Fleeting

I lead a weird existence.  The three most important things in my life rank:

• Eternally important - Being a follower of Jesus and my role as a pastor of a church committed to reaching people far from God with His amazing love.
• Very important - A husband, father, son, brother, in-law and uncle to my family and extended family.  Loving my wife as Christ loves the church, raising my children to follow Jesus, and honoring my extended family are crucial to me in life.
• Not very important - I'm a rabid follower of Georgia football.  I've been to 81 straight games and have missed 8 total games in the last 18 years.

I spend a lot of money on all of them.  Kind of by default, my family gets a lot of the money.  If you don't feed your kids, DFACS shows up.  Of course, I see our investment in them as investing in the Kingdom, too.  And I spend a lot of money on Jesus.  My wife and I have always tithed, and we invest over and above that in this ministry that we believe so deeply in.  Finally, I invest a lot in my Dawgs.  You don't go to 81 straight games for free.  But, it's sort of who I am.

It ended up being a weird weekend for me as it all wrapped up, and I'm still trying to wrap my head and heart around it.  I took a vacation Sunday, as I usually do, to attend the Georgia vs. Florida game.  It was one of the most intense games I've ever been to, maybe THE most intense.  We shocked the world and beat #2 Florida.  My buddies and I danced and screamed like school girls.  We laughed, cheered, and screamed...then laughed some more.  We go because we love our team.  When you love your team, you should soak up every moment like that you get, because they don't come around often. 

On the drive home, I glanced at Facebook and noticed some posts on a friend's wall.  Something had happened but I couldn't put 2 and 2 together.  But I knew it was bad.  When I got home, I figured it out.  His 8 year old son was killed by a truck as they crossed the street.  They had gone to pick up pizza to celebrate the Dawgs win after watching it at home.  And now...he was gone.  Celebration had turned to despair, and your favorite team winning doesn't seem to matter so much any more. 

Honestly, this friend and I don't talk much.  We'll occasionally comment on Facebook to one another.  I haven't seen him in years.  But it's too striking for me.  He and I both worked for the Athletic Association at UGA.  He and I both served at the same ministry in Panama City Beach.  He and both have four boys.  It shook me to my core, and it made me hug those boys tighter ever since.

So, the thing that had me rattled most is that what do I do now?  I think about Will, this precious boy, and I see the face of my sons.  It makes me sick to my stomach, honestly.  I grieve for him, for his mom and dad and brothers.  It sends chills up and down my spine to think about.  How can I care about things that don't really matter now?  How could I if I was Will's dad?  Shouldn't I just spend my entire life evangelizing on every street corner and never let my kids out of my sight.  The Kingdom and my family are far more important than football games!  Maybe I need to focus ALL my energy on church and family?

Here's what I know, you can't live paralyzed by fear because that's not really living.  You can't say you're never going to let your children out of your site because that's not living.  And you can't say you're not going to care about things like ballgames, concerts, and Christmas presents...because those things make up life.  Life is fleeting...so live it.  There are no answers to tragedies.  None.  Life is just fleeting.  So soak it up.  The main things have to be the main things.  What is eternally important has to be most important.  What is very important has to be very important.  And for life to be life, it has to be full of a lot of things that aren't very important but provide a lifetime of memories.  Things like ballgames, proms, vacations, and movies.  They aren't important, really, at all.  But the people you experience them with ARE, and our minds often need a distraction from the very important things we're all dealing with, like mortgages, health concerns, job loss, and tragedies.

And that's how and why I can keep caring about something so fleeting as a ballgame in the midst of this fleeting life.  Because I will sit with my sons on Saturday in the seats we always sit in.  And we will eat pretzel M & Ms together and share a Coke Zero.  And we'll say "Gooooooo Dawgs, sic 'em, woof, woof" together.  And we'll be dressed in the same colors...together.  In the long run, the game won't matter much.  The 'together' will.  For the McInnis family, that's what it means to be 'together.'  There is a part of all of us that wants to put life on hold when we hear of a tragedy like Will's, but that's not life -- that's paralyzation.  Moreover, it dishonors the memory of those who would have been right there in the thick of it with us.  Make the things in your life that are unimportant eternally important because of the important people you spend them with!  And cheer for your team because it's fun.  And life is supposed to be fun.  So have fun with the people you love most, and never miss the eternal opportunities in every moment.  I hope you'll join me in praying for Will's family.

It's Complicated...Part Two

This past Sunday I preached on politics.  It wasn't what you'd probably normally hear in church.  I'm okay with politics, but I've never considered myself very political.  Namely, I don't think they make that big of a difference.  Let me rephrase that:  they don't make a big enough difference.  My work is the work of the Kingdom, and it's so much bigger than politics.  Deep down, I don't think politics can fix the problems of society.  Politics are about the affairs of the state, and you can't fix the affairs of the soul with the affairs of the state.

