Quick Hits

A new format I plan to try out on occasion...

A few quick paragraphs on topics that don't require extensive treatment, yet which I want to get out of my head and "on paper."
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RIGHTEOUS POO

My oldest boy is pretty much potty trained these days. We have a kiddy potty in our house (and one in our car for MBMs - mobile bowel movements). Sometimes the duty (insert pun here) of cleaning a kiddy potty is dumped (is it too much yet) on me. As I was cleaning one out the other day, something struck me...

Everything we do in our own righteousness looks like poo to God in his sight. No matter how much we shine up our turdish works, they are all still smelling offensive to a holy God. Only by the Lord's gracious hand (by way of the cross) can our status before God be ontologically changed from feces to family. By the application of Christ's righteousness we may enter into the presence of a perfect Father without burning his nostrils and him subsequently burning us.

Note: To all of those offended by the tone of this post, I offer no apologies. Sometimes the use of otherwise crass language is completely appropriate to state a necessary point. Paul thought so in Phillippians 3:8 and Isaiah seemed to agree in 64:6 of his own book. In order to understand our own depravity and inability to please God, I felt that a visceral metaphor was appropriate.
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JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE CHURCH

My wife recently attended a friend's church to support the young lady being baptized. I didn't go with her, I went to our home church for the morning. As I was heading home, I got a call from my wife. She was expressing how thankful she was for our church. Apparently, the sermon at the church she visited was devoid of any gospel message, any mention of Christ, or any serious contextual look at scripture. Instead, the pastor gave a nice self-help sermon sprinkled with some random bible verses to try and support his "Dr Phil-ish" points. My understanding is that it was so generic a message that a rabbi, an iman, or a Mormon could have delivered the talk.

When my wife got home I looked at the bulletin that she had received. It was a joke. The main paragraph on the handout was entitled "What to expect at________" and it listed these qualities..."a message relevant to your life, fun and exciting worship, and the best day of your kids life." Nowhere on the paper did I see mention of anything that even resembled the name of Jesus. Additionally, the church service included a solo secular song performance (baby you're all that I need, when I'm lying here in your arms,...we're in heaven) and my wife was told that she could not keep our boy in the service with her because the pastor had ADD and children distracted him.

I know that different people do church differently and I am not suggesting that all believers follow a specific method of doing things. However, when a church works so hard to become relevant to the "cool culture" around them that they turn man-centered instead of Christ-centered - thats a real problem! I believe that American Christianity can largely be summed up in Paul's words to Timothy:

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." (2 Tim 4:3-4)
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FALL HAPPENINGS AT SOUTHPOINT

As the weather cools and the leaves fall, our home church begins a new season of ministry. This fall I am very excited about a number of things:
- I am back in my mens discipleship group, we are probably gonna do a Tim Keller study of James.
- Tiffany is now in a women's discipleship group with some awesome ladies.
- Tiff and I will be teaching Children's Church several times this fall.
- I have committed to work with the new Student Ministry at every other meeting they hold!
- We will be attending a membership class and subsequently, we shall become official members of Southpoint and the PCA.
- Both our boys will be getting baptized as a sign of the covenant promise that God has given them as the children of believers!

Thanks to God for leading us to a wonderful family of believers who embrace sound doctrine, who love and care for each other, and who labor to spread the message of the Gospel daily thru incarnational ministry.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"forcing tactics can only do damage, perhaps incalculable damage, to men's souls . . . Evangelism must rather be conceived as a long-term enterprise of patient teaching and instruction, in which God's servants seek simply to be faithful in delivering the gospel message and applying it to human lives, and leave it to God's Spirit to draw men to faith through this message in his own way and at his own speed"
(Packer, A Quest For Godliness , 164).
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CANCER UPDATE

Someone close to me was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. They didn't tell many people and they still don't want it to be a fuss. Shortly after they found out, I asked them to come to my house for dinner and prayer. We had a group prayer meeting where we acknowledged the sovereignty and wisdom of God while crying out for his healing hand. Apparently, God has seen fit to grant his healing powers. I received an e-mail today that gave me an update. It seems that the main tumor has shrunk by 50% and all the other spots are gone! The doctor said that it was more than he ever hoped for...

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26
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PASTOR PRAYS FOR OBAMA'S DEATH

This kind of stuff is horrific. Whats wrong with this guy - he needs some prayer. We also need to pray that God would steer some media coverage to all of the intelligent, loving Christians out there who are demonstrating and proclaiming the gospel.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/31/phoenix-pastor-draws-protests-telling-church-prays-obamas-death/
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DEEPER

Just around the corner is the Deeper Conference. Its here in ATL. I wanted to go this year but medical bills from earlier this year surfaced and cut into our budget. It is put on by the Way of the Master folks and it will feature Ravi Z. and Greg Koukl as well. It looks like a good way to spend a weekend if you are free with extra cash. Just wanted to mention it.

http://www.deeperconference.com/
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SPELUNKING

I am doing a caving trip to PettyJohns in NW Georgia all day on Sept 26th. Its a cheap, challenging, and fun way to explore part of creation that most folks don't see. Come join me! Contact for details.
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Thats it gang. I think I caught caught up on my thoughts as quick as possible. Hope you enjoyed - hit me up with questions or comments.