This seems like a funny post, I’m not fond of drawing attention to myself, but I get this question often from you all, and I certainly need and love being prayed for, so please hear my heart here as simply a shepherd who needs The Shepherd …

1- First and foremost, that my heart always pumps wildly with delight for the Gospel.  That I treasure nothing more than my Savior.  That I love God with passion, focus, and pleasure.  I am first and foremost a worshipper of God, not a pastor or preacher.

2- Pray for humility.  I am a proud man, I am a selfish man, I am always in need of the breaking work of the Holy Spirit to walk in simplicity, prayer, and faith.  I want to bless and serve people, and without humility I will use and manipulate others … pray that stays far from me.

3- Pray that I disciple and lead my family with grace and truth.  I genuinely believe the admonitions of Paul to those in eldership, if I can’t lead my own family well, then I have no business leading His family.  Pray for the hearts of my children to always be soft to the things of God and to not be jaded or hardened by dad’s “job”.  Pray my heart is always sensitive and in sync to the heart of Michelle.

4- Pray that I serve, preach, counsel, disciple, and lead with an eye to please God alone.  It really is a funny thing how any sermon elicits opposite responses: too heady – too light, too much Bible – not enough, too long – too short, too theological – too much application.  If I live to please people, I will go insane.  Pray I live to the glory of God alone, and then have a patient sensitivity to those God has blessed me with caring for.

5- Pray that I always seek the face of God for the vision and mission of the Church.  Pray that I never grow complacent in the task of making ready the Bride, and pushing the Gospel into the dark places in our world.  Pray I ever stoke the fire of faith as hot as possible in your life and the lives of all I get a chance to interact with.

I covet your prayers for me, my family, and the mission of the Church!

Thanks for serving me,

Pastor Mark

So, I was blessed last night as we gathered across many denomination lines 1,200 strong to declare the trustworthiness of the Word of God together through music, prayer, and the reading of Scripture as we asked God to do a work of reformation and revival through NE Ohio (www.unityinneohio.com).  I’ve always prayed about getting to be a part of a community where local church pastors actually want to serve together for the building of the Kingdom, and God is answering my prayers.  Let me give you my “Behind the Scenes” and “From the Audience” perspective.

From the Audience perspective – The Word was the hero of the night!  16 pastors reading, reciting, quoting passages of Scripture that walked us through the progressive revelation of “The Word” climaxing in John 1:14, and culminating in Matthew 28:18-20.  The elder statesman pastor who has prayed for churches to come together for years bringing the final passage and declaring that if we are to Take the Word, we must Trust the Word.  Amen!  Pastors who preach weekly to their congregations to simply let the Word do the preaching tonight (do you know how hard it is to have a pastor not comment on a passage of Scripture?).  Musicians from multiple churches using their gifts not to show-off, but direct us to the throne of grace.  Ushers, greeters, servers not directing people to church material or collecting money for their budget, but directing people to pray for Revival in NE OH and contribute money to a move of God bigger than all of us in the days ahead.  It was not a bunch of talk about Unity in the Church, it WAS the Church practicing Unity and lovin’ it!  Thank you Church.

Behind the Scenes perspective – We gathered as pastors beforehand to go through the evening and pray and guess what, it was actually like we enjoyed being with each other  I love having pastors in the area who I delight in calling my friends.  We acknowledged that we had led our local churches in our unique ways/styles/liturgies in the morning and then were gathering to worship together as one in the evening, pretty cool!  Men talked about being nervous having worked to memorize their passage of Scripture and wanting to deliver it with passion and authenticity.  Men laughed and joked, like giddy schoolgirls, about how fun it was to be a part of this evening.  No one talked of differences on the “B-issues”, no one complained of not having a place of prominence, no one cared what size their local church was, and no one had a personal agenda … just God’s agenda that “they would be ONE” (John 17:11).   Leaders submitting to one another, preachers yielding to the Word, shepherds wanting to walk with the Great Shepherd … AMEN!

Could it be that God is beginning to gather the Church to be the Church in NE OH, to pour out a work of the Spirit upon this dry and needy land?  Could it be that humility will lead the way with pastors, so prone to arrogance, laying down their pride?  Could it be that the Word will be exalted above men’s ideas and “feel good” seeker-isms?  Could it be that the Church will Trust the Word, Love the Gospel, and the World will sit up, take notice, and be transformed?  Please God, this is our prayer!

