A Third Great Awakening

Revival is an often discussed topic among pastors, seminarians, and amateur theologians. Everybody wants revival but not many are convinced that it is likely or even possible. It is true if you look at our country today there are many things that will quickly lead you to despair. The culture that drives the marketplace in America is an amalgam of post-modern, hedonistic, narcissism.


Yet for all of the evil that exists in our land, I am convinced that there is a remnant that could unleash another great awakening. My optimism is centered around the trend among 30 and 40 something pastors, seminary professors, and denominational leaders who are not satisfied with the status quo. I equate this theological restlessness with the humanist movement that occured on the dawn of the Reformation. Like our spiritual forefathers Huss, Luther, Calvin, and others, we are seeking to go Ad Fontes or "back to the sources". More and more this younger generation of evangelicals are voicing their dissatisfaction with church tradition that is more rooted in the early days of the 20th century than in the early days of the 1st century. It never ceases to amaze me when an older pastor or denominational leader speaks "ex cathedra" about the "old fashioned" days when in fact what he is referring to, compared to our history, could be considered novel. We don't need novel we need purity and simplicity two traits found in abundance in the early church at Jerusalem and in the pulpits of 18th century New England.


I hope that this restlessness never ceases. I hope that we never shirk from asking the tough questions. I hope that we continually hold our current methodology up to the mirror of God's Word (especially passages like Acts 2) and have the courage to change what doesn't belong. I know that this sounds idealistic and maybe even a tad bit naive. Nonetheless, let me share my hope that if this type of transparency, and honesty begins to flow from the pulpits of our land, a new great awakening is sure to follow.

“I assert that nothing ever comes to pass without a cause.”

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

Weekend Update: Christianity In The Cartoons

I ran across an article on the Lawrence Journal-World website entitled The Gospel According To The "Simpsons". The focus of the article was a book by the same title written by Jewish author, Mark Pinsky. In his book, Mr. Pinsky dissects the popular cartoon to see exactly what message is being delivered by its state of the art, computer animated, raucous characters. What Mr. Pinsky says might just surprise you.

I have in the past been very dismissive of the Simpsons for a number of different reasons not the least of which is its irreverence and innuendo. After reading this article and an excerpt from Mr. Pinsky's book, however, I am inclined to be a bit more observant. Don't get me wrong, I won't go out and buy the DVD box set, or have a Simpsons party for my students (heaven forbid!). What I will do is be more careful before I assist the enemies of the church by becoming a stereotype. If anything this article and Mr. Pinsky's book should serve as a means for understanding the people to which we are called to make disciples. And making disciples is something that even Ned Flanders knows is no easy task.

Sex May Sell, But The Church Shouldn't Be A Market!

I confess that my perspective on modesty may be a bit strict. I am a recovering pharisee. When I was growing up girls and guys weren't even allowed to swim together because that was considered mixed bathing. (Funny I never saw any soap in the pool. Hmmm?) Having been since converted to the ranks of the reformed, however, I am happy to view all things through the lens of grace.


More and more, I find that some of the guidelines I used to follow in an attempt to win God's favor I am returning to because of God's favor. One of these guidelines is that women should dress modestly. I'm sure at this point many of you may be rolling your eyes and thinking: Here it comes, another tirade on short-shorts and bikini's. Actually I would like to examine this issue from a two institutions perspective and see if we can in an environment of grace find a way to encourage one another. So let me direct this post to two separate parties...

To Husbands, Fathers, Pastors, and Men in general - You have a spiritual responsibility to protect and preserve the purity of the women that God has placed in your care.

1.Make sure that your own heart and mind remains pure. Do whatever it takes!!! If you need any encouragement in this consult two sources 1. The Bible - Philippians 4:8,1 Corinthians 6:12; 2 Peter 2:19, Proverbs 6:25-28; Ezekiel 20:30; Ephesians 4:19, and 2. My post on Saturday July 14. 2007.

2. Be the man and share the truth in love when you daughter, wife, etc. is wearing something that is inappropriate.

3. Encourage our ladies when they set a good example and always love them and protect their emotional tenderness.

To Wives, Mothers, Daughters, Youth Leaders, Teachers, and Ladies in general - You have a spiritual responsibility to protect your brothers in Christ from stumbling.

