Dying to Tell You He Loves You

Last week was an amazing week being with people who are planting churches. Early on in the week we met with pastors in D.C. talking about revival in the city. For years pastor have been gathering together to pray for a spiritual awakening, one that has never happened in this city. We talked about how we can plant 8 churches on the same day in 2017.

Wednesday through Friday I met together with 5 guys who were planting churches in Pittsburg, Austin, Vermont and Maine. Each one had a story of God’s grace in their lives. One of those was Andy. He told us a story of how he grew up angry. He was abused and hated everyone. At one point he went into serious depression and every day for six months, he took his revolver, put one bullet in the chamber, spun the chamber, put it to his head and pulled the trigger. He figured that if he was still alive, that day meant something. When he gave his life to Jesus, everything changed. His anger turned to love. He now loves everyone. Now he is planting a church in Maine.

We, like Andy, although we may not be as troubled emotionally, all look for significance. We need to know if our lives matter to someone else. We search for significance. We search for the sense that we matter to someone and that what we do actually matters. We want our life, long or short, to count for something. In his book, “The Search For Significance” Robert McGee tells us that the feeling of significance is crucial to man’s emotional, spiritual, and social stability and is the driving element within the human spirit.

“Millions of people spend a lifetime searching for love, acceptance, and success without understanding the need that compels them. We must understand that this hunger for self-worth is God-given and can only be satisfied by Him. Our value is not dependent on our ability to earn the fickle acceptance of people, but rather, its true source is the love and acceptance of God. He created us. He alone knows how to fulfill all of our needs” (pg. 11).

If we are left on our own, we will fall into a performance trap, believing falsely that if we perform well, God will somehow like us more and possibly accept us into Heaven. The Muslim foundation is built on this – you have to please God and at the end, you hope that if you have done enough good, He will accept you.

This means that your identity is entangled with your success, which ultimately leads to a sense of hopelessness. How much of your life is wasted trying to impress others or gain their approval.

“We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like” (Dave Ramsey).

Here is what you need to know about God – He loves you and sent His son to tell you that he loves you – and there is nothing you can do about that!

This is what Jesus died to tell you. He died to tell you that he loves you and that your life matters. God’s solution to the fear of rejection is based on Christ’s sacrificial payment for our sins. Through this payment, we find forgiveness, and total acceptance through Christ.

There is a word we use in Christendom, it is “reconciliation”. It means that those who were enemies have become friends. It means that your were formerly alienated, and even hostile, toward God and now you are reconciled with him through his death.

Romans 5:6-11tells us, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Leaving a Legacy of Generosity

When God wanted the Israelites to build the tabernacle, a visible place for Him to dwell in the middle of their community, He instructed Moses to receive an offering to pay for it. This was an offering of gold, silver, bronze, fabric, ect. The instruction for the offering is found in Exodus 25:1,2 and Exodus 35: 4,5. The interesting thing about this offering is that it had to come from people with “willing hearts.” One translation says, “generous hearts”. This was not a tithe, or tax or an offering that was cohered. No, this offering came from willing and generous people – people who believed in the project. In fact they were so excited to give that at one point Moses had to ask them to stop giving.

If you would like to hear my recent message on generosity, just click here. 

Generosity takes giving to a whole new level. It comes from a place of joy.

I love hanging out with generous people. They are contagious and they have a positive disposition.

This is what I know about generous people:

1. They have open eyes. They see the world from a different perspective. Their vision is higher than their circumstances and looks beyond the present.
2. They have open hearts. They not only a need, they are moved to respond.
3. They have open lives. There is room for one more in their relationship circle and are invested in what they give to.
4. They have open hands. They are simply conduits of God’s blessings. I heard someone say once, “Some people won’t let go of what is in their hand because they are afraid that God won’t let go of what is in His.” Think about this, in light of God’s hand, how small is your hand compared to His? The problem with a clinched fist is that nothing can get in either.
5. They have open ears. They have a global positioning unit hardwired into their ears and the voice that is giving them directions is God. Several years ago, Esther felt impressed to give a struggling couple the next check that came in our mail. Little did we know that the next check would be the check from her parents to help us pay our mortgage that month while we were in grad school. Convinced it was the Lord’s voice, we gave it anyway, and guess what, we still made our mortgage payment. The Lord not only used us to provide for someone else, but he provided for us. We have so many of these stories just like all generous people have.

