Church Signs, part 2: A Season for Everything

I wanted to show you two more church signs that I have seen in recent months. Two signs that remind us of the joy of the Christmas season. That glorious time of the year, when the weather is cooler, etc.
Scene 1:

Feel free to come to this church if you are interested in adoption or adding to a family in rapid, rapid manner.
Scene 2:

This church is rapidly becoming the proverbial gift that keeps giving.
I know you're looking at this and saying "You know, there's nothing really wrong with this. It's cheesy, yes, but no typos, no grammar issues. Why is it here?"
IT WAS TAKEN TODAY- MARCH 1, 2012.
Maybe this church is taking to heart the sentiment of celebrating Christmas all year long. Or maybe this is the church where the people that leave their Christmas lights up all year long. Whatever the case, Merry Christmas, people. I forgot to take the picture for scene 3. Maybe we'll make that into another topic for another time.

Deception is Like a Simile

This one will be quick. Yeah, I know, I've said that before.
Today while driving to work the new song by the Newsboys, "God's Not Dead." It's a worship song that's been out for a couple of years. Their version is, well, different. The chorus says "My God's not dead, He's surely alive/ He's living on the inside, roaring like a lion." (It repeats, so for those of you that don't care for worship music, I won't bother.)
While I was listening, this verse came to me: "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8 NLT). 
Weird, isn't it, that a worship song about God would make me think about the devil?
As I thought about it some more, the more I realized, there is one key word in that verse: LIKE. Like is a simile. From dictionary.com:
Simile (noun): A figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.”
Think about it. Jesus is called the "Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the root of David" (Rev. 5:5).  Satan moves "like" a roaring lion. In other words, he's not the real thing. Jesus called him a liar, and the father of lies. He is a deceiver. That's where this simile "like" comes in.
Deception is one of the enemy's greatest tools. Like Shift the ape from "The Last Battle," last of the Chronicles of Narnia,  he disguises himself in a similar manner to deceive Christian and non-Christian alike. (See that? Another simile!) He uses things that sound good, look good, Christian-like to pull people away from the true Gospel. He then devours his prey, catching them far away from what they wanted, far from the God that loves them. 
Yes, he is a cunning enemy? What's the solution to stopping him? Keep reading 1 Peter 5: 
"Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to him forever! Amen (v. 9-11)."
The key is to root yourself in the Word, in prayer, in daily fellowship with God. Then you can resist the impostor, this faker, this false lion. The he will flee from you. In other words, you will send him running like a scared cat. (Another simile!)
There's no faking that.

Support a Good Good Cause Cause

Last year I chronicled the great experience I had going to "Loving Lenoir" and joining other Hibriten High School Band alumni at the homecoming game. It was my most viewed blog ever, and you can take a look back with me by clicking here. 
At the end of that article I mentioned how the HHS Band now receives no funding, and depends primarily on charitable contributions and fundraising efforts. Here is one of those efforts, and it is delicious.
The band is raising funds to purchase a sousaphone. These are not inexpensive by any means. A refurbished sousaphone costs $4500. I can attest to the need because the instruments currently at the school are the same ones there when I was a student.  They were old then, and I graduated seventeen years ago.
So how can you help?
Go to pizzakit.com. The Hibriten Band is selling Little Caesars Pizza Kits (say it with me- Pizza Pizza). Unlike the fundraisers of my day, you can purchase online! How amazing!
Once on the site, go to "Order Online." You can choose pizza kits, cookie dough (yum), and/or pie kits. Once you add an item to your cart, it will ask you to create an account. After doing that, you can continue to checkout, or continue shopping (strongly encouraged). In the checkout screen, it will ask you for a fundraiser ID. Enter 240322 to support the Hibriten Band. After checking out, sit back and wait for your pizza to arrive, bake, and enjoy! Even more than enjoying the food, you get the enjoyment that you are supporting a most worthy cause.

Also- wouldn't it be nice to put this over the top? To give them more than the needed funds to apply to other things?
Don't wait- the fundraiser ends March 2. Pizza Pizza!