1. Have a healthy view of your own femininity like that found in Proverbs 31. (No you don't have to be perfect, you just need to be godly)

2. Dress modestly. Let your apparel not distract us guys from your true beauty which is internal not external. - 1 Timothy 2:9

3. Help steer us guys away from situations that might cause us to stumble. In case you haven't figured it out ladies, we men are a little clueless sometimes. We need you to "have our backs" occasionally.

Okay, let me close by saying that despite the over sexualized culture in which we live, there are some things about which we can be encouraged. One good example of this is the article that inspired me to write this post. It was entitled Girls Gone Mild? and was posted on the ABC News website on July 20th. Go by and check it out. There are also some helpful websites and other resources listed at the end of the article.

Lets do everything we can to make the church a safe haven for both men and women to escape the pervading promiscuity in the world around us.

A truly sad commentary...

A good buddy of mine brought something to my attention the other day. One of the bastion churches of the SBC is severely under attack right now, and all of it is from within. A pastor has made some poor decisions and some members have made some poorer ones, and there is an outright war going on right now. We at Two Institutions have a policy about not spreading gossip and lies, and therefore, unlike some others, I will not reveal any names.

When news like this hits me, it breaks my heart. I know some men who serve on staff at this church and it breaks my heart for their families. What breaks my heart the most though is that depraved human beings, who may very well have been set free from the curse of their depravity, choose to glory in its shame.

Two things I see killing the church today; 1. Egomaniacal pastors who feel that the church they work at is THEIR church, and 2. Egomaniacal members who feel that they have some life bond claim and that the church is THEIR church. When you combine these two, wow have you got a mess. It kills me that hopefully well intentioned people allow Satan to use them as pawns in a chess game to bring shame and disgrace to the name of Christ. These people become so obsessed with a battle that shouldn't be fought, that they risk losing ground in the only war that matters. It absolutely breaks my heart.

I was about to type that Christ's blood wasn't shed so that egomaniacs could claim that they hold a special right to it. But that is exactly what it was shed for. It was shed for sin and that is what these people are allowing themselves to be caught in. How mind blowing that the destruction that is being wreaked on the church today from within, is part of the very reason that Christ had to die.

The picture above is one from the Civil War. I normally refer to it as the War of Northern Aggression, being a true southern man. However, there was nothing civil about that war. Brother versus brother, father against son. It wasn't right, it was heart breaking. When I look at the church today I see the same thing. If we do not stand up and change we will see the same worthless wars continuing to be fought and over time the casualties will be more severe. It makes me sick and it breaks my heart.

Weekend Update: Harry Potter Party Mania

One thing I like about blogging is that by nature it is very organic. It is not static like a newspaper or a magazine and it can be updated almost instantaneously. With that in mind, I felt inclined to do a weekend update. Chalk it up to having a lot on my mind or having too much free time. I'll let you be the judge...



Last night I happened to stop by my local bookstore. It was about 8:45pm and the place was packed. As I struggled to find a parking space I realized what was going on. They were having a Harry Potter book release party. At midnight dozens of parents and sleepy kids would be lined up to purchase the latest missive in the Potter saga.

I have no desire to launch into a tirade about Harry Potter. To be quite honest, I have seen all of the films except for this latest one, which I will probably wait for it to come out on video. There is some entertainment and even some positive values that they posses. I think that there are also some troubling elements in the Potter books especially as it relates to children. My concern over this spectacle, however, goes a bit deeper.

While I was at this potter party last night, I observed the many parents and children who were roaming around the store talking, playing games, and parading costumes. Suddenly, it struck me that as a people; we are bereft of a Biblical sense of the magical. In other words we have lost the proper mystical reverence of God and have traded it for a man created, celluloid, hardback bestseller version. Those people last night from young to old were all created by God for His pleasure, but instead of seeing the wonderful, and even magical mystery that exists in the goodness of the trinity they have sought it elsewhere. What is even more telling is that many times, I find myself right there with them. I guess it reminds me so poignantly of what C.S. Lewis said about desire in his book, The Weight of Glory

Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

If I were not so easily pleased, and if I could reflect the glory and mystery of the creator of the universe and if many of my brothers and sisters in Christ could do the same thing, then I suspect that we could have parents and kids running around church like they were that bookstore.

"Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?" - Exodus 15:11 (ESV)

Martin Luther Would Support Homosexuality?

