Team Mission

I had decided to quit golfing. That was it. I do enough stupid things that I don't need others to know about without actually going out with three other people to demonstrate yet another area of inadequacy. "It's about the fellowship," say some. I say no. It's about competing and winning. The last time I won at golf, well I haven't.

So one day, as I was driving home, I decided to quit golfing. I called my wife to give her the news, but before I could say anything she said, "Steve, we need to buy the boys golf clubs." I almost said, "Well, they can have mine now, before I die" but I didn't. I said, "Well, okay." Maybe I shouldn't give up yet.

The boys can hit the ball about like I hit the ball. If I were a baseball player I would be hitting about .300. That would put me in All-Star territory. We all would be in All-Star territory. But in golf hitting .300 is a bad day. Some days better. Most days worse. In a rare moment, the last for many years I'm sure, my two sons and I were together in Borger. So we went golfing. (Go figure.)

I suggested that instead of playing against each other, we play against the course. We played best ball. So here you have three players, all able to hit about .300 (.300 translates into a score of 110 or so) competing not against each other but against that nasty golf course. Game on. At the end of it our score was 78! I couldn't believe it. And everyone contributed.

To start out there was some competition within the team with everyone trying to keep track of whose ball was "best" most of the time. That element of competition evaporated completely within about six holes. We can all mess up pretty well on our own. As a team we could do great things that as individuals would be impossible.

Translating this into other areas of life is not difficult. Where we try to go through difficulties alone, we find ourselves inadequate and unfulfilled. But linking to a team and relying on the gifts and abilities of others actually develops three critical areas:

1) humble fellowship;
2) recognition of others;
3) fulfillment of mission.

Humble Fellowship is something you learn when a team is working well together. Arrogance does not advance the mission. Paul says this in Philippians 2 when he exhorts the congregation not to consider themselves better than the other person. Instead, humble yourself as Christ humbled Himself.

There is also a necessary Recognition of Others on the team. One of the lessons that I have learned as a leader is to make room for personalities that I don't prefer. My role is not one of exclusion but rather of discovery and facilitation for contribution. A person may not think the way that I do, but that does not allow me to preclude their contribution in the pursuit of the mission. God has gifted them as He has gifted you.

Fulfillment of the Mission is the goal, but such is not done in isolation. Even Paul, who seemed to be the individual who just moved ahead, needed support and companionship to the end of his involvement in the Great Commission. I would remind you also that Great Golfers, even though they golf alone, have great caddies who encourage, coach, and rejoice with the one they serve.

I enjoyed golfing with my boys that day. Truth be known, we were disappointed that we shot a 78. We wanted it to be lower, but that is a man thing. Still, given there are not many super-heros in the church, it was a great lesson to learn again; we need each other as we move out with the Gospel to a world that is lost. And as we move together, the task is not as much labor as it is delight.

Maybe I'll continue golfing. Only God knows what else I can learn.

Being the Church in a Recession

We have been blessed in Texas with a robust economy in good times and a resilient economy in times when the rest of country is struggling economically. Still, people are moving into the state at high levels and businesses are struggling. There are communities dependent upon government contracts when the Federal budget is being redistributed. The result of this is employment numbers are declining. People are looking for jobs. The challenge for the unemployed to find employment is growing, and some economists say economic struggle will continue for years to come.

So what can the church do? An even better question is, what can the church be to their communities in a time when circumstances threaten to turn lives upside down? In one of the ubiquitous blue boxes in the Economist (Feb 20-26, 2010), a short two column piece appeared, addressing this very issue. Here is some of what this secular publication observed.

The church can be a gathering place. Many congregations across the country are providing both spiritual and professional counseling for people who have lost their jobs. They come together in prayer and praise, they network or fellowship, they highlight people who have recently become employed. For those who have been unemployed for the longest period of time, congregations hand out gas cards and gift cards to help them travel to where they need to go and to prepare for an interview. One lay leader said, "We believe that God should be a part of the job search." Then they break out into workshop sessions.