For the Church,

Pastor Mark

Holy Scriptures Study Guide

Sermon also available at www.leroychapel.org

I sit here on Monday, September 14th, 2009 and within the past week a politician, tennis star, and celebrity musician have all acted with utter disregard to what used to be called “manners”.  Guess what Rep. Joe Wilson?  People don’t always say what you want them to say and agree with how you think things should be done, maybe they don’t even always tell the truth.  Guess what Serena Williams?  Line judges don’t always get it right and the calls don’t always go in your favor.  Guess what Kanye West?  People win awards other than you … you may not actually be the center of the universe.

I suppose it’s old fashioned to teach our kids to show self-control, to think before they speak, and that a wise person restrains his tongue … oh wait, of course that’s old fashioned because that’s in the Bible.  Oh Mark, you’re being sarcastic … Forgive me for expecting that our leaders (Wilson) and public figures (Serena and Kanye) actually set an example for us and our children.  Of course they are human, not perfect, and so I too can exercise my self-control in not condemning them, but it sure would be nice to see them actually do that old fashion thing called “take responsibility, and … yes, actually ask for forgiveness.”

Thankfully there are other role-models out there, yes even ones that don’t love Jesus but still understand manners, respect, and self-control.  Thanks to all of you who listened to your mom’s advice and hold your tongue and mind your manners when things don’t go your way.

Just a Rant,

Pastor Mark

I’ve been quite fired up the past two weeks talking to everyone about what God calls men to … and some of you asked for this Sam Storms quote I finished the service with yesterday.  May we never give in to boredom, but live with passion for what really matters!

“One of the most serious threats to the human spirit is boredom. Boredom is the breeding ground for wickedness. Bored people are easy targets of the flesh and the Devil. It is like putting a bull’s-eye on your chest with a sign: “Tempt me. I’m easy!” Why? Because boredom is contrary to the natural, God-given impulse for fascination, excitement, pleasure, and exhilaration.”

It’s a hard thing to wrap our minds around the Sovereignty of God.  That He knows all and acts to accomplish His purposes for His glory even when they include what we see as Plan B.  Jerry Bridges defines God’s Sovereignty this way,

“This is the essence of God’s sovereignty; His absolute independence to do as He pleases and His absolute control over the actions of all His creatures. No creature, person, or empire can either thwart His will or act outside the bounds of His will.”

Without making this a major discourse, let me mention a few reasons this is so hard for us, and then why its so glorious.

1)  It’s hard because the Biblical Language expresses events from both perspectives.  Often we read the Scriptures and see things described from a human vantage point – Judas betrayed Jesus (Mk 3:19), Pilate delivered Jesus to be crucified (Mk 15:15), but then are given later the Divine vantage point – God gave him up for us all (Rom 8:32).  When we sit back and see the whole picture or event, we understand these unified yet different vantage points.  But in isolated phrases or when we aren’t given the whole picture, it’s not hard to grasp why we get stumbled up in the doctrine of the sovereignty of God.

2) It’s hard because we know the Sinful Choices we make, or the evil choices made by others, and the human direction of the outcome feels very directed by the free and “all-too-powerful” choices of the sinful human heart.  The younger brother in the Prodigal story choose to squander his inheritance in sinful reckless living, only to find himself in the pigpen at the end of the indulgence (Lk 15:12-16).  He choose plan B and got a plan B ending, it makes human sense and feels very logical, sovereignty complicates that scenario.

3) It’s hard because we don’t like the idea of a Almighty God We Can’t Understand.  When we see evil in the world, we immediately (Believer and Unbeliever alike) grieve, wishing that hadn’t happened, would stop, and won’t ever happen again.  The idea that God has the power to stop it, and yet seems distant and uninvolved troubles our justice-driven minds and compassion-motivated hearts.  

Again let us listen to Jerry Bridges from Trusting God,

“The sovereignty of God is often questioned because man does not understand what God is doing. Because He does not act as we think He should, we conclude He cannot act as we think He would.”

