Just Keeping It Real Dog!

We just completed a wonderful weekend at Dallas Bay. It was a weekend devoted to strengthen the family . We were honored to have great Christian artists like Rebecca St. James and Clay Crosse perform and share their own stories. Story Side B, a Christian band, did an awesome job of interacting with the kids and adults alike. A trio of guys from Florida have have begun a ministry called "Defender Ministries" and they were here and talked frankly to youth and adults about the dangers of pornography and the advantages of staying pure sexually. All in all it was great success. Still one thing puzzles me. Each of the artists and the speakers as well thanked me for allowing them to broach such a sensitive topic in our church. They all said that most churches were afraid to talk about these subjects. My response was always the same, "really?"
The thought had never crossed my mind that we were doing something that was, to use their word "risky". One speaker even apologized before he spoke. He was afraid that he might get the leadership at DBBC in trouble with his frank dialogue. I listened closely to hear what was so perilous in his presentation that it might get me or my associate pastor ( he was the scurrilous culprit who invited this guy in the first place) in hot water with the congregation. Each time I thought I had reason to wince, it didn't happen. Sure his words were frank and a great testimony to the grace and healing power of God, but risky? Never. That's about the time it hit me. Maybe churches don't talk about subjects like sex and purity. Maybe they think talking about pornography should be reserved for the classroom or even the locker room. (That's where I was first exposed to it) Maybe that's why many people think the church is irrelevant and out of touch. It seems to me if sexual impurity and pornography are major enemies of the home then it should be discussed in church. Just the week prior to this weekend I had discussed the stages of intimacy in front of all three services. I had used the word sex and even declared it wasn't a dirty word. Looking back, I wonder if I should have been worried about being so frank?
I wonder if the subject scared Jesus when he spoke? I remember Him telling the woman at the well that the man she was sleeping with was not her husband, so I doubt if much made Jesus fear the what others would think of His frank talk. So as Randy of American Idol fame would say, "I'm just keeping it real dog!" See ya around the throne.
Pastor Ken

I Don't Write This Stuff

Just a note: I’m sorry to all my regular blog readers that I have not blogged in so long. My blog editor has been out of service for a while. Hopefully it is back for good. Thanks for you patience.

I was just thinking about how hard we are to understand sometimes. By we, I mean Bible believing Christians. A lot of things we believe seem to go against the current of conventional wisdom. This was brought to my attention by someone who wanted to attend a church where people aren’t told they are sinners. I thought, “hey that kind of appeals to me too.” Just before that conversation someone had just informed that believing Eve came from Adam’s side was hard to swallow. I have to admit that sounds kind of “wack” to me as well. So, why do I believe these “unbelievable” things to be true?
Well let’s consider the alternative. Everybody’s good, or at least basically good on the inside. That squares with what I want to believe just not what I observe. Instead I see formerly bad people change into some of the best people on a regular basis. That only happens when they come to believe that they are indeed “bad people” in need of help. If they don’t begin with that premise then they don’t seek help. It just happens that’s what the Bible says about us. “There is none good” and “we all have fallen short of the glory of God.” So if I have to admit I need help before I’m ready to get help just call me “helpless”.
How about this Eve from Adam thing? Yep, that’s hard to believe too. It sure is easier to believe that some lightning struck (wonder where the lightning came from?) at the precise moment in some primordial ooze pond (wonder who made the ooze?) while two single cell amebas (wonder where…well you get the point) joined and electrified just right to instill energy to recreate…boy this could go on forever. Or maybe it is less of a stretch to believe “in the beginning God created…” Hey maybe we are not so strange after all. Maybe it is the people whose faith is in something other than God that are hard to understand. I didn’t write the Bible where the answers to life’s questions are answered. It’s a good thing too. I would probably have come up with some of the off the wall theories that would try and convince unbelievers that we can figure out just how God did things. I like the fact that I don’t totally understand how or why God did what he did. A God that I can figure out just isn’t big enough to deal with the stuff I have to deal with everyday. Yeah God!
Pastor Ken