In these workshops they review their resume` writing and learn how to construct an “elevator pitch” for why an employer should hire them. (An elevator pitch is a statement the length of the time it takes for an elevator to reach the selected floor. Not a bad idea to develop for a witness statement as well.)

An interesting component to this growing activity across the country is that the goal is not to add members to the congregation. Indeed, there is a great deal of anxiety and even hopelessness in the ranks of the unemployed. The church can certainly address fear, but opening the doors of a congregation for job searchers unconditionally (without the call to join the congregation) reduces anxiety for those unfamiliar with the church culture and encourages people to become acquainted with principled, hard-working members of the body of Christ.

Such attention to the community may not be forgotten when a job is secured. Still, a cup of cold water given without qualification serves the kingdom of Christ very well.

Stewardship: There is Still Time

The word "stewardship" has always had an effect on people. In fact, my guess is that as you read the title, this eleven lettered word, you were either saying, "go get 'em" or you were saying, "I'll go to the next blog and skip this." Not unlike the word evangelism, at the mention of the word "stewardship," people either become impassioned or their eyes glaze over. "All they want is money."

Here's the thing. And there is no way around this. Discipleship is stewardship and stewardship is your job. While this is not what you put on your tax forms indicating occupation, it is easily arguable that this is why you are here; to be a steward. If you think about it, you were a steward very early in your life. When you were instructed to make your bed and pick up your toys, you were being trained in stewardship. As I reflect on my reluctance to follow instruction at that age, I realize how resistant I was and how much I needed to learn about being a good steward.

To be sure, stewardship is more than straightening up the garage, washing the car and taking out the garbage. It includes family, being a good husband or wife or child. It includes being a good neighbor. It includes the use of your time. How do distribute your time? Do you set time aside to read the Word of God, to prayer, and to worship the Lord? Stewardship includes the call to mission.

Do you use your gifts and personality for the kingdom of God as well as your vocation? I once had a visit from a man who was a great salesman. He was selling me on becoming involved in his business. Ok, I turned him down. I am not in the business of getting into business. When my visitor was done with his presentation, I asked him if he was involved in evangelism in his congregation. He said no. I told him that he may be gifted in evangelism and should not miss the opportunity of being a good steward in this. I said, "Speak of Christ with the same passion and you will be a blessing for the kingdom of God." I don't know what happened after that, but I am certain he never had a "sales visit" like that before or after. The point is, use what God has given to you for the good of your neighbor and it will also reflect God's kingdom to the world. In so doing, recognizing that God is the owner of all things, you joyfully praise God in all that you do by taking care of and managing that which God has given to you.

Money is included. The Scriptures do not tip-toe into this issue. In fact, statistically, twenty percent of the New Testament deals with financial concerns. It talks about management of money, misuse of money, the consequence of loving money, and the proper place of money in our lives. When Jesus speaks in the parables about the kingdom of God, He is discussing stewardship and many times illustrates His point using money. The Pharisees tried to trip Jesus up over financial issues. He would not be distracted. In fact, Jesus used money to illustrate reconciliation, servant leadership and love. Money is used to demonstrate your love for God and all that He has done for you. It is used to demonstrate your love and responsibility also to your neighbor. First-fruit giving is a major component in praising God with all that you have. Stewardship, in this regard means learning to budget and learning to prioritize the budget to reflect your faith. (My family, at a minimum, has tithed all income for my entire ministry. Praise God, we have never gone without. My children have learned to tithe. I don't say this other than to encourage and perhaps challenge you.)

There is another word that has great effect on people. It is a word that softens hard hearts and minds. It is a word that causes congregations to pause when they are out of sorts with each other. It is a word that reunites families and neighbors. It a word that leads people to an even higher level of stewardship. The word is "forgiveness." In Jesus' death and resurrection, you are offered forgiveness. Adam was given the responsibility of stewardship of creation before the fall. Adam needed to hear that eleven-lettered word when he "dropped the ball" in his own stewardship and caused the human race to fall. You need to hear that word when you fail to manage the things you have and the gifts you are to use. Read Luke 19:11-27 and you will learn that our Lord has exacting expectations. The great thing about forgiveness in Christ is you can start again. There is still time to start again.