I know this – We live in a fallen world, where everything is tainted by sin and groaning to be redeemed.  Certainly this impacts not only human decisions, but the tragedies that strike mankind in sickness and calamity.  Pointing us not to a God who doesn’t care, but to a God who has loved to the utmost making rescue from this fallen, wicked world of ours a certainty.  

I know this – Satan is not more powerful than God, so for all the realities of spiritual warfare (Eph 6:12), our focus is not to be on the “binding of the darkness”, but the “power of the light” found at the cross and the completed work of Jesus Christ.  

AND I know this – While Judas betrayed, and Pilate gave the crucifixion orders, God accomplished the greatest deliverance for mankind out of the greatest tragedy of justice of all time.  And while the younger brother choose sinful self-discovery ending in sorrow and disappointment, God brought him to himself in order to bring him to HIMSELF.  

Where is the comfort?  I think Joni Eareckson Tada points that out to us quite simply …

“Nothing is a surprise to God; nothing is a setback to His plans; nothing can thwart His purposes; and nothing is beyond His control.  His sovereignty is absolute. Everything that happens is uniquely ordained by God.  Sovereignty is a weighty thing to ascribe to the nature and character of God.  Yet if He were not sovereign, He would not be God.  The Bible is clear that God is in control of everything that happens.”

Do we choose Plan B’s?  Yup, and we will at some time during most weeks.  Does God give us His Plan B?  Nope, His plan A for us is always right on course.  So, trust Him … and give yourself each and every day to making as many Plan A choices of the Father as you can, knowing that even your Plan B’s can’t thwart the plan of God in your life.

Comforted in God’s Sovereignty,

Pastor Mark

Been thinking much about the crazy-stupid boasting we all engage in after preaching on Galatians 6:11-18 yesterday and Paul’s commitment to not boast except in the Cross of Christ … not a bad commitment, we should all make it.

 

Children boast to each other about how great they are not even knowing what great is

Boys boast in their video game prowess

Girls boast in their maturity, it’s always more than boys, right?

Women boast in their image 

Men boast in their strength

Pastors boast in their church numbers, books, and great vision for the future

Moms boast in their kids being more behaved than the crazy ones in the store … and the piles of laundry and meals to be cooked

Dads boast in their sons athletic achievements … and the way things used to be when they were kids

Wives boast in the sale, the money saved, the coupons clipped

Husbands boast in their home projects, tools, and productivity

Young men boast in their bike, car, or college choice

Young women boast in their beauty or boast in not seeming to care about their beauty

Businessmen boast in their profit and product

Christians boast in their service, morality, and … oh yeah, their humility

Intellectuals boast in their degrees, papers, and tenure

Anti-intellectuals boast in their common sense, experience, and determination

Laborers boast in their hours, schedule, and lack of days off

White-collar workers boast in their technology, organization, and the latest book they read to make millions

Evangelists boast in their slick presentations, decisions for Christ, and courage

Servants boast in their obscurity, compassion, and patience

The Generous boast in their sacrifice, commitment, and … well, generosity

The Thrifty boast in their budgets, shrewdness, and good stewardship

We boast in our knowledge about a subject, boast about not concerning ourselves with other subjects.  We boast in having an opinion and in not having one.  Boast about what we’ve done and what we’ve not done, and what we’ve seen and not seen.  And all our boasting is foolishness.  And in our foolishness we keep boasting while thinking we don’t think of ourselves more highly than we ought.  And to all of this, the Apostle Paul says, “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).  And John Stott takes Paul’s words and says them this way …

“Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, ‘I am here because of you.  It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’  Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross.  All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary.  It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.”

Oh the wisdom of the Proverbs (10:19), “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.”  May our words match our hearts, and may our hearts walk in the shadow of the cross, looking less at self and more at Christ.

Shrink us to size oh God!

Pastor Mark

Many of you have asked for the quote on sanctification I read by John Calvin, so here it is … and don’t forget to bake a cake in honor of ol’ John’s 500th birthday on July 10.

“Sanctification is the process by which the believer increasingly becomes conformed to Christ in heart, conduct, and devotion to God.  It is the continual remaking of the believer by the Holy Spirit, the increasing consecration of body and soul to God.  In sanctification, the believer offers himself to God.  This does not come without great struggle and slow progress; it requires cleansing from the pollution of the flesh and renouncing of the world.  It demands repentance, mortification, and daily conversion. Justification and sanctification are inseparable.  To separate one from the other is to tear Christ in pieces; it is like trying to separate the sun’s light from the heat that light generates.  Believers are justified for the purpose of worshipping God in holiness of life.”