I feel as though in my thirty-odd years that I have heard just about everything...and then I get wind of the following article:

When it comes to gays, 'What would Luther do?' by: Mary Zeiss Stange

I won't offend your sensibilities by attempting to build a straw man (or woman in the case of Ms. Stange), but her points display a gross misunderstanding of the great reformers character and Biblical scholarship. Sufficed to say that when you are so engrossed in error any fair handed treatment of the facts seems irrelevant.

One point that I feel compelled to make is the fact that Dr. Luther was a Biblicist par excellence. He found in the scriptures his basis for just about every aspect of life from eating and drinking to child-rearing and social manners. There is no way in the world he would have overlooked key texts such as:Genesis 19:1-13; Leviticus 18:22; 1 Corinthians 6:9. To emphasize this even further consider Paul's crystal clear teaching on the subject found in Romans 1:26-27:

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. (ESV)

Now notice that these verses come from Romans 1. If you look back at verse 17 of this chapter you will find the verse, the very verse, that Luther explains led him to become a believer:

At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, "In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live.'" There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely, the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, "He who through faith is righteous shall live." Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.-Preface to the Complete Edition of Luther's Latin Writings.(Wittenberg, 1545)

I think we can safely say that even if the sanctity of Scripture itself was not enough to cause Dr. Luther to be against the sin of homosexuality, the sanctity of this chapter would suffice. I'm sorry Ms. Stange you are wrong, Luther would be as against the act homosexuality as any other God-fearing, Bible believer.

Let me close by making a very important distinction. As believers our position should be that of hating sin but not sinners. We have no cause to make fun of or deride those caught up in sin; far from it! Rather our position, and I would hope that Dr. Luther would have agreed that we should react like the apostle Paul and say...

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. - Galatians 6:1 (ESV)

I credit Dr. Al Mohler for recognizing this article and calling attention to it on his blog which is found here.

The Church Must Return To The Kingdom

As promised, I am proud to present our first official guest blog entry. The author today is a personal friend of mine and has one of the keenest theological minds of anyone in my acquaintance. I hope that you will enjoy his scholarship. By the way, be sure to leave comments if you enjoy this post and maybe we can have him write again.

Thanks,
Mike

The Church as we know it has forgotten, and in many cases forsaken, the concept of Kingdom, more specifically, the Kingdom of God. That indictment, at first, comes across pretty harsh. Allow me to explain. First of all, the Church is not totally to blame. In our modern times, we have very few examples of Kingdoms to draw from in order to understand what the principles of a Kingdom entail. So, to our modern, Western churches, the concept of Kingdom has become too foreign for congregations to relate to. Therefore, many pastors, preachers and lay ministers just avoid the subject altogether or give it cursory, even gratuitous mention. But, does God find this acceptable? Absolutely not!

The Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven is mentioned or used for guidance over 75 times in the gospels alone. It is probably the topic of which Jesus spoke of the most. How ironic that the topic that is most important to Jesus has become of so little importance to His Church. Too many churches and their congregations are running around practicing a religion and have no clue that there is a Kingdom. Jesus did not come to establish a religion. He came to establish a Kingdom. Jesus is not a Democrat or a Republican. He is a Monarch, a King, and a Lord that has a Domain and Dominion over that Domain. Our churches need to understand what those words mean and how those meanings should impact our lives.

The followers and listeners of Jesus understood this very well. They had been under the Kingdom of Rome for quite some time. So, when Jesus spoke of His Kingdom, they understood what He meant. To follow Jesus as our King means you submit to His Kingdom and all that entails. To call Him Lord means that He owns everything and He has an obligation to care for the needs of those who submit to His Lordship. Further, the Word of The King, the Bible, is His final and only word or His Constitution that the citizens of His domain must follow, without question.

Here is where the harshness of my indictment starts to make sense. Our Western churches operate more like Democracies rather than part of a Kingdom. To illustrate this, the King has condemned homosexuality without question, and He has done so in both the Old and New Testaments. And yet, there are some denominations and churches that proceed to ordain homosexual bishops by conveniently reinterpreting or even amending scripture. Now, these denominations and churches are very good at practicing a religion. But, they have ignored and forsaken the Kingdom. The Word of the King is not up for discussion, debate, reinterpretation or amendment. His Word is final and His citizens are to follow it without question. Jesus said to seek first His Kingdom. The Church needs to get busy in taking Him seriously…as their King!