Just Stop to Thank for a Moment

Did you ever develop a list of things for which to be thankful? I'm not much on lists but I like this one. This is a list that will take you past Thanksgiving, the holiday. Against this list, a closet filled with clothes, an end of year bonus, or even good health, even though we appropriately give thanks to God for His provision (!) , simply fades into a secondary level altogether.

We learn in the Bible that thankfulness and joy is not simply something we do but it is who we are as a believer. Scripture keeps reminding me of this. Read Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

Paul will point out in Romans that in this world of sin and decay, one can rejoice and be in sorrow at the same time. Lutherans understand this in the "sin/sinner" typology. Paul and Silas were in a jail, bound and shackled in the most desperate of ways and yet they were not desperate. In their physical constraints they were unconstrained spiritually, singing praises to the Living God. Peter will also say the same thing. This kind of giving of thanks and rejoicing is counter-intuitive to the natural man. It is not natural. But there it is. Rejoice always, and again, just because you need to know this, I say, rejoice.

If at this point you should be saying, "That's impossible, what he's saying is impossible, it can't be done," I agree. Giving thanks and rejoicing in a manner recorded in both the Old and New Testament is impossible, except that it is supernatural. We're not talking about giving thanks simply because something happens to be good. We are talking about a thankfulness that can only be understood by the movement of the Holy Spirit. Now, rejoicing and giving thanks is an emotional response to what I know to be true about God, His grace and His mercy. This kind of thankfulness can only be expressed by faith. That is the substance of such thanksgiving. It is the wonder of contemplating the unconditional, eternal relationship we have with God the Father through the shed blood of our Lord, Jesus the Christ.

So giving thanks is a matter of faith. Perhaps you say, as do I, "I mess up on this. I'm not thankful nor do I rejoice all that much." At such a spiritual junction, we are back to the cross, to forgiveness, to God's grace and mercy, and then, as Luther says, "All for which it is my duty, to thank, praise, serve and obey. This is most certainly true."

With that, let me suggest one list for your consideration.

One: The work of Christ.

I love the response of one man to the question, "How you doin?" He says, "Better than I deserve." As one Lutheran I know the two extremes. I recognize the depravity of sin and the work of Christ to satisfy God' wrath upon that sin. Take time to stop to realize what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you, though you be utterly and completely unworthy, undeserving. That is why the angel said in Luke 2:10, "Do not be afraid, behold I bring you good news of a great joy." Then the angel says, "Today is born for you a savior."

John 15:11, records Jesus saying, "These things I have spoken to you that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full." Everything Christ did is for the fullness of your joy.

Speaking of the redemptive work of Christ and His atonement on the cross, Paul tells the Christians in Rome, in the fifth chapter that "It is in this great work of Christ that we exalt, that we rejoice."

Two: The work of the Holy Spirit.

Paul writes to the Romans and says in 14:17, "You have joy in the Holy Spirit." It is the Spirit of God who is producing joy. He is interceding for you constantly according to the will of God. So says Romans 8. It is the Spirit is the one who points you to Christ. He fills you for service and strength. He enables you, He gifts you. Out of thankfulness to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we rejoice always. Nothing can touch the work of Christ and diminish it. Nothing can harm the work of the Spirit of God. The Living, Triune God is at work, drawing you to the cross and into His glory and that is plenty of reason for unceasing joy.

Three: The spiritual blessings that God has given to us.

This is big and worthy of a series of blogs in and of itself. But consider this. Ephesians tells us that We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. Stop to think that you have been given all things pertaining to life. In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are declared complete in Him by Him. Because of that you have become partakers of the divine nature. On top of that, God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. This goes on and on. These are things for which the world longs. And yet for you there is no end to the continual flow of gracious blessing in your life and that is reason enough for unceasing joy.

