Brothers and Sisters, I was deeply troubled by the report of the beating death of the young black man in Douglas County this week. The death was brutal, senseless and resulted in just a plain and simple waste of life–the victim and the four alledged assailants (four black youth), who are waiting felony murder charges without bond.  Seems the victim was randomly selected to be attacked in order to fulfill a vicious vow. According to witnesses, he was  innocent of provoking the violence. As a result, another promising young black man was destroyed; and four more may spend decades behind bars and that’s sad and unfortunate. I can’t even begin to think about what the relatives of the victim must be going through. Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy and don’t you forget it. I was especially affected by the story in the AJC news report because I have witnessed someone get beat to death. I was 12 years old and sitting on my front porch in North Saint Louis, Missouri. I wouldn’t wish what I saw that night on anybody. I can still hear the impact of the shoes on the victim’s skull as he was kicked and stomped by four men. I was so shocked that I could not move–I was frozen and strangely, could not close my eyes because the incident was so awefully, amazingly brutal. The assailants looked at me as if to say if I ever told anyone what I had saw, they would come back for me. I never said a word–that was life in the neighborhood–you didn’t snitch. Problem is, I have lived with that trauma ever since. I should have told somebody. The youth who witnessed the Douglas County beating will never forget what they saw, but I hope they get a chance to process the emotional trauma that they are dealing with. I feel a little better for writing this. Mike

Every Sunday after worship, I watch excited children line up at Miss Renee’s Candy Store; which is actually not a store but her office; and she doesn’t sell the candy; she gives it away. However, to get the “free” candy, you have say a verse from scripture. Since Renee started this post-worship routine a few years ago, parents have had to help their children learn their verses to ensure that they didn’t miss out on the “goods.” Some of the children have allergies to peanuts, chocolate, etc. so now Renee offers a colorful selection of rubber wristbands. But whether wristbands, Snickers or Three Musketeers, I am just glad that we have another strategy to motivate children to learn scripture at an early age and help fight biblical illiteracy. Oh yeah, many of the grownups sneak into Renee’s candy stash without her looking–I catch them ever so often. Next time, I will be naming names, but for now I will just give the initials of the culprits–JS, GB, PB, HC, LE, SH, RN, AS, MH, SR and SC. See if you can figure out who these people are and you could win a miniature Tootsie Roll Pastor Mike

Power, as the Bible describes it comes in two forms. The “ability” to do something and the “right” to do something. Just because you have the ability to do something does not mean you have the right to do it. Christians in leadership must continually listen to the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures and the Church to help them interpret abilities and rights. Some things are just wrong, and we should be able to recognize those things immediately; however, there are times when our egos, titles and positions may, over time, convince us that we are entitled to do what is obviously so unbiblical. Watch over yourself carefully; don’t allow yourself to be deceived by yourself. I intentionally kept this short so you wouldn’t forget it. Mike

A couple of weeks ago, I honestly thought that I did not have the time to go to Haiti to be a part of the Team’s effort to work at the Children’s Home in Les Cayes.  I also did not think that I could do much good since I have never considered myself to be good with children.  I love children, but my time in the ministry has been, except for a few youth retreats here and there, with adults.  As an Army chaplain, I have dealt mostly with Soldiers and their Spouses in times of trauma and bereavement, but not a lot with their kids.  I was never a Childrens or Youth Pastor in a civilian church so I don’t have those type of experiences to draw from and thus I feel more confident dealing with adults.  This is probably why I had to go to Haiti; to be forced to minister outside of my comfort zone.  I learned so much about myself, my fears, and my lack of confidence in the Gospel.  I soon realized that the children in Les Cayes were ministering to me! They helped me see that Jesus is the only source of hope and confidence we have in this present world.  The skills that I thought I did not possess were manifested during the mission trip–to be honest with you, I thought that I would not be compassionate enough to be a good minster to those children.  Now I am sitting at my computer with tears in my eyes as I remember those precious souls at the Cambry Children’s Home.  I really miss them.  Mike

The Prayer below is from Dr. Bob Burns, Dean of Life Long Learning at Covenant Seminary Saint Louis.  I asked him to pray for the church, Renee and me during this time of transition and he responded with this wonderful prayer.

