Catch The Vision!

Homer Hickam was a high school student growing up in the small mining town of Coalwood, W.Va. There were few prospects for young men like him except to follow their father's footsteps into the coal mines. Too small to earn a football scholarship, Homer saw no way out of his predetermined life -- until the soviet satellite Sputnik flew over the October sky and changed everything for him. With the encouragement of his teacher, Miss Riley, Homer embarked on a dream to build and launch his own homemade rockets with the help of his loyal friends. Though Homer's father resisted his son's pursuit, Homer persevered and eventually won the State Science Fair. This accomplishment opened the door for him to go to college and to eventually become a NASA engineer. This true story, later turned into a movie called "October Sky," demonstrates poignantly the power of a dream born in a person's heart.

Just like individuals need dreams, so churches must dream, as well. Every congregation should be asking questions like, "How can we more effectively reach people before Christ returns? What can we do to make an eternal difference in our community? What is the best way to connect people to Christ's purpose for their lives? How can we assist people in becoming devoted disciples of Jesus?" While these aren't the only questions they need to ask, they are central questions to their mission as a church.

Our staff and I have been asking these types of questions for the past year, searching the scripture for God's design for His church, and planning how to be instruments in His hands to accomplish His "vision." Our motivation is solely that we want to see God glorified through people coming to Christ who will know Him intimately, follow Him faithfully, and exalt Him passionately. And what has come from these discussions and periods of prayer has led us to adopt as our theme for 2010, "Catch The Vision." We want you to see what God has been showing us as we prepare for this New Year of ministry in the Tri-State.

As you might imagine, whenever you are following a "vision" that is born out of God's design for His church, there is inevitably some change that needs to take place. This will not be "change for change-sake," but it involves prayerfully orchestrated adjustments that we believe will improve our outreach to our community and provide for future growth in our church. In part, this involves minor alterations to our Sunday morning service times that will allow room in our auditorium for new people to attend, multiplying the number of small group Bible studies that will enable us to reach out further into our community, as well as some new ventures in introducing people to Christ through servant evangelism. While this is not the totality of our discussions and planning, we believe that these specific changes are essential to our mission for the New Year.

I recognize that all of us have preferences as to the way we like things to be done at church, but should we allow our preferences (traditions) to keep people out of Heaven? Or should we allow tradition to trump the truth? Someone has poignantly said, "It is one thing to have a preference; it is another to demand that one's preferences be honored above the needs of those without Christ." But that is exactly what too many Christians will do in the quest to remain true to their traditions or preferences.

There's a funny little story that illustrates comically what I'm trying to say and it goes like this...

"God gave the new pastor an idea about their church's future. So, he excitedly presented it at the monthly board meeting. After giving his most impassioned plea and really 'selling' the idea, the board voted down the pastor's proposed changes 12-1. The chairman of the board looked at the pastor and said, 'Well pastor, it looks like you've been out voted and since time is up for the evening, will you please close in prayer.' The pastor, not wanting to give up on what he felt God was leading him to do lifted up his hands to heaven and prayed, 'Lord - I know my brothers here do not have the same vision you have given me. Please help them to see that this is not MY vision, but YOUR vision!' At that exact moment, a lightning bolt struck the meeting room table, splitting it in two and knocking all the board members to the floor. As the dust cleared, the pastor looked at the chairman and said - 'So, what do you think about that?' He responded, dusting himself off, 'Well, I guess that makes it 12 votes to 2!'"

That story would be even funnier if it weren't so close to the experience of too many churches. I, nor any member of my staff, would never be so presumptuous as to say that we have a direct revelation from God about every aspect of our ministry expansion for 2010. However, I do believe that God has directed us to reach this Tri-State with the Gospel of Christ and make disciples of all men. In as much as we oppose change solely on the basis that we don't want our comfort zone disturbed or our tradition altered, then we may well be resisting God's purposes for LMBC.

Ask God to help you "Catch the Vision" of what He wants to do through this fellowship in 2010 and commit yourself to trying new things for the sake of people's lives being changed for His glory.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Celebrating Christmas

Just so you will know...

A new Rasmussen Reports^™ national telephone survey found that 66 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday and another 20 percent celebrate the event as a secular holiday.

Of those who celebrate Christmas, 81 percent believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God sent to earth to die for our sins and 72 percent say Jesus was born to a virgin.

Among all Americans, whether they celebrate Christmas or not, 82 percent say the person known to history as Jesus Christ actually walked the earth 2,000 years ago. Only three percent say he did not and 15 percent aren't sure.