Four: God knows . . . (rejoice and be thankful for that)

Paul would say it this way in Romans 8:28. "All things work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to His purpose," Romans 8:28. No matter what's going on in your life, unceasing thanks and joy over the divine providence is more than appropriate. God is able to keep you from falling away from faith, and holds you fast.

Five: The certain promise of Heaven.

There is no other system of salvation (religion) that can present this with certainty, other than the Christian in Christ. Still, I have talked with so many Christians who are ambivalent on this point. They need not be. Every other form of religion says, "Maybe, if you've done enough and if God is benevolent at that moment, maybe you will be saved." Such lies! (Again, this blog is too short for me to include my conversations with non-Christians concerning the after-life but they are all over the map and their hope is always on them, not God.) We can be certain. Look at the hope of Paul. Speaking of his own dying Paul says, "I rejoice, I will rejoice." Why, Paul? "Simply for to me to live is Christ, to die is gain."

Listen to the Psalmist once again. "I have set the Lord continually before me. Therefore my heart is glad, my glory rejoices." Why? "He will never abandon my soul in the grave, He will never allow me to undergo decay. He will show me the path of life." I know that is a Messianic Psalm but it is also the resurrection. "I will be in His presence at His right hand to find the pleasures forever." The psalmist had the hope of future life.

Read the 15th chapter of first Corinthians and see what the resurrection of Christ brings.

Six: God answers prayer.

Are you thankful for answered prayer? When you cry out to God in Christ He hears and answers your prayer and shows you great and mighty things which you may not know. No matter what's going on in your life, unceasing joy is possible because in Christ your prayers are answered. God doesn't have to do that but He does it. He answers your every prayer according to His perfect will for your ultimate good in time and in eternity.

Seven: The Word of God.

The Scripture is a most incredible gift. In fact, it is more precious than gold. It is sweeter than honey in a honeycomb. (Psalm 19) And in Psalm 119:111, "I have inherited Thy testimonies forever, they are the joy of my heart." Verse 162, "I rejoice at Thy Word as one who finds great spoil." In Jeremiah 15:16, Jeremiah said, "Thy words were found, I did eat them, Thy word was in me, the joy and rejoicing of my heart." Paul says, "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly," in Colossians 3:16 he says, "As the Word is richly in you, you will speak to yourselves in psalms and hymns, you'll sing, you'll make melody." We can find joy simply in thanksgiving for the food and the nourishment of the Word of God that feeds your soul, reveals God’s grace in Christ and then is a compass and a guide to your life.

Eight: Christian fellowship (the Body of Christ)

I am so grateful for my family, past and present (and the family to come?). I hope that you are grateful for your family as well. How about the family that God has given to you? Do you give thanks for your church membership? I understand that there are times when those groups can be difficult. But in 1 Thessalonians 3:9, look at what Paul says, "What thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account?" In other words Paul says, "I don't even know words to say about how much joy there is in just knowing you...just sharing with you...just fellowshipping with you. I wish I could communicate that with you." Do you go to church with that thought? Do you establish and sustain that kind of church environment where you are? In 2 Timothy 1:4 Paul says to Timothy, "I long to see you even as I recall your tears so that I may be filled with joy." Just being with you is joy, source of joy. Or have we gotten to simply tolerate the relationships in our congregation? The love of the saints (of each other) is a source of joy. There can be joy in Christian fellowship; unceasing, unending joy. Do you thank God for your Christian fellowship? Here's the thing: the fellowship we have with one another in Christ will never be broken.

Nine: Gospel preaching.

I love to hear the clear Gospel proclaimed. Paul in Philippians 1 says, "Christ is preached and I rejoice." In Acts 15 perhaps even more focused on the point we're making, verse 3, "Therefore being sent on their way by the church Paul and Barnabas were passing through Phoenicia and Samaria describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles and were bringing great joy to the all the brethren." Do you receive joy out of the fact that the Gospel is proclaimed and people come to faith and are strengthened in their faith, reminded of their baptism, called to the Lord's Supper?