About the Author - Tim Albury is Chief Financial Officer for a pharmaceutical company in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. In addition to having a head for numbers, he is a gifted teacher, theologian, and curriculum writer. One of his more recent missives is entitled Hidden Treasure: A Study On The Family and can be purchased here.

The Day Of The Quick Conversion Is Gone

I have become quite fascinated with the theological statements of David Wells. For those of you who aren't familiar with Dr. Wells, he is the Andrew Mutch Distinguished Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. He was the keynote speaker at the Founders Conference held a few weeks ago in Owasso, OK at Bethel Baptist Church. In one of his sessions he shed a particularly poignant light on the need for a strategic change in the way the gospel must be presented. He states...

Evangelicals must dispense with the popular demand for instant results and realize that just as God was patient in unfolding His redemptive plan over thousands of years, so modern Christians must patiently unpack the entire storyline of Scripture for postmoderns, Wells said. Only when this "slow, careful, remedial, preparatory work" is done, he urged, will the cross of Christ make sense.

I strongly urge you to click over to the Baptist Press site using this link and read the address for yourself. The article title is Todays Culture Is Clueless, Wells Says. If Dr. Wells is right, then continuing on with the way we have approached evangelism for the last 50 years may actually weaken the message of the simple gospel. He is not calling for a change of content but a change in the attitude of the bearer of the content. I shudder to think what hindrances we may be placing on the gospel because of our laziness and refusal to be aptly critical of our approach.

If all we are about are quick conversions, then his message doesn't bode well. The spiritual sprinters that have characterized the face of evangelism may find themselves running fast with no one joining the race with them. If, however, we are passionate to disciple, as Jesus calls on us to do, then ours is the means for building the kingdom and we have an obligation to perform it.

Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required
- Luke 12:48b

A Great Strategy For Fighting Pornography

I know that I have been posting in addition to our normal schedule of Monday's and Thursday's but when I find something good I feel compelled to share. Watch this video I found on GodTube about how to fight porn. I hope you find it as encouraging and inspiring as I did.

Alabama: The Buckle On The Bible Belt

It should come as no shock to those of you who hail from the yellowhammer state, but according to a recent poll published in the Christian Post, Alabama beats the rest of the U.S. in Biblical knowledge. The article entitled, Alabamians Beat Nation in Biblical Knowledge cites a poll that was conducted by the USA Polling Group. The survey asked a sample of Alabama natives basic questions such as the names of the four gospels, the birthplace of Jesus, etc. I for one am happy to congratulate the people of Alabama for their Biblical scholarship. For years it seems that the deep south has been maligned as full of cross-bred, redneck, hicks. Well, such people do exist to be sure, but at least the hicks know the Bible, and that is something to be proud of!

The Death of God Blessed Sexuality

Males and Females are created different. Any person with eyes can deduce our external differences and any person with ears and a brain can deduce our internal differences. God's design was for man and woman to enjoy and appreciate our differences at different levels from acquaintance all the way up to married sexual intimacy.

Rejoicing in these differences at all levels can even be considered a kind of worship. I am happy to give God the glory for the beauty and tenderness that graces the fine ladies with whom I have the privilege of knowing. Satan's design for the sexes, obviously, is perverse , sickening, and relentless. A good example of satans exploitation of our sexuality is witnessed in an article I came across from the Christian Post entitled, Times Square Pastor Fights Bare Bottoms Billboard.

Apparently a firm that is selling a new style of bidet called the washlet, has put up a billboard of several people completely nude from a rear view. This is wrong on several levels not the least of which is its location which happens to be above the entrance to a church. What makes this even sadder is that it further signals our societies loss of virtue. There is no appropriate respect and admiration of gender difference anymore. Madison avenue has led us on the charge to bare all and in doing so we have lost our God given sexual mystique and somewhere along the way we have also lost our souls. I hope that this pastor wins his battle for the sake of his congregation but even more so for the sake of America's lost sexual identity.

The Church Is Not Immune

I noticed an article in the Baptist Press today that reveals some unsettling facts about pornography in the church. The article in its entirety can be found at the Baptist Press site. It is entitled, Flood of pornography breaching the church. This is an area that men in ministry ignore to their peril.

There are a few strategies that you can follow to help guard against the subtle inroads that the porn industry uses.

1. Get an Internet filter. Here is a site that compares all the well known filters:
Top 10 Filters Reviewed

2. Load an accountability program on every computer that you use. A great program for doing this at XXX Church (no, this is not a bad site, it is an anti-porn site).