Moreover, I think the issues that we have made into hot button political issues are much more difficult to navigate than political agendas let on.  I mentioned some of those on Sunday, and I thought it'd be worth it to flesh them out a little bit more.  I don't have a lot of the answers, which is kind of my point.  I'm so much more interested in getting to know the One who has the answers and leaning on him in my own life rather than forcing my politics on others.  I'd much rather offer them my Jesus then force feed them my politics.  I'm calling this "It's Complicated - Part Two" because I wrote a blog post a few months ago on the issue of homosexuality and gay marriage and named it "It's Complicated."  That was the first issue I mentioned this past Sunday.  Today, I thought I'd tackle the next 'complicated' political issue:  abortion.

Abortion is a sensitive issue -- and emotional.  Right now, there are women reading this that were told they should have had an abortion and chose not to.  Against all odds, they now have a healthy and happy child.  There are people reading this that were THAT baby whose mother was told to have an abortion (or maybe even tried to), but they survived or she decided not to, and you have grown to become an adult live out your purpose on earth.  There are women reading this who got abortions, for whatever reason.  Some regret it and wonder if they can be forgiven (you can).  Some still think it was the right decision.  There are men reading this who told a high school girlfriend to get an abortion and they did, and they wonder what that child would be like today.  And there are men reading this whose high school girlfriend got an abortion but never even told you they were pregnant.  Lastly, there are a lot of people like me.  People who have not been affected personally about abortion but feel something about.  Some of us are very passionate about it.  Some of us are very confused.  Some of us are convicted, but unsure how to express it.  Some of us disagree vehemently yet love the same Jesus.  It's complicated.

I don't think you can look at the Scriptures without recognizing that God is clearly pro-life.  Every child that is conceived is clearly a creation by Almighty God, for whom He has big plans.  God told Jeremiah "For I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future."  (Jeremiah 29:11).  Psalm 139:13-16 says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body."  It's pretty plain that God has a plan for unborn children.  They are people.  They are His creations.  God's not into killing them.  I don't think you can read the Scriptures and say that God is for abortion, no matter how much you believe in the rights of women.  And I believe very strongly in the rights of women.  However, there are two things that have always kept me at bay from getting on my high horse when it comes to abortion.  It's why I cringe at pro-life rallies and never get into many debates about it:

1. I'm not a woman.  I have never been and I am never going to be a 14-year-old girl pregnant with an out-of-wedlock child that I can't afford and virtually no family support.  I have no idea what that feels like.  The guy can bail on the child and leave town.  The girl is stuck with a decision that she'll live with for a lifetime one way or the other.  I don't have a daughter, but if I did we'd never consider abortion.  We'd do whatever we could to bring about God's glory from that situation and raise that child to be all God intended him or her to be.  But I'll never be in those shoes personally.  I'm not a woman.  I always say that you can't judge someone till you walk a mile in their moccasins.  Those are one pair of moccasins I'll never be able to put on.  I have a theory based on what I read in Scripture.  It seems clear to me.  But I've never been 14, broke, abandoned, and pregnant.  And I never will be.  Let me say this, too, because it's an important part of the story.  We always exclude rape and incest, right?  Why?  If a child is conceived in rape or incest, don't we believe that God can bring about good in all things?  Aren't we the people that believe, as Joseph said in Genesis 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."  How do we know that child isn't going to be President or the next Billy Graham?  I've always thought that if we say we're pro-life except for rape and incest, then we're basing that on political agendas and not God's Word.  If you're going to be pro-life, you've got to be pro-life all the way because our God is bigger than rape or incest.  He can overcome the ugliness at conception to bring beauty in birth and redemption in life.  Isn't that the story of the Gospel?  Like I said, it's complicated.
2. We use birth control.  I have 4 kids; I do not want 7.  Or 12.  So what, you say.  Well, I don't actually believe life starts at conception.  You see, that's not really Biblical.  That's what people with political agendas have taught us to try and get our vote or support.  The Bible says something very different.  In Jeremiah 1:5 God tells Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart."  Whoa, whoa, whoa.  BEFORE you were in the womb?!  Yes, before.  I believe God knows us before our mom was the apple of our daddy's eye.  I believe each one of us is an idea in the mind of God, and he knew us long before we were conceived.  Don't you believe that?  It's what the Bible says.  So, here's the question I struggle with:  how many children have I not had that God intended my wife and I to have because we use birth control?  In Genesis 38, Onan refuses to conceive the child with Tamar that he's supposed to by spilling his semen on the ground.  The Bible says what he did was wicked in the Lord's sight.  As Doc Holiday says in Tombstone, "It appears my hypocrisy knows no bounds."  It's hard for me to get all high and mighty on those who have abortions for killing children after their conceived when I'm taking active measures to make sure that children aren't conceived, even if God wanted them to be.  And one of the reasons we don't have more children is we can't afford them.  But we can't afford more children because we have chosen a lifestyle that more children wouldn't allow us to continue in, not because we don't have enough money.  It's complicated.