I thank God for the Pastor's and teachers, for members, for family, for fathers, mothers, children, and all who honor Christ by their words and actions and thereby communicate the Gospel to people who do not yet know the things for which we are thankful, supernaturally.

Ten: God is good.

In Mark 10:18 it says, "And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." God is good. I am thankful for that and I am not alone.

2 Chronicles 7:10, "On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their tents rejoicing and happy of heart because of the goodness that the Lord had shown." As God's people, our delight and joy reflects God's goodness. Indeed, your list will reflect the goodness of God.

Psalm 28:7, "The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusts in Him and I am helped, therefore my heart rejoices and with my song I shall thank Him." It isn't your context for living but rather the strength of the Lord that is cause for giving thanks.

Psalm 71:23, "My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to Thee and my soul which Thou hast redeemed."

Nehemiah 8:10 says, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." There is strength in the Lord's joy.

I know that this list can continue and it should, but what a great God we have who as been shown to us in the Word. No matter the circumstance I say to you, Happy Thanksgiving in Christ.

The Call to Pray for Missions

Resource available January 3, 2010

It is no small thing, the call to prayer. In the movement of God's Spirit through God's Word which brings the Gospel to the nations, prayer has not only had a role, it has had the lead role. In a reading of the book of Acts, not only did prayer have a lead role but prayer also had a fundamental role in the Spirit's preparation of the faithful for the hard work ahead. Acts 1:14 reveals that the members of the church understood the on-going call to prayer. The believers in Jerusalem did not know what the future was for them nor did they know how God would use them. What they did know was the simple call to prayer. This they did. Peter, in Acts 6, also understood that as the cry for ministry increased, the Word and Prayer could not be compromised, but rather, the Word and Prayer was to be pursued even more tenaciously!

The drive of the Texas District is the mission which God has given to His church. This mission calls for many things. It calls for understanding our communities and the demographic dynamics of our state. The mission calls for personal clarity of the Biblical message of the Gospel and corporate creativity in the expression of God's love in Jesus for all people. The mission calls for a lot of hard work in the pursuit of the right person, place and plan. But none of these will have any lasting fruit apart from the movement of God's Spirit.

And so we pray. We pray, giving thanks for the call to faith in our own lives. We pray, thanking God for His mercy toward us. We pray, asking God to work through a humble response to the love of God in Christ. As good stewards of our time, we take time to pray, pleading for wisdom and courage to bring the Gospel message to people who do not know or trust Jesus, knowing that apart from Him there is Hell to pay. We pray, holding up those who are on the "front lines" of mission. We pray, knowing that He is the One who calls, gathers, and enlightens the hearts and minds of people for His sake.

If you would like to join our one-hundred and twenty prayer partners who are praying for the mission, you are welcome to do so. Your contribution to the mission of God in this way is a serious matter. But as you enter this ministry, you will be tempted to equivocate your time in prayer. You will find reasons not to pray today. Resist that. In an effort to help you, a prayer resource is being developed and will be available in January of 2010. This is offered to assist you in keeping your focus on the mission, beginning with your prayer time.

Resource for 2010

A series of fifty-two worship/devotion guides are being designed to encourage your prayer time. There will be a Scripture reading and a Psalm for each week of the year. I have included only one per week for your meditation. I have discovered that the more time you spend with a passage, the more the Spirit reveals in that passage. In addition there will be an Invocation (to begin your time), a Devotion (short and authored by leaders in the Texas District) and a Benediction (to send you on your way). This resource will be made available by email to those who sign up. (Click here to sign up.)

It is our prayer that your joyful response to the Gospel will find fruit as you serve the people around you.

The Universe: Old or Young?

It would be much more convenient for me were I be able to say that the issue of Creation is immaterial and that time does not matter. I grew up trying to resolve this issue in favor of the popular stance. I have found, however, that Creation is not immaterial and that time does matter. The popular, and some say scientific, approach is in direct conflict with Lutheran Theological presuppositions. For a Lutheran to embrace millions of years it is necessary to suspend hermeneutical fundamentals that sustain theological continuity. I realize that many have done this.

