PURE IN HEART

A few thoughts from the morning sermon:
I've always struggled with this Beatitude, bothered by the term "pure in heart." I think of PURE as being untainted or unstained. (Actually I think of the Disney character, "Snow White"; she was innocent and naive, untainted by the evil around here). I knew I didn't fit that category. When I think of my spiritual heart, I think it is dirty and stained up from the sin I've allowed into my life. Even though I am a Christian and I know I am forgiven, I felt like my heart would never be pure enough that I would be able to see God, at least not this side of eternity.
So, as I began to study this passage, I began to think about the people who "saw" God, or had a personal encounter with Him. I thought of Abraham, and God's visit to his tent to tell him that Sarah would become pregnant. Abraham, who lied about his relationship with Sarah, who went to Egypt even though God did not tell him to go. Abraham who tried to help God keep His promise by having a child with Sarah's servant. Was Abraham really "pure in heart."
I also thought about Jacob, who wrestled with God at the Jabbok brook. Jacob, the trickster, who stole the birthright and the blessing from his brother Esau; who tricked his uncle Laban in order to grow his wealth. Was Jacob "pure in heart"?
Moses had a personal encounter with God, and even spoke to God as a man speaks to a friend. But Moses was on the backside of the desert when he encountered God through the burning bush, and he was there because he was wanted for murder in Egypt. Pure in heart?
As I studied the Scriptures, what became clear is that "pure in heart" didn't mean to have a Snow White heart that had never been stained by sin. It means that your heart has been cleansed by God, the stain of sin removed by His grace and forgiveness. The word for pure that Jesus used is where we get our word "catharsis", which refers to a cleansing of the heart or mind. It is also a noun that means to be "unmixed, as having no double allegiance." Pastor Brian Bill gives a great explanation of what it means to be pure in heart: "A person with a passion for purity (a pure heart) is one who has been cleansed in character so that the way he or she looks in public is the way he or she is in private." A person whose heart has been cleansed by God is the same person all the time; he or she doesn't have a public persona and a private persona. To be pure in heart is the opposite of being a hypocrite. I'll expand on this more later.

GUATEMALA LAST DAY

Ran out of time yesterday, so I didn't get to post. I'll try to fill in the blanks. On Thursday we spent the day in San Antonio working at the student center. It is run by a Guatemalan lady named Anna Louisa with help from a couple from Germany. The student center program is called "Step by Step" and it provides after school educational programs as well as meals for children in the town. Right now, they are cooking on what is the equivalent of a 5 gal. bucket with a fire in under it.

We finished chipping away the paint and plaster from the outside wall so it could be refinished. We also finished pouring the concrete slab for the kitchen we are building. Some of our group went to the town square to play with kids and give out candy and tracts. The man Cecelia had spoken to on Tuesday was there and I had an opportunity to share the Gospel with him. He is interested in Christianity and has been reading the New Testament. He didn't accept Christ today, but we made sure he knew what he needed to do, and we left him a "Steps to Peace with God" tract.

On Friday we split up the groups and some went to the church that Mike and Carla attend - it is an inner city church in Guatemala City. It is also a student center, and they had a birthday party with the kids. I went with a group that went back to San Antonio to get the walls up on the kitchen for the Step by Step student center. We were able to get the walls up and the mission team that is coming in tomorrow will put the roof on and install a new stove. It is a drastic improvement for the center.

We're about to start evening devotions, so I'm going to stop for now.

GUATEMALA DAY THREE

Today was a great blessing. We spent the day in San Miguel, where we were all week last year. We saw the kitchen that we helped build; it is now being used by the school to provide hot meals for the kids. We also saw many of the children that we ministered to last year. They seemed to remember us. We weren't able to go to the "small school" so Jamie was not able to see the little girl she had connected with, but some of the others are in the student program being sponsored by Clubhouse Guatemala so we got to spend the day with them. It was great to get to be with the kids again.

We also installed four stoves in the village. Most homes in the village have open fire stoves that are usually found in out buildings near the home, but they have very little ventilation and the women  have to deal with the smoke while cooking. The stoves we installed were made of cinderblock and concrete but also have an exhaust pipe to vent the smoke. The new stoves also use 3/4 less wood than a typical Guatemalan stove, which will be more economical for the families.

At the first home that we installed a stove, when the installation was complete, Mike Parker shared the Gospel with the home owners, a man and woman in their forties, and they both prayed to receive Christ as their Savior. They were both raised Catholic, but were not practicing any religion. Afterward, Mike said this is the first family that he has provided a stove for that prayed to receive Christ. He has installed about 100 stoves over the last year and he always shares the Gospel, but most of the time the people claim  to be Christian because they belong to the Catholic church. Mike was on Cloud Nine today. We were thankful to be a part of two more souls for the Kingdom of God.