So, maybe the Roman Catholics have it right.  I'd feel really good getting on my pro-life soap box if I didn't practice birth control and took it all the way through rape and incest.  I'm not sure I'm ready for that.  Now, let me say here that I think God gives us good sense, too.  The reason we use birth control is that I think God has given doctors wisdom and insight to provide ethical means to create and foster health.  I'm not sure it's good for women across the planet to be having 10-14 children each.  I think we're using science for good, for the health of my wife, and for what seems to me to be what's best for my family.  But I can't be sure of that.  I'm making a judgment call on that for my own self.  Some folks who believe abortion should be legal would say it's a judgment call to use science in the same way, just at a different stage in the process.  I think God is okay with what I'm doing, but I'm not positive.  We'd never dream of having an abortion, but what if birth control is just as wrong?  I'm banking on it not being wrong, but I know I pray daily for God to have mercy on me in all the ways I sin and don't even know it.  Man, that opens Pandora's Box, doesn't it?  It's complicated.  I'm pro-life...to an extent.  Not to the extent that I have 12 children.  And I think that's okay with God, but it sure is gray in a world of black and white politics.

I don't know what all that means.  For me, it means I've got plenty of planks to get out of my own eye before I start getting on my political soapbox.  It's complicated, but Jesus is simple.  He forgives us when we seek Him.  No matter what you've done in your life, I hope you'll seek Him too.  He's the one that can fix the affairs of the soul.

Hoping against Hope

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on teh vines, though the olive crop fails, adn fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior." Habakkuk 3:19


I'll have to admit, I don't venture into Habakkuk much. Nevertheless, my devotional reading led me there yesterday. The theme I'm reading about this week is hope. And sometimes we hope against hope. Really, if there is a glimmer of success on the horizon, we're moving past hope. Hope is the belief of better things to come when everything is hopeless. Hope us trusting in God even when life seems to be handing you lemon after lemon. Think about this passage and the era it was written. If the crops didn't produce and the farm animals died, there would be no food for the family and no money to be made. Their livelihood and life-line was desolate. They had lost all hope. Yet, circumstances do not determine the hope of the faithful. Circumstances are always changing, but our hope is in the One who never changes.

Perhaps you've found yourself recently in a situation like Habakkuk. The money has dried up. The leads on jobs have dried up. The doctors have given a grim report. The relationship has fallen apart seemingly beyond repair. Is your hope in the circumstances or in the One who is above all circumstances? Do you still recjoice in Him? Friend, He is worthy of our rejoicing. He has loved you and redeemed you. And the one circumstance that you could not change, the forgiveness of your sins, He changed forever. That proved His love for us, and we can trust that He's working good in us and for us now. So hope in Him. Hope against hope, no matter how dry the fields seem or how empty the stalls are. Keep hoping. Keep trusting. Keep rejoicing. Keep believing. For our hope is not in our circumstances but in Almighty God.

What it's all about

This is why we do what we do:  adults, children's and teens coming to faith in Christ.  Life change.  Church work ain't easy.  Volunteers give blood, sweat and tears.  Staff are underpaid and overworked.  The faithful sacrifice financially to make ministry happen.  Musicians rehearse, Children's teachers prepare lessons, greeters greet, somebody shops for all the goodies that are out on Sundays, and somebody cleans up the facility.  That's the story in almost every church.  But the work of the Church is the most important thing happening on Earth.  This is why the local church is the hope of the world.  In Gladiator, Maximus says a great line, "What we do on earth echoes in eternity."  That's not exactly true.  The games we won, the money we made, the mansions we built, and the amount of twitter followers we accumulate won't matter at all in eternity.  Most of the things we worry and fret over won't matter in eternity.  But the work of Christ's church not only matters in eternity, it impacts eternity.  What an honor it has been for me to be a part of the life change that has happened through these beautful people at Church of the Way.

To Those Who Wait

I believe our culture has a crisis of patience.  We have lost all patience.  We have no room for it.  Our lives are too hectic and too busy for patience.  That's why baseball is not as popular as it once was.  We like the football teams that run fast-offenses, we like basketball teams that are up-tempo.  We want to see the fastest teams in the fastest sports.  We nearly throw our phone out the window when it doesn't update our facebook app fast enough.  We want speed.  We want our food fast because we already going to have to drive fast to get to a quick meeting before we mow through a few reports.  We have no patience to wait.  I mean, is there anything that drives you more nuts than sitting in traffic or standing in line at Walmart?