It has been pointed out to me that God, being God, could have used evolution and billions of years to create the universe and all that is in it. That is true; and with what God could have done, I have no argument. The problem with this logic is that we a priori conclude that God did indeed use billions of years to create the universe and all that is in it. That conclusion is reached because we look at the world and the sky assuming that the secular presuppositions are correct. Or we throw up our hands and say, "It really doesn't matter." The question of what God could have done is the wrong question. The good question here is, "What does God tells us He did concerning creation in His Word?"

Let me put that thought on hold for just a moment. Words are important in Scripture. So much so that there are divisions between people on the basis of what a word means or does not mean. One example is in the area of eschatology where a contextual understanding of the phrase "little season" makes a big difference in our approach to end times theology. Here we apply the rules of context. Is this section apocryphal or poetic or historic narrative? The answer makes all the difference in our understanding.

An even bigger issue for LCMS Lutherans concerning words and context is the defense of the doctrine of the Real Presence.

On the basis of the understanding of one word, people are included and excluded from our fellowship. And this word is the word "is." "This is My body." Even though it makes sense, humanly speaking, that bread is not Jesus' body, we confess that this isn't symbolic and it doesn't simply represent Jesus' body. We teach that it is His body. And yet, in my ministry I am surrounded by people who mock me, make fun of me, and call me a heretic (indeed they have), because I believe that Jesus is "in, with, and under the bread and the wine." And that on the basis of the meaning of a word; "is." In fact, let me paraphrase Martin Chemnitz. He says that if the meaning of a word is in doubt, it is appropriate to apply the simplest meaning of the word. In that case, "is" is "is."

Over the past 150 years or more, theologians have worked hard at suggesting that a day in Genesis one is not really a day. Every possible Hebraic qualifier (there are four) tells us that "day" in Genesis means 24 hours in clear language. When this same grammar is used in the remainder of the Old Testament the meaning of "day" is not questioned. It is only questioned in Genesis one. Grammatically, there is more reason to embrace a six 24 hour solar day creation week than to subscribe to the doctrine of the real presence. I will not budge on the doctrine of the Real Presence. That I accept by faith. So I ask, (and this is the apologetic that I used many years ago to finally set millions of years aside and trust the Word presuppositionally), "Why would one who confesses that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but that Jesus, being fully God and fully man, paid the price for my sin and the sin of the whole world in a supernatural act on a cross, have any problem with six day creation?"

Notwithstanding profound evidentiary material that contradicts evolutionary models, and there is much to consider, I am saying, with this point, let's be consistent in our hermeneutical practice. Either a day is a day or it is not. Either the bread is the body in the Eucharist or it is not.

It is interesting to me that the choice before us is not unlike that which has faced the church throughout history, indeed our own Synod. Does Scripture interpret Scripture or does Man interpret Scripture? There is a world of difference.

One Christian who believes in millions of years finally said that we cannot deny what Moses meant in Genesis but it cannot be true because of the overwhelming evidence for long ages. Here is what Pattle Pun said. “It is apparent that the most straightforward understanding of the Genesis record, without regard to all of the hermeneutical considerations suggested by science, is that God created heaven and earth in six solar days, . . .” There is no question that Pattle Pun has embraced man interpreting the Word. Parenthetically, scientific hermeneutical considerations are less than overwhelming.

Concerning Genesis 1-11. This section of the Word is without question, historic narrative. It is not poetic. It is not apocryphal. As I pointed out in "Out of Nothing," Dr. Boyd makes this conclusion following a statistical analysis of chapters one and two of Genesis. The study showed that there is a better than 99% chance that this is historic narrative. In other words, the Scripture says what it means and means what it says notwithstanding the hypothesis and conjecture suggested by men.

Jesus points out that this struggle will occur in many areas of faith when He says, "Greeks look for wisdom and Jews look for signs but you have Moses and the prophets."

Having begun developing a presuppositional position, the door is still open for a discussion of evidence.