Hollywood Cannot Be Found on Your GPS

I know, that's not true. But it does get your attention.
In reality, the adverse is true. Hollywood cannot find you on its GPS, and that is the truly sad part.
(CAUTION: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERTS INCLUDED.)
I went to the movies for the first time in a few months on Friday night. My wife and I saw "The Vow," starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams. "The Vow" is "inspired by actual events," and says that right at the beginning of the film. To not give too much of it away, here is the part consistent with the actual story. A young couple meet, fall in love, and get married. One day they have an accident, giving her an injury that causes her to lose every memory she has with him.
That's about it as far as the "inspired by actual events" part.
I have not read the story, but my wife has. She relays the story to me quite well. The actual couple, Kim and Krickett Carpenter, had been married ten weeks when the accident happened. It's true, she had no memory of who he was. But she knew this: she made a vow, and intended to keep it. The couple had to learn to fall in love with each other all over again.
It makes a good story. It would have made a good film. But Hollywood had other plans.
Now Channing Tatum plays a great character in Leo. I wanted him to succeed in winning his wife back. I could see the undying "fierce" love he had for his wife, and wanted to see him rewarded for it. I also wanted to see the Christian elements of the true story played out. Instead, we got a couple of profane words slipped in, Channing's naked backside (any ladies that read my blog just put their computer down and ran to the nearest theater), and a divorce that never happened in real life. We also got an ending that left it up to the imagination of the viewer. After watching the series finale of "Chuck" a couple of weeks previously, I had to deal with this same dissatisfaction AGAIN, and I was not thrilled with that.
This movie had great potential. There could have been the chance to show the world the powerful force that love is, the power of the wedding vow, and how wonderful the commitment to marriage no matter what is. It could have been much better than what it turned out to be.
But Hollywood missed the mark. It tends to do that.
Right now I'm looking at the Pay-Per-View Choices on TV: "Harold & Kumar Christmas: 'The stoner pals search New York City for the perfect Christmas Tree.'" "Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1," "Paranormal Activity 3,""What's Your Number? 'A woman wonders if one of her past 20 boyfriends could be her true love.'" Coming soon to theaters: "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."
Coming out this weekend: "Star Wars Episode I" in 3-D. Previously released? "Beauty & the Beast" in 3-D. Coming soon? "Titanic" in 3-D. There is a new Spider-Man relaunch coming this year, a new Batman movie (no lying- I am excited about that, but anyway) a 21 Jump Street movie, a Three Stooges movie, etc.
What am I saying? Hollywood has no good new ideas. The best-selling things they have are re-releases of old movies, or new versions of old ideas.
When they do get good ideas for a good movie, they have to ruin it. On top of that, you have to give up a week's paycheck to go see the blasted things!
In other words, they are out of touch with you. The funniest part of that is, they don't think they are. They think you're out of touch with them. If you don't believe that, tune into the Academy Awards in a couple of weeks. But when you do, don't forget to have a barf bag close by.

Better things to do

This one's gonna be a little short, for one simple reason: I'm really tired. I had a different experience at work this week, actually getting to work two days in one of our stores. It's been a nice change of pace.
I have continued to follow what I started last week, but not at a level as in the week before. I've decided that essentially I must agree to disagree with some people. I will never agree with the President, for example. But I accept that God has placed him in authority over this nation for now, and I must pray for him as the Bible mandates.
I will probably not agree with radical Christian bloggers who say that a pastor is disingenuous without paying attention to what he preaches. I will agree with them on one point: Jesus is the sacrifice presented to God the Father for all the sin of mankind, and only in believing in Him do we gain eternal life and a home in Heaven. Nor will I agree with a mega-pastor just because another one does, if I have an issue with their doctrine. But I know that there is something that we that claim the name of Christ need to point people toward.
It kind of reminds of me of this Gaither song. Sorry about the video quality, it's all I could find:

 

I believe that we are truly going to be surprised when we get to Heaven all the people that are there. So many divisions have divided the church. Some have been major theological discussions based on the serious issues such as interpretation of the scripture. Some have been over the color of the carpet, what version of the Bible to use, hymns, etc. While I do not think we will be asking God "How did that person get here," I think we will still be surprised.

Tonight as I write this, a dear family friend and author of the "Lessons Learned" blog to your left, Courtney, has lost her dad. After spending a lot of his life far from God, he finally came to Christ last year. It provides comfort that a person who knows Christ makes it to his heavenly home. It allows a person that is facing the rest of their life without that person comfort to know of a reunion day.
It is the hope of Heaven, and the reality that one day we will be with God, with Jesus, praising Him for His sacrifice, and reunited with our loved ones that accepted Him as savior for all eternity that really matters. In times like these, it's what we turn to.
It's something that we can all agree on.

I Guess You Could Say I've Changed...