Maybe it's because information is so fast now.  We don't have to wait for the morning paper.  Constant, up-to-date news is at our fingertips.  And, we are bombarded in the media by over night successes, which makes us less patient.  If he can reach the top of the pop charts at 14, why can't my baby girl?  If that coach can win a championship in his second season, why can't my coach?  If that guy can drop out and make ba-jillion dollars in one year, why can't I?

If I'm honest, I have not been a very patient person.  I'm results oriented, with others and myself.  I expect a lot out of myself and others.  I'm always pushing and striving for the next step.  But I am learning something.  God is a slow cooker. 

The thing about impatience is that we miss the beauty of the moment.  I want to push my children to grow up, learn more, and develop more, but they will never be this age again.  Never.  I can't wait for my 2-year old to learn to potty.  But when he does, he won't be 2 anymore.  And there is something very fun about 2-year olds that is pure and innocent and happy.  I want our church to make a dramatic impact in the community and for us to see exponential growth.  It is growing, but if I always look ahead, I'm going to miss the fact that this is probably the smallest church I will ever pastor.  We're only going to get bigger, and I will miss out on the days that I can have a relationship with nearly everyone in the seats on Sunday morning.  Impatience makes us miss out on the present.

Impatience is really why do don't choose God's way.  Impatience is really rooted in selfishness, which, I believe, is the root of most sins.  We are impatient to do romantic relationships God's way because we want sexual satisfaction now.  We are impatient to give to our church because we are looking at what it will mean to our current financial decisions rather than seeing the impact of a lifetime of committing to God's mission.  We are impatient to quit harmful behaviors now because they are fun or make us feel better, not trusting God's steady plan for the best life we can have.  Impatience looks ahead to what's next or what we think we deserve while patience looks at right now and what we've already been blessed with.

It is a hard lesson, but I'm learning patience.  Proverbs 19:11 says, "A man's wisdom gives him patience."  Wisdom breeds patience.  When we're impatient, we're pretty much being stupid.  Of course, there ain't no way to get patience than to just live it and wait it all out.  There is no quick fix.  However, when you rest in it, it's a beautiful thing, and you can enjoy the moment.

An Ode to Lily of Sorts

Yesterday, we buried our cat, Lily, of 12 1/2 years.  She was a good ol' girl.  She had been with Emily and me longer than we'd been married.  We got her around Easter in 2000.  She was white with a gray spot on the top of her head.  We named her Lily for Easter.  She lived with Emily in her apartment for a while, then with me in my first parsonage before we married. 

While we were on our honeymoon, she jumped in the trunk of my friend who was staying at the parsonage and preaching for me on Sunday.  He didn't realize it till he opened his trunk in Auburn, Alabama and out jumped Lily.  We came home and thought she was dead.  She was just taking a road trip. 



Lily in her healthier days

She was a huntress, too.  She was mostly outside but came into relax and eat.  She brought home moles, birds, squirrels, chipmunks and even rabbits.  She learned her way around the farmland near my first parsonage, our first neighborhood in Gwinnett, and the neighborhood we live in now.  No matter how long she was gone wandering, Lily always came back.

But she was getting sick, not eating and getting infections.  It was time to let her go.  The boys helped dig a hole in our backyard and we buried her in there with some cards they wrote her and her tag and collar.  My children are Christian children.  They are Resurrection children.  They believe in heaven.  They believe in the resurrection.  One of them said, "We'll see her in heaven when we all come back alive again, right daddy?"  I read the Bible a lot.  I have a Master of Divinity from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.  I'm in my 13th year of full-time ministry.  And I just looked at him and said, "I don't know."

I don't know if animals go to heaven.  I don't know exactly how it all works at the resurrection.  One part of me says that only humans have souls.  The other part of me says that Christ has come to redeem all creation.  Who the heck knows?  But, it lends itself to a deeper point.  There's a lot that I don't know.  There are a lot of questions that simply aren't answered in the Scriptures.  There are some questions that are even raised.  And we've become obsessed with knowing it all.  I don't think we have to know it all.  I think the point is in focusing on what we do know.

I know Jesus.  I know Jesus lived.  I believe he is who he said he was.  I believe he died for me.  I believe he resurrected.  I believe he loves me and forgives me.  I believe he's coming again.  And I believe I'm at my best when I am being who he wants me to be (and I'm happiest then, too).  I know those things.  That's enough to keep me busy the rest of my life doing His will.  And because we know those essential things, we've got to be able to have the margin to say "I don't know."  The world so desperately needs us Christians to stop pretending we know everything and start telling them the most important thing we do know.  Jesus is real...and he loves you.