Tomorrow we return to San Antonio to finish the kitchen for the student center. We'll also go into the city square to minister to the kids and hopefully have a chance to share the Gospel. Please keep us in your prayers.

GUATEMALA DAY TWO

Just getting around to posting about day two of our Guatemala Mission Adventure. Was exhausted last night and went to bed early; had a productive but tiring day. We worked all day in San Antonio, on a student center that provides after school program for children. We prepared for and began pouring the floor to the new kitchen we are building for them; mixing cement on the ground by hand and moving it by wheelbarrow. We also began removing paint and plaster from an outside wall, using machetes, hatchets, hammers and various other hand tools. It is a long and tedious process. 

Some of the group went to the city square and attracted a crowd of kids. They played with the and loved on them. Cecelia had an opportunity to witness to a man who told her he didn't have a religion but he was reading the New Testament to help him learn English. She gave him a "Steps to Peace with God" tract. We are going back Thursday, please pray that Manuel will be there so that we can talk further with him. J-Bob witnessed to the Teresa who, along with her husband and a Guatemalan lady named Anna Louisa, run the student center in San Antonio. Teresa is from Germany and was Catholic but now says she is not "in church." J-Bob talked with her and gave her a Gospel of John and a tract. Pray that the seeds planted will grow and produce fruit. 

The other church groups we are working with have been great. The Youth Group from Bel Air Methodist Church has been impressive. They are eager to work and have done everything that has been asked of them. One young lady, Kendall, has worked circles around most everyone else. She is an athlete (placed 4th in her state in shot-put) and has worked tirelessly at some of the hardest jobs. Cecelia has made a friend from Gillespie Ave. BC in Knoxville. She and Mitchell pick at each other all day, and Cecelia is loving it. 

Well the bus has just arrived to take us to San Miguel. I'll try to post more later tonight.

GUATEMALA DAY ONE

We arrived safely in Guatemala yesterday (Sunday) and was picked up at the airport around 10:30 am Guatemala time. We picked up the other teams that are here. We learned that there is actually 4 teams here this week: the largest group is a youth group from a Methodist church in Maryland. There is also a group of 6 from Gillespie Ave. BC in Knoxville (including Kelly Woods nephew, Austin), and a family of four from Northstar Church in Knoxville, and our group of eight.

After picking up the other groups we all went to Antigua (Central America's oldest continuous city) for our down day. When we finally arrived back at the mission house, our team was exhausted. Most of us were running on 3 hours of sleep or less. We all slept well last night.

After breakfast this morning we headed to the village of San Mateo, a mountainous village about an hour from the mission house. Mike has partnered with a church in the village to do a "Character Counts" ministry for the local kids. We spent the morning leveling the ground in the church's courtyard preparing it for sod and seed. As it is, the dirt courtyard ground was sloped and drained into the building that housed their children's ministry. We leveled the ground (by hand) and tomorrow they will be bringing in sod. It is a real blessing to the church.

In the afternoon, we held a birthday party for the kids who are registered with the ministry center in San Mateo. There are about 55 children involved and we provided a pizza lunch, drinks, and balloon decorations. When the pizza was brought in, someone asked the children how many of them had ever had pizza before, only three out of the 50 or so kids, raised their hands. After the pizza party, the kids had a tienda, or toy store. The kids in the Character Counts program earn points by doing things like, learning memory verses, helping at the ministry center, helping at home, etc. At the tienda they can cash their points in for toys and games.

In the afternoon, some of the group went to the ministry site that we will be working at tomorrow. It is in a city call San Antonio, and is in the downtown area. A man and his wife operate a feeding center and an after school program for kids, but they don't have a kitchen to cook the food. Tomorrow and Thursday we will be building them a kitchen from the ground up. Today we cleared and leveled the area where we will be building. We also had to unload a ton of sand from a truck that was too big to fit through the gate of the place we are working. We unloaded it with shovels at the entrance to the gate, then we had to move the pile to another location so we could get in and out of the gate. It was a full truck load of sand and it had to be unloaded and moved all by shovel. Our groups will sleep well tonight.

Everyone is doing well. Brittany is battling a cough she had before she came down. She feels fine, just irritated with the cough. We'd appreciate your prayers for her. I'll try to post some pictures later on our Facebook page.

MAGNA VIEW CHURCH

Five things I want my Family of Faith to know I'm thankful for:

Magna View Baptist Church...

1. I am thankful you believe the Bible and seek to be obedient to the commands of our Lord.
2. I am thankful you have a heart for missions and are willing to send those who are able to go.
3. I am thankful for your generosity and passion to give cheerfully to the work of the Lord.
4. I am thankful you are willing to serve, to give of your time, talents and resources for the glory of God.
5. I am thankful that you are faithful to God and to His servants.

You are a blessing Magna View Family! I thank God for you each day. I love you as my family of faith!

