no real desire to see others come to Christ or we’d be working like their lives depended on it.

When tragedy strikes, everyone has a sense of urgency and they rush to the scene to help others as quickly as possible. Adrenaline takes over and their bodies work through the pain and the weariness. That’s where we need to be right now. Our world is filled with orphans, widows, the poor, the needy and countless lost people. The harvest is ready, but there are only a few laborers working such a large field.

I pray that The Lord of the Harvest would send laborers to work. I pray that He wakes us up from our slumber and ignites a passion in each one of us to go out and share His love with the lost and the hurting. There are people all around each one of us each day who need us to be the hands, feet and voice of Jesus, but our eyes are closed to it. We are asleep and are taking it easy.

I think of the Titanic when it was sinking. If you watched the movie, the lifeboats were only half full. They reserved them for a select few while others drowned. They could have put more in those boats, but they didn’t. Instead, they floated to safety while thousands died a few feet away. We are no better than them when we sit comfortably in our lifeboats of salvation and do nothing to save those who are drowning. We need to wake up, hear their cries and lift them into the boats.

We have the answer. We have the ability. We are asleep though and aren’t doing much about it. What is the white noise in your life that is keeping you from hearing the cries of the lost? What is it that has lulled you to sleep spiritually so that you don’t hear those around you? What do you need to do today to wake up? What can you do to bring more into the lifeboats? It’s time we woke up and started working like there is no tomorrow.

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May 30, 2013 · 8:13 AM

Flight Attendants and Preachers

I’m sitting on an airplane this morning as I travel for business. I’ve been flying for years and over the last few, I couldn’t count how many times I’ve flown. As we all sit here, the flight attendant is giving safety instructions should anything bad happen. I’ve always noticed how few people pay attention. Maybe because it’s a canned speech. Maybe because it’s something they’ve heard before. Maybe because they don’t care.

It’s got me to thinking how many of us go to church and do the same thing. Many of us have been going to church for years. As we sit in the pews, the preacher gives spiritual safety instructions. Like the people on the plane, we sit there, eyes glazed over and we rarely pay attention. Maybe because they aren’t a dynamic speaker. Maybe because you’ve heard this before. Maybe because you don’t care.

A pastor is a shepherd. Their job is to protect the flock that has been given to them. They preach, not because they have to, but because the safety of your soul compels them to. They are called to watch over you and give you what you need for spiritual protection and to show you the path to Heaven. Yet many of us sit there and play on our phones, talk to our neighbor or sleep. I say, “us” because I’m guilty too. I look at my watch and wonder how long it is until noon too.

Are we going to church because “it’s the right thing to do”? Are we going to be seen by others? Are we going to church because we want our kids to know this stuff? Or are we going so that we can adopt the culture of the kingdom? I realize that the building itself, while we call it “church” is not the church. You and I are the church. The Bible says that we should not forsake the assembling of the brethren. That means we should not treat being with other believers lightly.

Whether you go to a Mega church like Lakewood, a home church in someone’s home or anywhere in between, we are to go and get as much out of it as we can. It’s not the preacher’s job to feed you. When you go, expect to learn something. Expect to gain wisdom. Expect to build relationships with other believers. Expect God to move in your life. Expect to leave different than when you showed up. God’s desire is to meet with us daily, but most of us only give him a couple of hours on a Sunday. Even then, we aren’t giving Him much because we’d rather be doing something else.

What I tell people every day is that you will get out of this meeting what you put into it. The same is true for going to church. Are you there to participate or are you there to observe? Participate in worship. Participate in the sermon by taking notes and writing down your own thoughts of how what’s being said applies directly to your life. Don’t just go to church to go. Go to receive and to participate. Go to meet God and be prepared to be met by Him.

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May 2, 2013 · 7:32 AM

Counting the Cost

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I saw a headline yesterday from the USA Today that said the average cost to feed a family of four. I had never really paid attention to anything like that before. In March of 2013 for a family being very thrifty, the cost was $146.40. For that same family, if they were on a liberal plan, the cost would be $289.40. Those prices are for a week of food to feed four people. What I saw in Haiti was completely different.