I believe that one of the signs of health in a church body is a willingness, even a desire, to hear hard things and engage in doing them.  If I’m right, then Leroy Chapel is a healthy place, because many of you have expressed to me in emails, phone calls, and in person your battles against the flesh, and it is one of the most encouraging things a pastor can hear.  Health is found in the battle, remember, not in the negotiations with the flesh.  Please keep a Biblical perspective on spiritual growth and maturity, here are the three ways I summarized it for us from the text …

1. Maturity is observed in the “big picture” over the course of time.

* It’s not being on fire for a few months or making huge commitments, but being tested in the fire and having stood steadfastly amidst much opposition with steady progress, not perfection … but progress.

2. Maturity is observed in the struggle, not having arrived. 

* I told you that I’m scared of the person in whom I never see the struggle.  The “I’m doing fine” responses betray that they aren’t.  There is either a heart of lies and self-deception, or too familiar a relationship with the flesh. Paul, the older and more mature he got, saw himself as the chief of sinners, still fighting as he did what he didn’t want to do and didn’t do what he wanted to do (Romans 7).  Old men still repenting … it’s a glorious thing! 

3. Maturity is observed in one’s growing love for Christ through the Spirit, not merely one’s distance from the “world”.

* There are plenty of people holding themselves to high external standards who are cold and lifeless to Christ, His Word, and living courageously by faith … don’t be one of them!

Stay in the battle with me my brothers and sisters and let us move forward by the power of the Holy Spirit,

Pastor Mark

Think some more on this quote from yesterday:

“Aggravating all of these areas (of legalism) is a class of people who have come to be known as “controllers.” These are people who are not willing to let you live your life before God as you believe He is leading you. They have all the issues buttoned down and have cast-iron opinions about all of them. These people only know black and white. There are no gray areas to them. They insist you live your Christian life according to their rules and their opinions. If you insist on being free to live as God wants you to live, they will try to intimidate you and manipulate you one way or another. Their primary weapons are “guilt trips,” rejection, or gossip. These people must be resisted. We must not allow them to subvert the freedom we have in Christ.” – Jerry Bridges

I dream of a church community so selflessly committed to serving one another in love (Galatians 5:13) that no needs go unmet, no one person carries the whole burden, edification rules the days, and the watching community stands amazed and eager to be loved like that.  It seems to me this is so much more than the standard church call to serve that leaves people feeling guilty, busy, and joyless.  It’s a call to know how loved you are.  

We live in a day where serving is “cool”, caring about developing countries is politically correct, and even celebrities seem committed to philanthropy, and for all of that I’m glad.  But, I would submit to you that it isn’t motivated by worship.  Worship comes from a heart that knows how unworthy you are, how gracious, loving, and compassionate God has been to you, and stands in the joy of redemption in awe of the cross.  If we are to give our lives as spiritual acts of worship (Romans 12:1-2) then our motivation must be nothing less than the Gospel love we’ve received.  If you get that, really get that, then to serve one another through love is the spring-loaded reaction.  If you don’t then out comes the “biting and devouring one another” of Galatians 5:15.  

Service that demands recognition, bristles at remedial tasks, or leaves one joyless is selfish service.  Do I ever serve selfishly?  Yeah, I fight the flesh that wants praise and prominence. But I desire so much more … and God is so gracious to supply the needed fuel to motivate real worship-filled service.  How else can I explain a sorrowful satisfaction over dealing with sinning brothers, or an exhausted joy over a full week of teaching?  Selflessness is a word I find hard to apply to myself, I know my sin far greater than anybody, but I also know the joy of worship in serving others through love because I know the love of the Gospel that rescued me from the fires of hell.  Jesus pulled me from the rubble of the fallen building I was trapped under … He secured my oxygen mask so I can now live to secure as many others as possible.  Join me friends in the fight to LIVE FREE, not indulging in the flesh, but indulging in the mission of loving others with a radical Gospel-love and so fulfilling the whole law (Galatians 5:14).

Love, love, love -

Pastor Mark