3. Get help. Find a brother or sister in Christ that you can be accountable to and meet with them regularly for encouragement and prayer.

4. Never have sole access to the Internet. Make sure that the computer you use can be used by anyone.

5. Always have the computer you use to surf the net in a public place where anyone can look over your shoulder.

6. Use the Mozilla FireFox browser which allows you to add programs such as Ad-block so that you can right click on any image while surfing and erase it from that web page permanently.

Okay, these are just a few suggestions. I hope that you will safeguard against porn and seek help if you are struggling. If you need more suggestions or would like to get help send Blake and I an email and we will try to put you in touch with someone.

Putting Families First

A couple of weeks ago Mike broached the subject of accountability. Now that word alone is one that most would say they need in their life, but few actually have. Even for those who do have it, the accountability they have is very weak and it does more to serve their own needs than to truly be used as a sharpening tool. For me personally, I hit a huge crossroads in my life with accountability this last year when I turned 30. For one I realized that though I said I had accountability, I actually did not. Another hard fact that I had to face was that if I did not soon gain some accountability I was dangerously close to losing my ministry. And by ministry I don't mean my job, my position at my church or even my peers and friends. By ministry I mean my wife and soon to be three little boys. You can take all of the previous things away from me and I will live just fine. If I lose my family, I'm a dead man.
This sobering reality set me on a quest to build some strict accountability into my life. It is hard to put into words my thoughts, and for me to even use the word strict, I am afraid that some will take what I mean by that word out of context. I have had the legalistic, rules based accountability at times in the past and quite frankly, it didn't work for me. No one likes to be motivated by the fear of failure of not achieving every point on a list. Sorry, but that strategy just flat out sucks. No, what I was looking for was grace based. I needed trench warfare comrades, who in my dark moments wouldn't scold me for missing the mark, but would get down and dirty with me and build me up. I needed men who would hold me accountable, but not be judges over me. I needed men who would not be afraid to straighten me out if need be, but not because of rules, because they had a deep driven love for me, my family and most importantly my savior.
As I journeyed down this road, the Lord revealed to me the names of 6 men. I call these men once a month and I write a detailed email to them once a month. Some I meet with regularly because it's geographically possible. Most I see once a year. These men are family to me. I love them like brothers. Most importantly my family love these men.
Now what does this have to do with family? I'm about to tell you. In my quest to find accountability, God showed me that aside from the Holy Spirit, my greatest accountability sleeps next to me at night. When I started my strategy I told Amber and these men that the purpose of this accountability was not to be a secret keeping society. Every month when I send my email, Amber gets to read it if she chooses. When I have my phone calls, I try and stay in the room that Amber is in, for my part of the conversation at least. The last thing I want is for my relationship with anyone to supersede the relationship I have with my wife. She is my partner, my help meet, my soul mate. She deserves to know everything as painful as that may be.
Below is an example of the latest email I sent out to my "Pals". It is a perfect picture of my philosophy of putting family first in accountability.
"The next week was our 8th anniversary and we had one of the best talks we’ve had in years. We went out to dinner and then to the park at the airport to talk, and I do mean talk. Notice how there is no quote mark around the word talk. She mentioned how she had been talking with some of her friends about how men face temptations with porn and with women in general. She said that at one time it may have killed our marriage if she knew I struggled with that stuff, but that she was beginning to realize how much of a temptation and struggle that really is for men. Although she would never excuse me for doing it, she wanted me to know that she knew she needed to help me more with that struggle. You want to talk about a picture of grace. I used to always feel guilty about Amber getting mad at me if I ever looked at anything. Now I don’t want to do it because I know she is fighting for me to not fall victim to it. I truly have a treasure in my wife. Since that night we have had a deeper since of openness and intimacy in our conversations with one another. We don’t feel like we need to hold anything back because we know there is no judgment from the other, only grace and love. That is true motivation to live holy lives. I could share more, but basically I know I am a blessed man who has been given way more than I deserve."

All I know is that I discovered that I can't do it alone. When we are evaluating where we are in our accountability relationships, if we are married, it dang sure ought to start with the person lying next to us.

Evan Almighty: Keeping Christianity Afloat In Hollywood?