Take your pick: Carbon dating, magnetic field of the earth, lunar recession, spiral galaxies, comets, tectonics, Big Bang issues, ocean salinity, poly strata fossils, loss of information on a microbiological level, Helium Ions, radio halos, fission tracks, the speed of light, anti-matter, bio-genesis, mathematical possibilities, irreducible complexity of organic matter, the development of language and laughter, one race-not many (human beings are all related to each other). . . Each of these areas and many more can all be researched and have been addressed by men and women who are far more qualified than me to address particulars.

I certainly do understand the struggle. I have friends and family who have had to wrestle with these things. My own wife once believed in millions of years. But coming to the conclusion that the Word is the Word, and that we can trust Scripture, resulted in a peace and confidence in the promises of Christ in every area of the Gospel. It also strengthened our relationship. It strengthened our witness. It also created an urgency to communicate the matter of the reliability of God's Word. The Gospel itself is counterintuitive to man's reason. Anything less than that which the Word tells us is counterfeit.

In ministry it is true that doctrinal conviction, passion, and intensity does not translate well in our missionality. People are easily offended by style. My approach to individuals who are "broken reeds and smoldering wicks" must be gentle, patient, and respectful, yet it must be certain. Content is finally the issue. Making room for false premises in matters pertaining to Truth only leads to the tearing down of faith and not the building up of such. If I am a fool in this, then so be it.

With humility, I offer this for your prayerful consideration.

Restoration

Every once in a while I will walk around my house with tools from my tool box. I will grab a screw driver, a "finishing hammer," and an oil can just to tighten up loose screws, reseat unhinging hinges, and quiet extraneous noises. Occasionally the task is more than a simple adjustment. Sometimes there is a replacement or reconstruction needed. Once in a while the task exceeds my ability. I have to learn what I can and cannot fix. Still, the house won't do the repair itself. That's when I check the budget and then call a professional. This is part of being a good steward of the things that God has given to me.

I would watch my Grandfather do the same kind of thing when he visited our house. It was what he did. We did not take offense. It was his gift to us. In fact, I would follow him around and watch him fix items around his house and our house. He would show me how to restore things.

In all of this the word restore is operative.

I love the word restore. It is a gospel word. It is a mission word. The dictionary connects the first meaning as brining something back into existence. The next two are intriguing. 2. To bring back to an original condition: restore a building. See Synonyms at revive. 3. To put back in a former position.

Spiritually and, in glory, physically, that is exactly what God offers to us. Sin has made us something God never intended for his creation to be. In the garden of Eden, after the fall, God asks the question, "Adam, where art thou?" Adam realized that he had fallen. He needed restoration. We have fallen apart. Our Lord has put us back together by taking the fall for us. We do need rebuilding. We have been rebuilt in Christ. Sin has unhinged us. He has reseated us. Sin has killed us. He has revived us. We have been restored. He offers exactly that to all of His creation.

Acts 15:13-18 . . . James answered saying, "Brethren, listen to me. 14 "Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. 15 "With this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written, 16 'AFTER THESE THINGS I will return, AND I WILL REBUILD THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID WHICH HAS FALLEN, AND I WILL REBUILD ITS RUINS, AND I WILL RESTORE IT, 17 SO THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK THE LORD, AND ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME,' 18 SAYS THE LORD, WHO MAKES THESE THINGS KNOWN FROM LONG AGO.

This restoration, first promised to Adam, is for all people. It is our joy and delight to bring the restoration of Christ to the world. The memories of my Grandfather's restoration fix-it tours are for life. Those memories shape what I do. He and I and other such stewards have to make that tour around the house again and again. It is never a one time solution. But in Christ, the restoration is for eternity.

While we cannot fix the world with a flathead screw driver and oil can, we certainly have been called to bring a word of restoration to the world, to communities, to neighbors. That restoration is shaped in words of encouragement and hope, not judgment and condemnation. The restoration that Jesus offers is not a temporary solution. Instead, His restoration from cross is eternal, never needing to be addressed again.

In the meantime, I will get up and look for that which needs restoration.