Pastor George

THE GRACE OF GOD

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, the Bible says that God's grace is sufficient. The context of that verse is very important. The apostle Paul has been plagued by what he calls a "thorn in the flesh". We're not told what his thorn was, other than it is identified as a "messenger of Satan" given to Paul specifically to keep him humble (I'm thinking it was one of those "sandpaper people" that always rubs the wrong way). Paul prayed three times (the number of holiness) for it to be removed, but the thorn remained. God's answer to Paul's prayer was "no, but ... My grace is sufficient for you." And then God explains why: "My strength is made perfect in weakness." In other words, when you are faced with a situation that you can't fix, a problem you can't solve, a weakness you can't overcome, that's when God takes over. He works in you, through you and around you to do what you can't. He shines the light of His love into your darkness.

I love Paul's response, "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor 12:9-10)
When we face our most serious challenge, we can rejoice, because God is about to show His power. When we are at our weakest , we can "take pleasure" because God is about to show His strength. When we shrink down, God shows off.

This verse is especially significant as I prepare for our mission trip to Guatemala. Even though I've gone before, there is always that concern about what "may happen". I'm such a control freak, and being in a country where I can't speak the language, and can't navigate the streets takes me WAY out of my comfort zone. There's also the concern over being able to share the Gospel, which is my main reason for going. Will I have an opportunity to share the Gospel? Will I know what to say? Will I be able to communicate clearly? All those things keep running through my mind ... and then God speaks, "My grace is sufficient for you, My power is made perfect (complete) in your weakness (frailty)". Therefore I rejoice in the unknowns, uncertainties, and challenges of the trip, for in my weakness, He will be strong. Thanks be to God for His amazing grace!

SEND NORTH AMERICA

Yesterday the storm knocked out the internet at the office; my initial response was confusion and then panic because I suddenly realized I was disconnected with the known universe. Well, not really, but it seemed that way. But it gave me an  opportunity to read the latest issue of On Mission magazine published by the North American Mission Board (NAMB). Our church gets a copy, but I generally scan it and then put it on the resource table in the welcome area of our church. But something (or Someone) drew me into the articles and I was amazed at what I read.

The magazine outlines NAMB's new emphasis on church planting through a program called Send North America. They've divided North America into five regions: Canada, Northeast, West, Midwest and South. You can read the details at www.onmission.com, but what really got my attention were the numbers. In each section they breakdown the ratio of SBC churches to population, and the numbers were mindblowing to me. Here is a summary:

Canada - 1 church for every 123,971 people, (272 SBC churches in the entire country of 33 million people)
America:
           Northeast - 1 Church for every 37,788 people, 1,761 SBC Churches)
           West - 1 Church for every 16,788 people, (4,465 SBC Churches)
           Midwest - 1 Church for every 12,802 people, (5,363 SBC Churches)
                        ...drumroll...
           South - 1 Church for every 2,697 people, (38,671 SBC Churches)

I had always heard that I lived in the "buckle of the Bible Belt", I just never realized how big that buckle was until I saw those numbers. God really got my attention. I'm prayerfully struggling with how to justify living in a place that has so much access to the Light, while most of the rest of the world is walking in darkness because they have so little access to the Light. I shared these numbers with our deacons last night and asked them to begin to pray about being involved in church planting in other parts of our land. I'm anxious to see what the Lord will do.

WEDNESDAY WORDS

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You." John 17:1

Jesus, in His earthly ministry never sought glory for Himself, but always sought glory for His Father. He never attempted to draw attention to Himself. In fact, several places throughout Scripture, Jesus commands people to tell no one who He really was. He sometimes hid Himself from people and often sought to get away from the crowds. He did not seek attention for Himself.

But He always sought the attention of His Father and attention for His Father. In the opening lines of His great intercessory prayer Jesus says to His Father, "Glorify your Son, that Your Son may glorify You." Jesus isn't seeking glory for Himself, but for the Father. Yet, He realizes that the ultimate way that the Father will be glorified, is if the attention of the world is upon Him at the Cross.

The Crucifixion of Christ didn't occur in secrecy under the cover of darkness in a small deserted town. No, it took place during a religious festival, in the light of day, in a city that was overflowing with people from all over the civilized world. Christ was "glorified" or lifted up, that the world could see and take note. But it wasn't about Him, it was about His Father. Jesus endured the public humiliation and torture on the Cross, so that others (including us) could see how much "God so loved the world." In His death on the Cross, Jesus glorifies the Father, and draws our attention to Him that we might know Him and glorify Him in our own lives. To God be the Glory!

