New Sermon Series Begins Sunday

July 3rd, 2008

This Sunday, I begin a new series of messages which will continue through the summer. The series is entitled Great Verses to Live By. The verses highlighted in this series are not necessarily the most popular verses. Most of them will never be found on posters and T-shirts. But they are verses “to live by,” verses that instruct us in wise and godly living.

The title of this Sunday’s message is “Numbering Our Days.” The verse is Psalm 90:12. Moses is the author of this Psalm, making it the oldest psalm in the Book of Psalms. Moses says that a heart of wisdom comes from numbering our days. But what does it mean to “number our days?”

Briefly, it means that our days are limited, so use them wisely. Don’t live as if you had an unlimited number of days available to you. Tomorrow isn’t even guaranteed to you.  So value every day as a precious gift from God.

Sunday, I’ll show you how you how you can “number your days,” and view every day as a gift from God.

Why I Became a Dallas Cowboys Fan

July 2nd, 2008

I’ve always loved to play football. Good old bone-jarring tackle football (and, no, we didn’t wear any protective equipment, even if we could afford it). Because I was fast, I usually played wide receiver. My job was to go deep on every play. Every play, I went for the touchdown.

So it should come as no surprise that I favor the passing game. Why run the football for 2-3 yards at a time when in one exciting pass play you can gain 30-40 yards? The deep pass not only fit my playing style, it fit my personality style which grew impatient with the slow, grind-it-out-on-the-ground style of playing football.

That’s why I became a Dallas Cowboys fan. In the ’70’s, the two leading powerhouse teams in the NFL were the Pittsburg Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys. They had two radically different styles of playing footbll. Pittsburg played smash mouth football, combining an impenetrable defense (the Steel Curtain) and a patient, grind-it-out running offense. Dallas. on the other hand, combined a swarming, blitzing defense (Doomsday Defense) with a dynamic, innovative, pass-oriented offense. It was a classic case of an irresistible force (Dallas’ offense) meeting an immovable object (Pittsburg’s defense).

Which team do you think I became enamored with? Pittsburg’s slow, patient, wait-for-the-other-team-to-make-mistakes style of play or Dallas’ aggresive, innovative, take-a-risk style of play? Dallas was, by far, the more exciting team to watch, and the odds-on-favorite to win the Super Bowl.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the coliseum: Pittsburg beat Dallas in the Super Bowl…again and again! The irresistible force of Dallas’ innovative and flashy offense utterly failed to move the immovable object of Pittsburg’s patient and solid defense. I was crushed.

But I learned a valuable lesson from that decade which I’ve applied to my ministry at MCC. Like Pittsburg, I’ve learned the importance of running the ball for 2-3 yards at a time, slowly and patiently advancing the kingdom of God. And occasionally, I get to throw one deep downfield in the hopes of making a big gain for Christ’s kingdom.

One thing that I’ve discovered, however, is that it takes a lot more faith to pass the ball than to run the ball. Passing the football is more difficult to execute, more dangerous to carry out, and there’s a greater risk of losing ground (sacked) or losing the ball (interception). But when God calls for a pass play, you step out in faith and let it go!

Our new building is a “Hail Mary” pass that went for a touchdown! There were many who tried to intercept the ball, but we managed to pull a David Tyree miracle catch and hold on to the ball. Then recently, we stepped out in faith and threw a deep pass in the hiring of a new youth pastor. Pass complete! Big gain! 

And this fall, we’ll be looking to go deep downfield again as we launch another faith-initiative: a new and different kind of service for the 18-30 age group. With all these pass plays, we’re starting to look more and more like Dallas!

But I know that effective ministry always comes down to patiently grinding out yardage 1-2 yards at a time And every once in awhile, you get the opportunity to gain big yards by throwing the deep pass. That was the formula that made Pittsburg the NFL team of the ’70’s.

And that seems like a pretty good formula for leading a church.

Humility is About Honest Self-Awareness

June 30th, 2008

“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

Only the humble receive grace. And since nothing can be accomplished in the Christian life apart from the grace of God, that makes humility the most important character quality we can possess. It’s the key that unlocks the door to the storehouse of God’s grace.

I’m always seeking to understand more fully what humility is, so that I can more fully appropriate God’s grace. Well, I just read an insightful passage by Erwin McManus that I want to share with you:

“Humility’s closest attribute is honesty. Humility doesn’t require us to be self-depreciating. Humility is not about having a low self-image or poor self-esteem. Humility is about self-awareness…The word humble comes from humus, which is simply translated “earth” or “dirt.” Humility is about coming to grips with our humanity. The Scriptures describe a proud person as one who is “puffed up.” Pride is a determination to be seen as bigger than we are. When we are humble, we are down to earth. No energy is wasted on pretention. A humble man can be taken at face value” (Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul).