There are two types of generosity. First there is the planned generosity. It is reflected in people’s giving above their regular giving. So many in our congregation not only give to the church, but they also give to missionaries and special projects on a regular basis. It is built into their budget every month. This kind of generosity speaks to the person’s passion. It tells us what we really love.

Secondly, there is spontaneous generosity. This reflects a person’s compassion. Sometimes it is an emotional response, but it’s usually much deeper. When a person is listening to God, He shows us places to give with sometimes little notice, but God wants to use us to respond to different needs and critical situations.

The reality of generosity is that sometimes we miss the mark and feel like someone is taking advantage of us. This will happen at some point and we have to be ok with understanding that we were obedient to God’s voice and we are giving to Him.

Generous people have a trust in God. Recently I received a phone call from a investment broker. He was convincing enough and he talked me into the next part of the conversation. He asked me if I wanted to see my kids go to college and have money when I retire and have money to travel. If course I wanted all of those things until it dawned on me that I had no idea of who I was talking to. I stopped him and said, “Wait, I have no idea who you are. If I am going to invest, I want to at least know the person I am investing with.” I hung up before his next sentence.

Generous people understand the “Big Shovel Principle.” We have a giving shovel in our hand. When we use it to bless others, God also begins to shovel. And guess what, God’s shovel is a whole lot bigger than yours. He is waiting to bless people who generously bless others. I can tell you without a doubt that every time we have been asked to give financially, God has moved in a miraculous way.

Proverbs 11:24-28, “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell. He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him who searches for it. Whoever trust in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.”

Leaving a Godly Legacy

Everybody has a family tree and they come in all shapes and sizes.

Some are large and complex.





Others are simple and somewhat cartoonish.



Either way, we all have them. Some of us want to protect parts of our family tree while seriously pruning other parts. 

I believe that for all of us we want to protect parts of our family tree while pruning other parts of our family tree. While you may not be able to do anything about the people in your family tree who came before you, you can change what your family tree looks like in the future, and we all want something better for the following generations. I have never heard someone say, “I want my kids to be worse off than I had it growing up. The fact is that all of us do leave a legacy; the only question is what legacy do we leave and what fruit do you want your family tree to bear?

When thinking about a legacy, the first thing we need to think about is a good name. Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” Think of the names that are passed on in history. Many of them come from the Bible, like John, David, Samuel, Mary, Ruth, Elijah, Jacob, etc. These names are passed down because the name represented some kind of goodness. You never hear someone giving the name Jezebel, Bathsheba, Judas or Ebenezer Scrooge to his or her children, and for good reason – they do not represent the goodness they want for their kids.

Here are a couple of thoughts about a good name:

A good name is built one day at a time. 

This takes intentionality and daily work. William S. Burroughs (American novelist) said, “Build a good name. Keep your name clean. Don’t make compromises, don’t worry about making a bunch of money or being successful — be concerned with doing good work and make the right choices and protect your work. And if you build a good name, eventually, that name will be its own currency."

Everything you do every day contributes toward building a good name. As a society, we are obsessed with the immediate. We are on an intense quest for the quick fix, but we must diligently manage our life one day at a time over a log period of time. Eugene Peterson says that the key to discipleship is “Long obedience in the same direction.” This is also applied to building a good name.

A good name is built on Godliness – the ability to honor God. 

If you are a Christian, your name ultimately reflects God’s name. This is about your spiritual legacy. Just like the first commandment sets up the others, “You shall have no other God’s before me.” Making God the center of your life takes care of everything else. A Godly legacy is the most priceless gift you can pass on to your children and grandchildren and it is imparted over the course of a lifetime.

A good name is built on gratitude – the ability to say “Thank You.” 

Gratitude is expressed in many ways, but it begins with two simple words, “Thank You.” Take time to reflect on all the people who have invested in your life.

Here is a quote from a recent Facebook post:

I'm starting a new series "A Legacy Journey" and the focus will be on what we leave our families. Since my dad left me no legacy, I had to look to my cousin's dads. I am one fortunate person to have grown up with so many Godly male influences around me. Brother Beahm, Uncle Jim, Uncle, Ed, Uncle Dave, Uncle Harris, Daddy John, Uncle Harry, Uncle Marvin, Uncle Tom, my Father-in-law, a bunch of professors and mentors, etc. I have many times thought about writing a book and dedicating a chapter to each of them and what they taught me. I know so many guys who have never heard "I'm proud of you." Although few of my uncles could actually express it in words, they showed it by including me in their lives. Although I hope to be able to pay some of it forward, I am so in debt to their generosity and love that I will always live in debt to their investment. Well... that's what I was getting at.