MONDAY THANKFULNESS, June 27

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thess 5:18 (NLT)
1. I am thankful for a God who loved me even before I was born, and who proved His love for me even when I was living in sin. 2. I'm thankful for the Holy Spirit that gives me peace and guides me in the way I should go. 3. I'm thankful for a  godly wife who lives in the power of God's grace.4. I'm thankful for daughters who are compassionate and have a heart for ministering to others in crisis. 5. I'm thankful for a loving family of faith who cares for one another and expresses their love for one another through simple acts of grace and kindness. 6. I'm thankful for brothers and sisters in Christ who have the gift of giving and are faithful to exercise it. 7. I'm thankful for faithful servants of the Lord who are dedicated to serving the Lord regardless of their circumstances. You are a blessing by your example.
What are you thankful for? Why not share your thankfulness with others. 

VACATION DAY 1

It day one of our family vacation. We left around 7:45 am heading to Washington, D.C. Holli graduated on Saturday and this is her graduation trip. She chose Washington. We were here a couple of years ago but only got to spend one day in the city, so we didn't see a whole lot. Holli wants to visit the zoo while we are here.
The trip up was un-eventful. We arrived here around 3:30 pm. We drove the van despite finding out this week that we have an oil leak. The other option would have been to drive the Malibu, which would have given us better gas mileage, but the girls would have been packed in the backseat like sardines.
We checked into our motel which is incredible. We're staying at the Hyatt Place Herndon/Dulles Airport-East. I got a great deal from Hotels.com. We went for some supper at a cool place - Generous George's Positive Pizza and Pasta (http://www.generousgeorge.com/). The food was good and the atmosphere was great. Abigail got to make her own pizza. I think we'll probably eat there again before the week is out.
Came back to the hotel and the girls went to the pool for a while. Cecelia and I just kind of crashed. Tomorrow we're going into DC and are planning to check out the big Memorial Day Parade down Constitution Avenue. It's going to be a great week.  

MONDAY THANKFULNESS

I have so much to be thankful for. Thinking back over the last couple of days:

1. Thankful for my mom who is a woman of great faith. She made sure all of us kids got a foundation in church. She worked hard all of her life - working all day, coming home to cook supper and then clean-up. She rarely got to sit down and relax around the house. I love my mom and she is still such an inspiration to me.
2. Thankful for my wife who is such an amazing mom to my daughters. Cecelia is a unique person and she is a perfect match for me. She knows what is going on ion our daughter's lives all the time. She is very honest and straightforward with them, and she is passionately protective of our girls. I see a huge amount of respect from them for her because they know she loves them and would die for them. At the same time, they know she might just snap and go all "Madea" on them when they do wrong. I love my wife and I'm thankful for her abilities as a mom.
3. Thankful for my daughters. It is such an incredible thing to watch them grow up and see them serving the Lord. I love seeing them use their gifts and talents to honor God. Each one of them is very unique and special. They are truly gifts from God and they bring so much joy into my life.
4. Thankful for the encouragers at church. God has brought some special ladies into our church that are so encouraging. They are always saying kind things and lifting people up.
5. Thankful for my church family. I say this a lot, but God has really brought together a special group of people at Magna View. Each week I am amazed at how God is working through our congregation. As the pastor, I get the "backstage pass" into people's lives that others don't get. It is amazing to see God working in our family of faith.
6. This is probably too far down on the list, but I'm thankful for a God of grace and honesty. I love getting to be myself with God. I don't have to put on a front and pretend like all spiritual when I'm not. God knows my heart and there is no need to pretend with Him. This has also given me the desire to be myself before others as well. All  my life I've often been guilty of trying to put on a good front for people, trying to please them and make people think I was better than I really was. I still fall into the trap sometimes, but I feel like I'm getting more comfortable at being myself around others (even church folks).
7. This one will sound weird - trials. A part of me wants everything to go smoothly in my life all the time. I'm guilty of wanting the "easy" path, and I used to get really frustrated and even depressed when things didn't go according to plan, or when I found myself in difficult situations. I still struggle with my attitude, but I've come to realize how much God has grown through the trials and difficulties I have gone through. Yes, I would wish that I didn't have to go through any more of them, and yes, I'll get a little frustrated and discouraged from time to time. But I'm getting a little better at letting God have His way with me through the difficult times and trusting more in Him.

Lot's to be thankful for.

Mother's Day

    Happy Mother's Day! I was thankful to have my mom with me in worship today. Mom is 85 years and is remarkably sharp. She doesn't move around very well, and she doesn't hear very well anymore, but she always seems to be in good spirits. Mom is a woman of great faith. She was diligent to take us kids to church when I was growing up. She was the nursery director at Sharon Baptist church in Knoxville for a number of year. And she faithfully sang in the choir. Though I didn't always enjoy having to go to church as a kid, I look back on those times with fond memories now.
     I'm very thankful for my mom. I pray for her daily, and I seek to draw from her example, that I might be an example of faith to my kids as well. I hope all moms have an enjoyable and special Mother's Day today.