Grace vs. Truth

Last Sunday I preached on Grace and Truth the real balance. I think if there is any area that the church and people can get unbalanced in, it is this subject. We can either side with grace in which we get this picture of God as a nice a cudly Granfather figure or we side with truth in which God becomes angry and always ready to strike us down. We look at God through these lenses, it affects who we are, how we live and how we treat other people. John 1:14 says that Jesus came to this world full of Grace and Truth. Jesus wasn't just full of one or the other. He was full of both. At times Jesus showed grace and other times He showed truth. John 8 is a great example of how Jesus showed both in one situation when there was a women who was caught in adultery. Jesus showed the woman grace by telling her that He did not condemn her but He also pointed her to truth by telling her to go and sin no more. Jesus first showed grace in order to point her to truth.

In our culture, we need to show people grace in order to point them to truth. People don't care what we have to say unless they know that we first care. The only way we can do this is by building relationships with those that need both grace and truth. If you are a parent, it means building that relationship with your child. If you are teacher, it means building that relationship with that student. If you have a person that you want to reach for Christ, it means building that relationship with that person no matter their lifestyle or opinions are. Let us learn how to show grace so that we can point people to truth. Remember it's not one or the other, it is both. Go walk in grace and truth!

District Council

Just got back from a week of District Council. I will have to say that this was probably the best Council we have had in a long time. Ron McManus was the special guest speaker. Ron pastored a church in North Carolina and the church grew from 300 to 3000 while he was there. He then went on to start Injoy with none other then John Maxwell. John Maxwell is known for his many books on leadership. Wednesday nights service was awesome as Ron talking about getting to the top of the mountain. When we don't make it to the top, we later regret not making the trip. Many leaders stop short feeling its just way too hard. Ministry is not always easy as there will always be ups and downs. But the key is holding on to the promises of God and allowing God to speak to you in the times you feeling like giving up. When we hold on and make it to the top, we will be glad we made the trip. (And don't forget to bring others along with you!)

Also, congrats to Pastor Keaton who received his credentials Wednesday night. We love you bro!

Variety is a good thing!

I'm taking this Sunday off from preaching and handing the pulpit to Gary Smith. Gary was one of the originals that started the church. I've got to be honest, I'm looking forward to taking this Sunday off. When I preach for so many consecutive Sundays I get a little burned out. I'm always fired back up the next week when I preach. I think it is good to have variety in the pulpit as well. It is good to hear numerous voices and we are very blessed at Community Hope to have several people who could do just as good of a job as me. I know we will be blessed as Gary is ending our series on God at the Movies with Lord of the Rings.

God at the Movies

We are in the middle of a series right now called, "God at the movies." I got this idea from Mark Batterson who is the pastor of a church in Washington DC. Every year he does a series on some current and past movies. When you think about it, when Jesus taught He always used illustrations that were current to His day. In 2008 we live in media centered culture. Most everybody goes to the theater or rents a movie. Why not take current cultural movies and bring out the spiritual principles in them? Easter we did Narnia and last week we did Evan Almighty. Two great movies! I'm looking forward to this week as I am doing "Meet the Robinsons." Gary Smith will conclude this series with "Lord of the Rings." Take the opportunity to invite a friend to this series.