Lord Jesus, I pray for my brother Mike this morning. You know how hard transitions are — after all, you gave up heaven to become flesh on this broken earth. You know the way Mike’s heart is being torn by this transition:  relationships that have become dear, work that — while at times a pain — has become “normal” for him. The struggles and challenges at Redemption have never been easy, but You have sustained him through them. Our hearts become bound and knitted together through these kinds of struggles. Lord, You know he is still working through the transition out of the military. So there are a lot of losses going on right now. When we make these moves, there are always things we must leave that we never understood were so dear to our hearts.

Lord, was it this hard on Abraham when you told him to leave home? Was it this hard on David when Saul drove him out of Jerusalem? How about David, when Absalom was driving him out of Jerusalem? Or Daniel and his friends when they were taken into exile? And especially Jesus? Lord, we confess that transitions are hard. Loss of the familiar, loss of relationship, loss of weekly routine, loss of weekly preaching. Lots of loss.

And then, Lord, there is the unknown of the future. Lord, I’m sure Mike is looking at coming to the seminary and asking all kinds of questions that can’t be answered until he lives and works in this environment. Lord, he might be worried about the expectations. What about the people he is working with? And then, Father, there are the questions about moving “home” with family and old friends. Lord, you know that “home” is never the same when we come “back.”

So, Father, here is my brother. Give him the confidence that You will never leave him or forsake him. Give him the assurance of Your love. May Your Holy Spirit be very real to him, providing comfort and care, as well as the kick in the butt that we all need to take the next step. Help him to pastor Redemption well in the transition. This is Your church, Lord, not Mike’s. May he make the transition easy on the next pastor. Give the elders and the congregation the capacity to see You, trust You, know that You are going to lead them in the next steps.

Lord, we are broken. We are desperate. Here we are at this age, and we are still like children. But that is okay. When we are weak, You are strong. So let us be weak, Lord. Only that You would be glorified. Magnify Your name in us. May Jesus Christ be praised in our weakness. Amen.

The following quote is from the website that promotes the Tim Keller book, “Counterfeit Gods.”  I want you to buy and read this book if can.  It will help you understand the “minefield of false worship and idolatry” that you must navigate through in your Christian walk.  Pastor Mike

“Success, true love, and the life you’ve always wanted. Many of us placed our faith in these things, believing they held the key to happiness, but with a sneaking suspicion they might not deliver. The recent economic meltdown has cast a harsh new light on these pursuits. In a matter of months, fortunes, marriages, careers, and a secure retirement have disappeared for millions of people. No wonder so many of us feel lost, alone, disenchanted, and resentful.

But the truth is that we made lesser gods of these good things – gods that can’t give us what we really need. There is only one God who can wholly satisfy our cravings – and now is the perfect time to meet him again, or for the first time.

The Bible tells us that the human heart is an “idol-factory,” taking good things and making them into idols that drive us. In Counterfeit Gods, Keller applies his trademark approach to show us how a proper understanding of the Bible reveals the unvarnished truth about societal ideals and our own hearts. This powerful message will cement Keller’s reputation as a critical thinker and pastor, and comes at a crucial time–for both the faithful and the skeptical.”

Today as I sit here in the office, I am wondering how I can reflect the glory of God by offering more of my time as a servant and comforter to those in need.  This sounds like it should be a simple task for a Christian and especially easy for a pastor, and some days it is as quick as jumping into a swimming pool on a hot day in Atlanta–no problem, you just fall forward a let gravity do the rest.  However, I have been a little tired lately with traveling and writing papers and preparing sermons and counseling and being a dad and being a husband and being a faithful son and you get it…don’t you?  The “ands” just keep on comin!

But as strange as it may sound, I still believe that God is calling me to a greater passion for service to those in need.  Don’t get me wrong, God isn’t telling me that I am not doing enough to please him; He is saying that my passion should spring out of the joy of my love for Christ–that would make the serving easier.  I want my service to be out of my gratitude and love for Christ and not just out of guilt and being on the payroll.  This leads to anger and burnout. I am asking the Lord to help me walk in His example.  He took time to refresh Himself and spend time in prayer and meditation while He worked to meet the needs of those around Him. He was a gentle, loving, tireless and effective servant of His Heavenly Father–I want to be like that and you do too.  Today we must submit to the leadership His Holy Spirit in order to know what Jesus knew about service.  He will teach us how to serve others with the passion and vigor that comes with our being the grateful children of a generous Father. If you love Jesus, you will serve the way He served.  He was glad to do it and He did it with passion.  Pastor Mike

