“Worship gatherings are not always spectacular, but they are always supernatural. And if a church looks for or works for the spectacular, she may miss the supernatural. If a person enters a gathering to be wowed with something impressive, with a style that fits him just right, with an order of service and song selection designed just the right way, that person may miss the supernatural presence of God. Worship is supernatural whenever people come hungry to respond, react, and receive from God for who He is and what He has done. A church worshipping as a Creature of the Word doesn't show up to perform or be entertained; she comes desperate and needy, thirsty for grace, receiving from the Lord and the body of Christ, and then gratefully receiving what she needs as she offers her praise-the only proper response to the God who saves us.” (Matt Chandler, Creature of the Word: The Jesus-Centered Church)

It is difficult not to be a consumer in our day and age. We are raised from children to be careful consumers so that life works for us. Our every whim and desire are constantly being targeted by market researchers. We are accustomed to having it “our way”.  We deserve it! 

Yet this kind of mentality is catastrophic for our spiritual lives and typically brings dysfunction into the church. When consumerism hovers over our church experience, we expect the spectacular when we really should be looking for the supernatural. 

God placed a longing for his supernatural presence into our hearts, yet we are often content with much less – a spectacular experience that impresses us or entertains us.

We constantly need to check our motivations: to be sure we are sitting under the Word of God, engaging with God in worship. Consumerism kills worship. Consumerism blocks the pathway of our hearts to God’s heart.

Grateful to be with you on this journey of worshipping the Living God,

Pastor Jason

Here are two blog posts from the land of the blogosphere plus the Christian Satire of the Babylon Bee. Enoy!

What Your Kids Need From You

J.D. Greer writes: "One of the most helpful pieces of parenting advice I ever received was this: Be their dad, not their pastor. The pastor is always busy telling them what is wrong with them; a dad is just excited about who they are. You can’t force the affections of their heart to grow. Only the Holy Spirit can do that, and he does it in the security of unconditional love.

If you focus on your kids’ hearts and not their behavior, it’s going to change everything—including how you discipline, how you pray, and how you celebrate success."

The Evangelical Center After Billy Graham

This is a thoughtful historical look at the centrist Evangelicalism of mid-20th century which Billy Graham and John Stott helped forge.

Jake Meador writes: "By largely defining themselves relative to the Protestant groups to their left [mainline] and right [fundamentalists], they essentially acquired their key principles from the two wings—a high view of Scripture and the cross from the right and a concern for society and the intellect from the left. Thus the problem is not simply that the old right and left wings of Protestantism provided evangelicalism with its frame of reference; they also supplied it with its key principles, which were snatched out of their context from the other schools."

Back Pew Voted Best Spot in Church Fifth-Eighth Year in a Row

The Babylon Bee brings us the lost art of Christian satire:  "Over 92% of those polled stated that sitting in the very back pew is the perfect spot: far enough away that the pastor can’t effectively gaze into your soul, but close enough that you feel good about yourself for showing up unlike those heathens who are playing hooky."

On the Family Camp-Out, our theme was "A Spirituality of Imperfection", an idea that I borrowed from the title of a biography of Henri Nouwen.  In contrast to our "I'll accept you if you perform for me" culture, we dove into the idea that authentic spirituality travels the narrow path of brokenness where God meets us in the messy reality of our lives.  By embracing a spirituality of imperfection, we begin to meet the God of limitless grace and find the rock-solid love of Christ sustaining us in our woundness, struggles, and brokenness. 

“Spirituality is not about perfection; it is about connection. The way of the spiritual life begins where we are now in the mess of our lives. Accepting the reality of our broken, flawed lives is the beginning of spirituality not because the spiritual life will remove our flaws but because we let go of seeking perfection and, instead, seek God, the one who is present in the tangledness of our lives.” (Mike Yaconelli)

RESTLESS SEEKER:  A spirituality of imperfection always embraces our identity as a "restless seeker". 

“Living as resident aliens in a strange land, citizens of a secret kingdom, what other kind of peace should we expect? In this world, restlessness, and not contentment is a sign of health.” (Philip Yancey)

In a spirituality of imperfection, we embrace restlessness as a way to drive us to prayer.  If I am overly content, odds are that I will have a tough time praying.   A spirituality of imperfection embraces the restless nature of our souls.  Perfect contentment only awaits our arrival in glory; restlessness is part and parcel of our everyday Christian life. 

FAITHFUL STRUGGLER:  A spirituality of imperfection also recognizes that authentic Christian spirituality is not primarily about self-help or solely about "getting rid of my flaws", but about being faithful in the up and down existence of the Christian life.  Perhaps the Christian life is as much about "getting up after sin" as "sin avoidance".  

“The great secret in life is that suffering, which often seems to be so unbearable can become…a source of new life and new hope.” (Henri Nouwen)

As Nouwen observes, "We...like easy victories: growth without crisis, healing without pains, the resurrection without the cross.”

A spirituality of imperfection recognizes that growth and maturity often come via the avenue of our restlessness and struggle.  As Christians, we want to be "seekers" in the midst of our restlessness and "faithful" in the midst of our struggles. 

Here are a few thoughts and ideas for Bible reading, family devotions, memory verses for children, and recommended study Bibles. 

Can you recommend any Bible reading plans?

A few years ago, I created a five-day/week Bible reading plan that didn’t blitz through the OT at a breakneck pace and centered upon reading the gospels (Matthew-John) multiple times.  You can download here “The Gospel-Centered, Wisdom Inspired Bible Reading Plan”. 