For many years, Christianity has been the persona non grata in Hollywood. Producers, directors, and actors have practiced their craft either oblivious or in defiance of people of faith. Several movies that have been produced lately, however, have marked a distinct shift in this anti-Christian bias. Some good examples of this are The Passion of The Christ, Amazing Grace, The Last Sin Eater, One Night With The King, etc. One of the latest films that marks another attempt to intersect Hollywood and faith is Evan Almighty.

This film has drawn a spectrum of reactions ranging from praise to condemnation. According to Christianity Today Movies.Com film critic Carolyn Arends,

Evan Almighty is a little too silly and sometimes a little too sloppy to be considered a masterpiece. But the filmmakers have managed to make a truly entertaining film that invites viewers to contemplate the rather big idea that we're all "chosen" to be in relationship with—and obedient to—our Creator...Evan Almighty isn't perfect, but it is both inspired and inspiring. I can't wait to share it with my family.

While this review gives the impression that the film is flawed but functional there are other voices out there who see the movie in a different light. Dr. James Dobson shared his opinion on the Focus on the Family movie review website PluggedInOnline.Com.

Finally, I was concerned about the rewriting of the story of Noah and his ark. "God," played charmingly by Morgan Freeman, told the new Noah character that the first flood occurred because the people hadn't done enough "acts of random kindness" (as in A.R.K. Get it?). God destroyed the world and its inhabitants, the contemporary god said, not to punish a wicked and perverse generation as we read in Genesis 6, but as a benign object lesson to encourage people to be nicer to each other. It was bad theology and a radical distortion of Scripture...From my perspective, it is a shame that the movie is flawed in ways that could have so easily been avoided. Nevertheless, I appreciate the fact that the producers and writers did not include the gratuitous sex and violence that punctuates so many other offerings. Evan Almighty could have been a perennial favorite.

Having seen the film myself, I see that both supporters and critics have enough material in Evan Almighty to build their case. I enjoyed the film. I was very relaxed to see the conspicuous absence of sexuality, and crude or profane language. The film also had many good themes that are worthy of post-viewing family discussion. The one thing that disappointed me about the film is its portrayal of God as a feel-good kind of guy who just wants people to get along. This idea connects well with the masses but it egregiously depicts a world view that is far from what the Bible teaches.

I do feel it necessary to cut Evan Almighty a little slack. It is what it is, namely, a film made in Hollywood for the purpose of making money. In that regard, I can with reservation recommend the film, but I strongly urge caution and discussion in the car on the ride home.

So is Evan Almighty a marker in a trend to keep Christianity alive in Hollywood? I doubt it, but one can hope. In the meantime, I do think that by supporting films like the ones named earlier in this post, Christians can send a message to Hollywood to support film companies that want to create a family safe environment in theaters.

A glimpse of how it should be.

Wowzer! One week ago at this time I was in Summerton, SC attempting to access a horrible wi-fi connection. I was at Impact, our summer camp for our students, and boy was it hot. I love camp. No, seriously, I do. I don't love being away from my family, but I do love camp. Something about seeing the future generations worship makes my heart glad. This year camp was really, really different.

Exactly two weeks before we were to leave, we received word that our speaker had suffered a severe head injury that would sideline him for the rest of the summer. Now for some churches, that would have been the death knell. Not for us. We are tremedously, extraordinarily blessed. Within hours of receiving the news, 5 of our pastor's, including our senior pastor, had volunteered to speak and cover our sessions. It also needs to be said that there was no compensation or bribery involved. This is a picture of how the body of Christ is supposed to work. When one part suffers, the others rush to their aid.

Now, it needs to be said that this isn't a rare occurrence around here. This is who we are and how we operate. We use terms like family of faith and we don't snicker when we say it. We mean it. We love each other, care for each other and protect each other. This is how the body of Christ is called to operate. When people look at most churches they see bitterness and jealousy running amok within the staff. When people see this behavior within the leadership, it's no wonder they act the same way.

I write today's post not to boast. Believe, my heart, nor any of the others on the team here would ever want to do that. I write this post to offer hope. The reason we love one another is because our senior pastor loves us. He knows that Christ is the head of the church and as he follows Christ, we follow him. My hope and my prayer is that more and more senior pastor's would follow Christ's model.

Another reason this year was different is that my wife was back at camp with me for the first time in 4 years. She was radiating in all of her 8 month pregnant glory. I missed my boys for sure, but having mama there was truly a gift from the Lord. Now if I can just get this left over water out of my ear from tubing all morning last Thursday, I'll really be in good shape.