A good name is built on generosity – the ability to look beyond ourselves. 

Generosity is an intentional benevolent act of kindness that serves the benefit of others and reflects the Great God that we serve. It is a learned character trait that involves both attitude and action. Generosity is not a random idea or haphazard behavior but rather, in its mature form, a basic, personal, moral orientation to life. As generosity matures, it becomes who you are, not random. Proverbs 11:24-25 says, “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”

Isaiah 54:2 “Expand, Stretch, and Strengthen”

Isaiah 54:2 “Expand, Stretch, and Strengthen”

Last week was one of those “Holy Smokes! Now What?” moments.

It was the moment when a cold bucket of reality hit our leadership as we realized that in January of 2018, we would no longer be worshipping together on 4104 Legato Road. Making the decision to relocate our congregation has not been an easy one. It took three years of praying, thinking and planning. It also took bold decisions and tremendous sacrifice to lay down the plans to build on the current property which had been talked about for over ten years.

But that decision was a piece of cake compared to the next three years of steps we will have to take. Now we have to answer a series of complicated questions in order to move forward. You can’t just announce one Sunday, “Hey, next week we’ll be meeting in a rented hall across town.”

However, there is one question we don’t have to answer, and that is the “why” question. The answer is simple: Because people in Fairfax need to hear the message of Jesus, give their lives to him and join The Body of Christ. This means that we will need to be more proactive to engage people where they live, and our current facilities are outdated and inadequate to house the ministries and people we want to reach. When we answer the “why” question, every question after that is simply a matter of strategy.

So my prayer today is similar to my prayers last July but with more intensity: “Lord, what is the word you have for us? Give us a word to base our future on, something solid and undeniable. Something, that, when the going gets tough and our bones get weary, we can come back to and say, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’”

Early one morning near the end of our fasting, God answered my prayer through His word found in Isaiah 54 which contain two elements: an amazing promise and a difficult challenge. The promise requires faith in God in order to trust Him for our future. The challenge requires making decisions about what we are to do in order to prepare for the promise.  

Without going too deep into the background, it is important to note that this passage is about the restoration of Israel after living as captives in Babylon. God speaks to the nation about restoration and expansion. God, in his love gave them a promise to remind them that their discipline would not last forever and the chapter is one filled with national promise and one that God also gives us today.

Describing the nation as a barren woman without hope who now has reason to celebrate sets up the passage. Isaiah 54:1 says, “Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.”

A barren woman was often despised and many times divorced. This is how Israel felt at the moment – barren and without hope. The Babylonian exile and captivity meant more than oppression for Israel; it meant shame, disgrace, and humiliation. But in the middle of it all, God says to “Burst into song, shout for joy”. In other words, “Rejoice, your present state is about to change.”

The passage then moves from promise to preparation: “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.”

The "tent" is a symbol and representative of their dwelling-place. God was saying that Israel was about to expand and they needed a larger place to house the people He was about to send them. This is about capacity for hospitality. 

In ancient Israel, hospitality was not merely a question of good manners, but a moral institution. The biblical customs of welcoming the weary traveler and of receiving the stranger in one's midst was the matrix out of which hospitality developed into a highly esteemed virtue in Jewish tradition. Biblical law specifically sanctified hospitality toward the stranger who was to be made particularly welcomed. Foreign travelers, although not protected by law, could count on the custom of hospitality. [www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0009_0_09260.html]

In prophetic language, God was telling them to stretch out in order to receive even the Gentiles.

Simple application: If Centerpointe is going to be a place where we will welcome the weary traveler, we need to get ready to be hospitable to more people. God is telling us to stretch out in order to receive those who have not yet received the Good News of Jesus Christ.

If we are going to widen the tent, we will also need to lengthen our cords and strengthen our stakes. In other words we are to:

Expand in order to receive more people into the Kingdom.

Lengthen our ability by making stronger disciples.

Strengthen the systems; making sure everything is attached to the foundation of God’s word.

Each piece is important and there must be a balance in priority, but the problem with older churches is that the older they get, the more likely they forget why they exist in the first place and the needs of lost people become less of a priority.