This week, the Adult Wednesday Night Bible Study will start the Summer 2010 “Peacemakers” material.  The study will teach us how to respond to conflict the biblical way.  We all have been in situations where we found ourselves wanting to attack people because of how they make us feel.  There are six biblical ways to respond to the hurt, frustration and headache of those who you believed have sinned against you.  The biblical responses go from overlooking the sin to accountability.  There are also six non-biblical responses to conflict. The non-biblical responses go from suicide to murder (physical and psychological).  Which responses do you choose when you are mad?  Conflict can come from anywhere–marriage, friendships, child rearing, job, church, school, etc.  You must decide what type of witness you will be–people are always watching you.  By God’s grace and through the biblical texts we study, this class will help us be more like Christ when we are under pressure.  As a pastor, one of my greatest desires is to see people deal with conflict in a way that honors God and produces healthy relationships.  Conflict can be a good thing when it is managed biblically, but left unchecked, it will reek havoc.  Too much unchecked conflict in churches will often discourage leaders and congregations. It is said that “people come into the ministry because of Christ and they leave the ministry because of conflict.”  We will give out helpful materials that you can refer to quickly when you sense an urge to attack or escape from a situation that Christ has orchestrated to help you grow.  Conflict resolution is about your growth in Christ as well as honoring God through your faith in action.  Mike

How do we talk about evil?  How do we explain it to those who say “if there is a God, why is there evil?”  Here are some points to ponder from the Word of God.  I have taken most of the following from my friend Dr. Jerram Barrs’ lecture on the subject and added some things.  You will have to look up the scriptures yourselves–hey, we did most of the work for you

The Problem of Evil (taken from lecture by Dr. Jerram Barrs)

The Seven pointed curse:

1. God is separated from humanity, for he must judge evil and have nothing to do with it

2. Humanity is alienated from God. Paul said “no one seeks God”, we fear him, and we are hostile toward him, our only hope is that he will pursue us

3. We are alienated internally, separated from ourselves we struggle with self-hatred, covered constantly in shame, our very hearts deceive us!

4. We are alienated from each other, no human has ever had a perfect relationship of any kind.

5. We experience loss of dominion- over ourselves, our work, every area of life in the world, and over creation. We don’t know how to properly care for God’s earth, unable even to control ourselves

6. We are separated body from spirit at death, our bodies break down.

7. Creation itself is subject to decay

Guiding principles:

1. God is not tainted with evil: He is not the tempter. We can fight evil without fighting God

2. The world we know is abnormal

3. We must acknowledge the corruption of the human heart

4. God alone has the resolution to the problems we face

Seven Stones: Our Personal Response to Suffering

1. Weep with those who weep; comfort people with God’s sovereign commitment to never abandon or forsake them (Rom 8:31-39)

2. Humility (Job’s Friends)

3. God is not the author of evil (James 1:13-14)

4. God’s anger and grief at sin, suffering, and death (John 11)

5. God’s passion to make right the wrongs of the world (Rev 19)

6. Passionately intervene on the behalf of the suffering: Prayer is intervention! (James 5)

7. Comfort with the sure and certain hope of ultimate redemption (Rev 21)

Last night we had another installment of the HOTDONUTS open mic event and it was another hit.  We had a lot of visitors, singers, spoken word artists, DJ Push and a first–a painter who put to canvas what she saw during the event.  When she revealed her interpretation we were all overwhelmed! I purchased the picture (no, not with church funds –it will go down in history as the first artistic interpretation of HOTDONUTS on canvas!  We also had three pastors in attendance from Mableton who were surprised that we would risk doing open mic in a church.  My answer to them was that in all things Christ must be first, pre-imminent and worshiped, especially in the arts.

But why do people keep showing up for HOTDONUTS?  Here are my reasons:

1.  This is a part of God’s plan to enhance Redemption Fellowship’s efforts in community outreach, fellowship,  youth and young adults ministry and He will bring the people.

2.  Everybody gets something out of this.  It is wonderful to see older Christians, twentysomethings and teenagers enjoying the talents of these artists.  Mentors and mentees are brought together.

3.  We have donuts.

4.  We have a great house band–”The Glaze.”

5.  There is intentionality and focus in the planning of the events.

6.  The Session and the Congregation have “buy-in.”

7.  It is like a Holy Spirit driven Harlem renaissance–well sort of.

Oh yeah, the picture will be hanging somewhere in the church building as a reminder of what God is doing here every fourth Sunday night.  Pastor Mike