Last year at this time, 64 percent of Americans said they planned to celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, while 27 percent planned to celebrate in a secular fashion.

Also, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports^™ survey, 81 percent of adults who celebrate Christmas agree that decorating their tree is a fun experience. Just a "Scroogelike" nine percent (9%) say the tradition is an unpleasant chore, while eight percent (8%) rate it somewhere in between. Women enjoy decorating the tree slightly more than men and young adults consider it more fun than their elders.

Who Was Jesus' Grandfather?

Few aspects of the Bible seem less relevant to daily life than genealogies. Yet for Gospel writers Matthew and Luke, they were absolutely essential for understanding Jesus.

Genealogies fulfilled multiple purposes in the ancient world. Society was organized around kinship patterns, so every family needed lists that described their ancestral pedigree. Such family trees determined a person's social relationships. For instance, two families planning the marriage of their children would compare family lines to check kinship ties to ensure the two were "compatible." And rulers used genealogies to justify their power, rank, and status.

So why are the genealogical trees in Matthew and Luke so different? Matthew begins his Gospel with Jesus' genealogy, while Luke places it, strangely, between Jesus' baptism and temptation. Matthew has an ascending list, moving from Abraham up to Jesus, while Luke has a descending list, moving from Jesus down to Adam. Matthew's list is partial; Luke's is complete. And most significantly, while the two lists are virtually identical from Abraham to David, they diverge greatly from David to Jesus.

Several solutions have been proposed to explain the differences. Martin Luther said that Matthew gives Joseph's line and Luke Mary's line. Others, such as Tertullian, reversed this. Yet the explanation fails in both directions, because the Gospels clearly state that they are listing Joseph's line (Matt. 1:16; Luke 3:23). Julius Africanus proposed that Matthew follows Jesus' natural descent and Luke his legal descent. Neither Gospel indicates such an approach, though, and it is best to allow the authors to speak for themselves.

A Closer Look

Examining each genealogy closely reveals the authors' different purposes. Matthew's list resembles those used by rulers to justify their rank and status, and by families to determine connections to a common ancestor. Matthew arranges his genealogy into three groups of 14 names each. In Jewish gematria—a kind of numerology stemming from the fact that letters of the Hebrew alphabet were also numbers—names have numerical value. The three consonants for David add up to 14. So Matthew underscores Jesus' kingly ancestry by working in groups of David, or 14.

Matthew portrays Jesus as the long-awaited Savior whose pedigree demonstrates his claim to be the Son of David and royal Messiah. Another unique feature of his genealogy is the presence of four women—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Each had a scandalous aspect of her life, thus paving the way for Mary as an unwed mother. And all were (or were married to) Gentiles, foreshadowing the Gentile mission so important in Matthew's gospel.

Luke, on the other hand, begins his genealogy with "the son, so it was thought, of Joseph" (3:23), and concludes with "the son of God" (3:38). At Jesus' baptism, God declares Jesus "my Son" (3:22), and Jesus' temptation begins with Satan recognizing him as "the Son of God" (4:3). Placed between Jesus' baptism and temptation, Luke's genealogy is meant to proclaim that Jesus is, indeed, God's only Son.

Luke does not group the names like Matthew does but provides a simple succession of ancestors. The list contains many more common names (some of which we know nothing about) and seems to underscore Jesus' humanity as well as his divine sonship. Moreover, by going all the way back to Adam (the ancestor of all humanity), Luke maintains a universal thrust, emphasizing that Jesus came for all mankind. The list ends with Adam, and then Luke moves into the story of Jesus' encounter with Satan in the wilderness, in which Jesus rises above temptation as Adam did not. The message is clear: In Jesus, all human beings find their sins overcome.

Are there difficulties in reconciling the genealogies? Can they be harmonized? The answer in both cases is yes. Matthew's and Luke's lists stem largely from Old Testament genealogies (see Gen. 10-11 and 1 Chron. 1-3) and Jewish sources, and the differences between the names occur largely because each evangelist was selective in whom he included.

After Nathan in Luke's account and after Zerubbabel in Matthew's, no names adhere to other biblical passages, but few doubt that both lists are following traditional sources. We may never know whether Jesus' paternal grandfather through Joseph was Jacob (Matt. 1:15) or Heli (Luke 3:23b), and it could well be that they were brothers, with Heli the uncle and legal line of Jesus and Jacob the physical line. Either way, each genealogy reveals something about Jesus.