The need for prioritizing reaching the lost is illustrated in the book, The Insanity of Obedience by Nik Ripken who creates three models concerning a philosophy of missions with different focuses. I am borrowing from the models and adapting them in order to show how churches tend to focus on a particular area and miss the mark when it comes to lost people.  

Model One: The Individual

In the individual model, the focus is primarily inward. The highest values are security, lifestyle, convenience, “our” children, education, comfort, absence of conflict and happiness. As these things take center stage, the decisions we make revolve around making people happy which means that success is measured by feelings.

Model Two: The Institutional

In the institution model, the focus is still primarily inward, but the highest values revolve around structure, identity, image, policies, committees, administration, Roberts Rules of Order, budgets, reputation, etc. People who are caught up in this model try to advance in the institution in order to gain power. Decisions are made based on keeping the institution alive. Decisions are safe so as to not lose anyone because that impacts the bottom line. Success, then, is measured by numbers: attendance, buildings and cash.

 Model Three: The Needs of the Lost

In this final model the focus is turned outward. The highest values become: the lost need to hear, believe, be baptized and gathered into The Body of Christ. Decisions that are made revolve around adding people to the Kingdom of God and success is measured by The Great Commandment: “Go into all the world and make disciples.” When the lost is your highest value, words like, “network”, “prayer”, “fasting”, “advocacy”, “strategy”, “sacrifice”, “persecution” become common words.  

Ripken goes on to suggest that in order to examine what model we use, we need to ask three questions:

1. Based on your budget, calendar, energy, and human resources, what matters most?
2. How many spiritual conversations are we having?
3. How are we measuring success?

In an attempt to answer the first question, I looked at Centerpointe’s 2014 year in review video we created. I also know our budget pretty well and where we have spent most of our energy over the last four years. My discovery was eye opening and heart breaking. Since I have been the pastor for four year now, I can no longer blame the past, nor can I blame the people. I have to own this.

Looking at the calendar, I realized that out of the many things we did in 2014, there were only seven things that we did to reach our community on a regular basis compared to over 40 things we did to take care of our people and the institution, and the seven things we do to reach our community only involved a small portion of our people. Furthermore, there was only one message that was created where we focused on bringing unbelievers to the church.

Some major changes need to be made in the next three years if we are going to be all that God has called us to be.

With all of this said, our first priority in the next three years needs to be:

“Developing a culture that prioritizes building disciples that reach lost people.”

Here is what this means in practice.

It means first that the church calendar will have intentional times of outreach to our community, and as we move forward we will strengthen our partnerships with ministries already making a difference in the Fairfax area.

Secondly, we will train our people to live with an ever-present awareness of lost people and help them share their faith with others. In every thing we do, there will be encouragement to include those who do not yet know Christ, whether it is a church-wide event or a small group meeting.

Thirdly, we are adding to our staff in order to not only make our church more child friendly and safe, but increase our outreach potential to families. Last week Brandon and Hannah Horst accepted the position of Kid’s Pastor and will be joining us later this month. We are excited to have them on the team.

Finally, among our activities, we will intensify our seasons of prayer for the lost and believe God for the miraculous.

I believe God is doing an amazing work among the people of Centerpointe Church. He is calling us to take new steps of faith that will make a difference in the Kingdom of God, and I am so honored that I get to be part of the story.

Love and Prayers,

Pastor Keith

FASTING TO MOVE FORWARD

On Sunday, Centerpointe Church joined with thousands of other churches around the world in a 21 day time of fasting and prayer for a great spiritual awakening in our church, community, country and the world. We are in desperate need for God to move in our lives and we are creating space to prepare our hearts and minds to receive from Him.

You can download our devotional guide at: 21DAYDEVOTIONALGUIDE.

The first week of our fasting revolves around consecration, humility, repentance and dedication. There are two elements involved: dedication to God and the elimination of things that keep us from Him.

My prayer for The Church is that we experience God's presence in such a powerful way that many will turn to Jesus and live in freedom and the joy He has for us.

Believing Him,
Keith

"10 Signs of a Great Church" Is Missing a Few Things.

I just read again, "10 Signs You're Attending a Great Church." http://www.churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-article

I have no real issues with the ten things listed, but I believe it leaves out some essential elements - like the GREAT COMMISSION and the GREAT COMMANDMENT!