I mentioned before that we went to a feeding center in Roboto, Gonaives, Haiti. One of our partners runs that feeding center. There are about 150 children who come there six days a week for what may be the only meal they get for the day. It’s not an extravagant meal. It’s rice with some beans on top and it’s warm. We asked Pastor Gnada how much it cost to feed those children each day. He said, “It costs about $30.” That’s $180 a week to feed 150 malnourished kids. Just barely above what a thrifty family of four pays here.

I realize that costs here are way different than there. I’m not making the argument that we should be more thrifty or we need to feel bad about the blessings God has given us. I’m thinking what if we could give a dollar a day to something like this. How many more kids could be fed? How many more could be rescued from the brink of malnutrition? The missionary that took us to this site pointed out the orange in a few kids hair. He told us that orange hair is a marker for malnutrition. He also pointed out that it was now on the tips of their hair and not at the root.

As these kids came and ate regularly, their bodies got the nutrition they needed and normal hair began to grow. Where there was once starvation for kids living in the poorest area of Gonaives, now they were not only receiving physical food, but spiritual food as well. Before the kids eat each day, the Gospel is shared with them, songs are sung with them, games are played and a prayer is given. I believe that since that center has opened, the signs of spiritual malnutrition are going away.

I was talking to a pastor friend of mine who went with us and runs a church in our inner city. I asked her what her thoughts were about the feeding center. She said, “You know, Chris, we spend so much time and effort in the church trying to get a program ‘right’ before we launch it. We disregard all the good we can do while we argue over how to make it work. This is simple and effective. The things we do don’t have to be complicated. We just need to start them and make them better as we go.” I couldn’t agree more.

What has God asked you to do? What excuses have you given to prevent starting it? While we try to get things right and to make it a success from the get go, people are starving spiritually all around us. If God said, “Do it,” then it’s time to do it. If you wait until it’s perfect and fool proof, it will never begin and you’ll miss so many opportunities. Today is the day of salvation. Begin the steps of putting into motion what God has called you to do. Don’t delay.

If you’d like to give to the organization that feeds these kids and houses the orphans we visited, you can go to www.coreluv.org/donate

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March 29, 2013 · 8:18 AM

Taking a Risk for Jesus

I’m sure you are well aware that today is Good Friday. This is the day that Jesus was crucified. The nailed Him to the cross around 9:00 AM and He hung there being ridiculed for six hours. Around 3:00 PM, He released His spirit and died. I’m not going to focus on that today though. What I am going to focus on is a verse in Mark 15. Verse 43 says, “Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (NLT)”

I was being interviewed for a position with the company I work for and the person doing the interview broke script. He said, “Chris, I really just want to know one thing. What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?” My mind raced. Was he talking personally? Did he mean in business? Was he referring to helping a customer? I couldn’t think of anything right off the bat. If he was to have asked Joseph, this would have been his answer.

First of all, he approached Pilate who was ruthless and had no problem killing people. I’m sure Pilate was on edge because of the mob mentality that had gone on the night before. He was probably cranky from getting little to no sleep. Now, one of the Jewish leaders, a secret follower of Jesus, came in uninvited and was asking for the body of Jesus. Joseph’s mind was probably racing thinking of all the possible outcomes of this meeting. Only one had a positive outcome.

Pilate agreed to release the body to him. Joseph purchased a linen sheet to wrap jesus body. The book of John tells us that Nicodemus helped Joseph. Both men had been secret followers of Jesus up to this point. When all of Jesus’ outspoken followers were to scared to come out of the shadows, two men who could have lost their positions risked their lives, their income and their families in order to see to it that Jesus didn’t hang there through the Passover.

When’s the last time you took a risk for Jesus? Don’t just move on here. Think about that for a minute. Are you like I was in that interview? Is your mind racing trying to think of something? Anything? It’s tough. We are conditioned not to take big risks in our life and in our faith. We’re taught to look out for ourselves first, but that’s not what Jesus taught. Even the night before His crucifixion, He was teaching them to put others first as He washed their feet.

What risk can you take today for Him? I’m not asking you to put your life on the line, but I am asking you to put your foot in a door that has already been opened. You’ve just been too scared to say anything about your faith. You’ve been too afraid to invite them to church. What better time than this weekend? They’ll hear the true reason for Easter and that someone else risked their life for theirs. Isn’t eternity for someone else worth the risk? Jesus thought it was and we should too.

I wrote another post a couple of weeks ago that would be great to read today. It’s called Playing Pilate. Click here to check it out.

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