Grant Osborne is professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

Passive Parents

I recently read an article by Cary Schmidt about "The Pitfalls of Passive Parents" that he developed from the failures of Eli in raising his sons. It reminded me of how important a parent's involvement is in his/her children's lives and how consistency is absolutely necessary to guide our children toward spiritual maturity. In this blog post I have shared Cary's major points, along with a brief summary of the emphasis he was making in his article. I pray these thoughts will challenge you to take up the role God has given you to parent your children.

1. Passive parents defer parenting and spiritual emphasis to institutions and Christian environments.

• Mere environmental changes--like church, school, or youth group--are no guarantee that our children will live honorably.

2. Passive parents excuse their own sin and their children's.

• Sometimes we tolerate sin in our children's lives because we don't want to deal with our own sin.

3. Passive parents avoid confrontation and responsibility.

• They see everyone else at fault--the teacher, the pastor, the youth pastor, the other kids, the church, the school, etc.

4. Passive parents have the truth but don't apply it.

• They sit in church week after week hearing the preaching without really listening or applying it to their own lives.

5. Passive parents focus on behavior modification rather than heart transformation.

• They are more concerned with minimizing their own embarrassment than with molding their child's heart.

6. Passive parents invest high energy into personal interests/careers, but little energy into parenting.

• They find time for the things they want to do, but save little time for guiding their children in spiritual, social, educational, and other important life matters.

7. Passive parents ultimately resign themselves to "whatever will be..."

• They invest little energy into trying to bring about change when a child is repeatedly recalcitrant.

8. Passive parents will answer to God for their own neglect, not their children's choices.

• At the end of the day, our children have the power to make choices that we cannot control. We are accountable for how we parent our children before, during, and after those choices.

These are important thoughts to consider if we are to maximize our effectiveness in raising our children. The task is ours to guide our children toward the Lord and His priorities. Nobody has greater influence on our children than we do as their parents, unless we are "passive" in the parenting process.

My Dad's Obituary

James David Lemming, 87, went to be with his Lord, Sat, Dec 5, 2009. He is survived by Dot, his wife of 68 years, two daughters - Diane (Harry) and Cheryl (David) and one son David (Mary); four grandchildren, John (Karen), Rebekah (Jeremy), Jon David (Katie), and Cristy; three great grandchildren, Brooke, Grace and Luke; one brother Paul (Estelle), two nieces Paula (Weyman) and Charlene; one aunt and several cousins.

He served the Lord by playing trumpet in the brass band and mandolin in the string band at the Salvation Army Lakewood Church and by teaching young people at Ousley United Methodist Church and then ending his teaching after several years of teaching the Pioneer Class at Ousley, a class that became a part of his family. He was a member at his death of 1st Baptist Church of Ellenwood.

He was drafted October 18, 1942 into the service of his country. He proudly served America in WW II in England and Germany as a Sergeant in the 8th Air Force. He was discharged December 31, 1945.

Dr. Tim Yates (a dear friend of the family) of Lewis Memorial Baptist Church of Huntington, WV will conduct the service, Tues., Dec 8 at 11 AM at Horis Ward’s Funeral Chapel in Stockbridge, Ga.; interment will be at Rest Haven Cemetery in Decatur. Members of the Pioneer Class will serve as honorary pall bearers. Visitation is Mon, Dec 7, from 6 to 8 PM.

My Hero

Today, December, 5, 2009, my dad went to be with his Lord. For 87 years he lived his life seeking to honor Jesus Christ and he brought up his children to do the same. These last two years have been very difficult for him, as he struggled with ever increasing physical problems. Today he no longer struggles or feels the pains of this life. I already miss him more than words can possibly express!

This picture was taken five months ago (July 2009) during our family vacation at the beach. This is our families annual gathering that we have observed for the past thirty-five years. Dad struggled to come, but I'm glad he pushed himself to join us, as the talks we had on our condo deck will go with me the rest of my life.

Dad, welcome home to your "eternal dwelling" with the Savior you loved and honored. Maybe it won't be too long and the rest of us can join you for the greatest family gathering ever on the banks of the crystal flowing river.

I pray these few brief thoughts reflect the heart of a son with the deepest of love and highest of respect for the man he was PROUD to call his father!!

May God show me how to walk in your footsteps, dad...till we meet again. "Even so come, Lord Jesus."

Your Son,

David

We Do Country, Too!

Lest you thought we were only good at disco...watch these country steps, too.

"Bustin-A-Move"

This is one of the videos a church member gave me and I couldn't keep it to myself. As you can see, many of our staff have some really good dance moves. LOL