Justin Taylor at the Gospel Coalition has seven different bible reading plans. 

Did you know that less than 10 minutes/day, gets you reading through the entire Bible in a year?

Can you recommend family devotions that are easy to organize and implement with my children?

I suspect many families are overwhelmed at beginning “family devotions” because of the difficulty of adding “one more thing” to an already chaotic schedule.  Rest assured, it doesn’t need to be difficult. 

Take these plans which are easy to follow.

Read one chapter per day, pray together, and send the kids off to bed.  You’ll be amazed at the spiritual conversations that begin to develop around this time. 

These two-week plans give you easy-to-follow readings (one chapter per day) through the Life of Jesus, the Apostle Paul, Becoming a Christian, Great Prayers of the Bible, and the Life of Moses (just to name a few of the options).

What about bible verses to memorize with children?

Try these 10 verses.  Download, print, and off you go! 

Is there a study Bible you recommend?

The English Standard Version (ESV) Study Bible is a great tool with study notes written by the leading evangelical scholars of our day (here or here).  The ESV is a great translation being adopted by an increasingly large number of evangelical churches.  (Warning: the ESV Study Bible is quite large in hardcover. This is a bible for your desk, not your purse or “man bag”.)

The beginning of the new year is an excellent time to start new spiritual rhythms which are life-giving to our busy lives and help us be intentional about establishing a growing, vibrant relationship with the Father.

As D.A. Carson writes:

People do not drift toward holiness.

Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. (For the Love of God)

Rhythms must be established.  We naturally drift towards complacency.  We naturally drift towards forgetfulness of God.  Spiritual growth is not something we stumble upon or slide easily into.  Spiritual growth requires “grace-driven effort”, recognizing that while our spiritual disciplines do not save us, they do help us grow in the faith

“Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.” (Dallas Willard, The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus' Essential Teachings on Discipleship)

Grace is absolutely opposed to earning our salvation.  Yet grace-fueled effort is absolutely necessary to grow up to the fullness in Christ (Col. 2:9-10).

“If Christmas is just a nice legend, in a sense you are on your own. But if Christmas is true, then you can be saved by grace.” (Tim Keller, Hidden Christmas)

I still remember the Christmas lights in one of those neighborhoods growing up where everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – in the neighborhood went ALL OUT on the Christmas lights.  There was only one house in the whole 100 house neighborhood that didn’t put up a single light in the yard.  Yet on the roof was a simple lighted sign: “Hum Bug”.  Clever. Cute.

In a sense, Christmas is for the Grinch in all of us.

Yeah, I’ll say it:  “You’re a Grinch, I’m a Grinch; the whole lot of us are Grinches.”

The great German-American theologian, Dr. Seuss, wrote:

You're a monster, Mr. Grinch; Your heart's an empty hole
Your brain is full of spiders; You've got garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch

Christmas basically says tells us:  You are a Grinch but God loves you anyway.  There was a reason the manger – God’s dramatic start to his rescue plan for the world – was necessary in the first place.  I had garlic in my soul.  And your brain was full of spiders.  My heart had an empty hole. 

Yet Christ in the manger – love in flesh – tells Grinches of all shapes and sizes that God still loves you anyway.  Despite your Grinchyness. 

“When you say, ‘Doctrine doesn’t matter; what matters is that you live a good life,’ that is a doctrine. It is called the doctrine of salvation by your works rather than by grace. It assumes that you are not so bad that you need a Savior, that you are not so weak that you can’t pull yourself together and live as you should. You are actually espousing a whole set of doctrines about the nature of God, humanity, and sin. And the message of Christmas is that they are all wrong.”  (Tim Keller, Hidden Christmas)

Christmas is for the Grinch in all of us.

Thankful to be with you this Christmas season,

Pastor Jason Carter

Christmas is coming!  (You may need to pause, breathe, and repeat.)

Christmas in our world today is more likely to conjure up images of crowded parking lots, obligatory office parties, and low grade anxiety over shopping for the perfect gift than peaceful scenes out of a Hallmark Christmas card.  Simplicity is not the word typically used to describe the Christmas season in a typical North American home!

When I first arrived to Central Africa, I remember a Brazilian missionary telling me: “If you don’t know how to laugh here, you’ll end up crying.” Being surrounded by the daily realities of malaria, typhoid, and oppressive poverty can take a toll on you, unless you are buoyed by a sense of holy laughter.  Believe it or not, the same advice may now hold true of our navigation of the Christmas season!  You may need to partake in holy laughter to truly enjoy the meaning of Christmas. 

The great preacher at Westminster Chapel of London, Martin Lloyd-Jones, once wrote:

“When the King of Kings and Lord of Lords came into this world, he came into a stable. If you do not feel a sense of holy laughter within you, I do not see that you have a right to think that you are a Christian.”

The craziness of our Christmas season is actually topped by the incredulity of the manger!  A manger?!?  Really?  To an unwed teenage bride?  (Since when was this a good idea?)  Smelly shepherds coming in from the field?  (Please, guys, don’t touch the baby – really, think of the germs!!)

Yet, what does holy laughter really mean?  Holy laughter, in my mind, means rejoicing in the subversive simplicity of God’s redemption in our world which breaks human paradigms to the point that it’s comical.  Go on and chuckle at the thought of God’s rescue mission – a manger! – it just might be good for your soul. 

Grateful to be with you this Christmas season,

Pastor Jason Carter