To me, this article is too fluffy, too feel good and way too safe.

I guess it is because I am currently reading The Insanity of God, by Nik Ripken, which is filled with testimonies of Christians around the world living in persecuted places, but I think churches can get caught up in the "right programing" while it misses the greater calling. The Body of Christ around the world is prospering, but it isn't always packaged in a nice box with pretty bows.

Here are some things I would like to add to the list:

1. A Heart for Missions - supporting, praying, giving and sending.
2. Outreach - having a vision beyond the church walls.
3. Courageous Leadership - willing to risk making difficult decision based on the direction of the Holy Spirit.
4. Persecution - "The most accurate ways to detect and measure the activity of God is to note the amount of opposition that is present" (Ripken, 153).
5. Compassion - People around the world are dying of malnutrition and dehydration.
6. Multiplication - Church planting! 

I would like to have everything listed in the article for the church I pastor, but if the list presented by the article is all there is, it will not inspire courageous hearts to participate. 

Establish the Work of Our Hands

In July I had the opportunity to break away from the normal routine of pastoring and take some time to reflect and dream. It gave me a chance to evaluate the past three years at Centerpointe Church and think about our future. It also gave me a chance to rest, exercise, reconnect with some mentors and friends and enjoy some things I love, like riding a motorcycle, visiting coffee shops and going to Camden Yards to watch the Orioles. 

This also gave me an opportunity to visit other churches and celebrate what God is doing in other places. Not only did I enjoy the messages, I learned some things about the way other churches function and take care of their guests. God is working all over to bring people to himself.

Reading books about church and leadership was very rewarding during this time. My favorites were: Leading the Starbucks Way by Joseph A Michelli; The Multiplying Church by Bob Roberts Jr.; Listening to the Voice of God by Roger Barrier.

The real impact came from visiting the campus of Lee University in Chattanooga Tennessee. As we were walking around campus I noticed that on every building, engraved in stone was the scripture reference Psalms 90:17. We later discovered a bronze statue (in honor of Paul and Darlia Conn) of a man sitting on a bench with his Bible opened to the verse which says, “May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us, and may He establish the work of our hands, yes establish the work of our hands.” This is the prayer of a desperate soul who recognized his temporary presence in this world and wants to leave a meaningful legacy. This became my theme verse for July and also the messages I would preach in August and September. 

The Life Application Bible says this about the verse, “Because our days are numbered, we want our work to count, to be effective and productive. We desire to see God’s eternal plan revealed now and for our work to reflect his permanence.”

There are major changes happening at Centerpointe Church. We are dreaming about our future and making bold strategic steps towards it. My prayer is the same as the psalmist, “Lord, whatever we do, let it be for your honor because that is the only way it will mean anything for the future generations. It’s important that we get this right, so give us wisdom to know your direction, discernment to know your voice and courage to follow through.”

Serving Him,

Pastor Keith

Father's Day 2014

Yesterday was Father’s Day, 2014.

My life has dramatically changed over the last couple years in the dad department. I have four girls who are growing so quickly and each one is entering into a new season of life. One is giving one year of her life to teach and children in an unnamed region of the world. One just graduated from college and two days later got married, making me a father-in-law. Before they begin their lives in the work force, they are giving six weeks to work with teens in Costa Rica. One is entering into her senior year of high school and is heading to New York for a week this summer to serve with her youth group. She is also a leader in her Christian club at school and a musician and leader at church. Finally, my youngest is going to Costa Rica this summer for four weeks to join her older sister and brother-in-law. She, too, is a leader and musician at school and church.

I’m watching them mature and grow, and it’s changing me.

I’m more nostalgic now. I have such fond memories of their childhood years. Esther and I truly enjoyed watching them grow up. I still want to sing silly songs and make corny jokes, but the strong warnings I get prevent them. (Just wait till I’m a granddad – they’ll be back!)

I’m also slower now, yes physically as well, but that’s not my point. I’m not as much in a hurry as I used to be. It’s less of an inconvenience to take them to school now. I still don’t say much in the mornings, but I get to say, “Go change the world” one more time. When the girls want a hug, I take those moments because they don’t come as often as they once did.

I'm trying hard to not be obnoxiously proud, but it's not that easy and I suspect it will get harder in the years ahead. 

All this to say I love my kids and am so glad that God has allowed me to be a dad.