...although I hadn't thought so.
I know where I came from. I am extremely thankful to be brought up in the home I did. I didn't have the advantage of money, or any of the other things that other kids did. I was, however, brought up in a home where love is. I have the advantage of growing up in a Pastor's home. I was part of a family that loved music, and learned it early.
Any setbacks I suffered in my life were my own doing. I was lazy, shy, and incredibly backward. I have often taken the easy way out of situations, and have let anger get the best of me. I have become a little more bold these days, even though I am still a lazy, shy, backward person by nature.
My point? Continue with me. I spent years in band in school. My dream was to be a music teacher. Didn't happen, but that's another blog. I was privileged to serve seven years at my dad's little church as music director. I love the music in the Church Hymnal. Many of you know it as the "Red Hymnal," the "Red-back Hymnal," etc. I also have it in green and blue. I have quite a big hymnal collection. Nothing has changed in all that.
I love the King James Version. I grew up with it. I can understand the language. I believe the Book, the blood, and the Blessed Hope. I believe that all men are born with a sin nature and are condemned to hell. I believe there must be a sacrifice for that sin. I believe that sacrifice was completed once for all for us when Jesus came, lived a sinless life, and became sin for us. He died to atone for all we did or will ever do.
I believe what it says when it says if we confess our sins, He will forgive us.
In that, nothing has changed.
I know that as a father, I have to put my lazy aside. I have to work. I have a wife and two kids that need to eat and wear clothes. I have a car that needs to be paid for and have gas in it. In that, I guess I have changed.
I still love hearing "Victory In Jesus," "At Calvary," "I'll Meet You in the Morning," etc. I also love Elevation Worship, Lincoln Brewster, Chris Tomlin. I would love to hear an amazing guitar riff in a song that praises Jesus more than I would a song sung off-key, but it's okay, because they're making a "joyful noise." In that extent, I guess I've changed.
I don't exclusively use a King James Version Bible anymore. I still love it, but it's not my primary Bible. Part of that is that I realize that Rev. 22: 18-19 are talking about the Revelation, not the entire Bible, because the Bible was not gathered together when Revelation was written. Also, I realize the cyclical nature of such arguments.
Consider: people revolted against songs like "There is a Fountain" when it came out, opting for the older liturgical music. People were burned at the stake for translating the Bible into languages other than Latin. Many of the arguments that were used then are being used now.
I don't walk away from things like that anymore. In that extent, I guess I've changed.
Read a blog of mine from 2009 and come back to this one.
I guess you could say I've changed.
Still, I feel like I could be doing more with my life.
In that extent, I haven't changed at all.

When Bad Churchgoers Happen

Bad churchgoers happen.
So do bowel movements.
Sound a little harsh? Good. I was going for effect.
Take this for example: I recently heard the story of a family that stopped going to a church after a daughter of a church member stole a credit card and made unauthorized charges! The reaction? "Oh- we're sorry."
This family of four that had the card stolen have bounced in and out of church, became connected in this church. The two children of the family were greatly affected by the youth ministry, the youngest one was saved on a youth trip (the older one previously accepting Christ), and both were baptized there. Now they have an emotional scar and a sour taste in their mouth. Why?
Churchgoers.
How many people have been turned off by the actions of others either in the church or those professing the name of Christ? How many baptist churches have started down the street from another baptist church simply because of the offense of one person against the other?  (Call it beating a dead horse, I've always had an issue with this.) How many people who are young in their faith been turned away by simply one action? How many that visit a church searching for God end up turned away forever?
It doesn't have to be this way, but the thing is this causes people to turn away. People that act out of their own nature turn people away from an environment that is supposed to display the love of God.
I've toyed with this thought over the past week or so, and it's made me think. I held a position in a small church for seven years. What if my actions were a stumbling block to others? What if something I said or an action I took caused someone to stay away? I shudder to think I let myself get in the way of what God wanted to do in a person's life because my personal thoughts or actions caused an offense to someone.
Yes, this is an introspective post, and an admonition to those of us that claim the name of Jesus to watch our actions in the light of scripture. We are to present our lives as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (see Romans 12). Living in the light of the Word of God will help us keep from offending others.
But also this is to warn those who are offended: don't use the actions of others as an excuse to keep you out of church or away from Jesus. I think of Jesus' interaction with Peter & John after his resurrection. Peter asks about God's plan for John, and Jesus replies simply: "Don't worry about John. You follow me."
Finally, let me say this. In my life there have been people like Ollie Coffey, Granny Snow Townsend, and Bertha Moretz. There have been pastors that have shown a great light, like my dad, Tim Greene, and more. I am thankful to be learning at a great place right now at Elevation Church, both in person, online, and using their podcasts. What I mean by this is that most churchgoers are true followers of Christ. They have shown how to live the life. They are careful to live by the statutes of the Word of God and know it by heart. They show the genuine love of God to friends and strangers alike.
Bad churchgoers are an exception. They are not the rule. But they do happen. Try not to be one. If you should find one, pray for them. Forgive them. Chances are they need it, and you can help them along the way. They need that, too.