With  a humble person, what you see is what you get. Humble people are free to be who they are, freely acknowledging their weaknesses and failures. They don’t feel the need to project an inflated image of who they are in order to impress others. There is a tremendous freedom in humility…and abounding grace.

 

And Even More Sayings

June 29th, 2008

Here are some more of my favorite sayings…

*  If you have problems, welcome to the human race; if you don’t have problems, check your pulse.

*  God is for you, not against you; He’s your Advocate, not your Adversary.

*  God rarely does it the way that we would do it, and He never does it according to our timetable.

*  We often confuse the spectacular for the supernatural.

*  God clothed His heart in flesh and gave it to us in the person of Jesus Christ (B. Manning).

*  To know the heart of God, you must have the heart of God. God shares His heart with those who share His heart.

*  Miserable Christians are a testimony to a miserly God.

*  The gifts of the Spirit without the fruit of the Spirit is not a work of the Spirit.

*  Life moves so fast, it takes all the running I can do just to stay in place.

*  Distractions come in necessary-looking packages.

This Coming Sunday

June 26th, 2008

This coming Sunday, I get a rare treat. I get to sit with the congregaation and listen to someone else teach. Our new youth pastor, Korey Mininger, will be  teaching the Word. Korey has recently moved from Maryland  with his wife Jen, and their four children, Zachary, Joseph, Justin and Karis.

Pastor Korey has been doing a great job with the youth. The youth group has been steadily growing, he’s made a number of positive changes, and there’s an atmosphere of excitement about what God is doing…all in just a few months.

Working with teens is Korey’s passion, but his past ministry involved ministering to young adults as well, and Korey is comfortable ministering to adults as well as youth. Teaching is one of Korey’s strengths, which is combined with a humble spirit that comes from the transforming work of God in his life.

I hope you’ll be sitting with me in the congregation this Sunday enjoying the teaching.

Work WITH God, Not FOR Him

June 25th, 2008

I often point out that it’s a lot easier to get in on what God’s doing than it is to get God to bless what I’m doing. God’s funny that way: He prefers to bless what He’s doing.

I used to spend a lot of energy trying to convince God that my plans, efforts, programs and strategies were worthy of His blessing. Surely, God was sitting up in heaven just waiting for resourceful people like myself to come up with clever plans and ideas for advancing the kingdom. After all, I was doing it for Him.

But for some unknown, and totally baffling, reason, God’s blessing was conspicuously missing on many of my ideas…some of which were sure-fire winners. No brainers! Here I was, working for God, and He wasn’t even helping. If it wasn’t for my stubborn persistance and hard work, nothing would have gotten done for God.

Somewhere between sheer physical exhaustion and a total nervous breakdown, it dawned on me that God is always working in the earth to accomplish His purposes. And God always blesses what HE is doing. If I found out what God was doing, and got in on what He was doing, I’d get in on the blessing of God. That simple revelation radically changed my approach to doing ministry!

Don’t get me wrong, I still work pretty hard. Ministry is not easy work. But it’s a lot easier to work WITH God, than it is to work FOR God…something to do with this thing called grace. In 2 Corinthians 6:1, it says, “And working together WITH Him, we urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain” (NASB).

Of course, Jesus understood long ago that the secret of effective ministry was getting in on what His Father was doing. “My father is always at his work to this very day,” said Jesus, “and I too am working.” Jesus always worked WITH His Father, not FOR Him.

Jesus contined on, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can only do what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:16, 19).

Maybe that is why Jesus never seemed flustered, flurried, hurried or worried. Working with His Father, He lived in the grace and blessing of His Father.

God doesn’t need people who work for Him; He wants people who share His heart, follow His vision and, in humble dependence, work together with Him.

 

He Said What?

June 22nd, 2008

It’s time for another installment of “Pastor Ed’s Sayings.”

Every good teacher seeks to impart a body of truth and knows that the key to learning is repetition. Good teachers know that repetition is the key to learning. Repetition is the key to learning (OK, point made).

If you say something enough times, it will eventually stick. If you can sum up key teachings in short, pithy sayings, they have an even greater chance of sticking. And they act like zip files that hold a wealth of insight.

So here are some of my favorite zip files…

  * WARNING: The Surgeon General has determined that relationships may be hazardous to your health.

  * Prayer reminds us of a higher power and points us to a greater purpose.

  * The greatest obstacle to faith is our tendency to rely on our own understanding, abilities and resources.

  * The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart.

  * God loves you unselfishly (without ulterior motives), unreservedly (without reservation), and unconditionally (without strings).

  * The blood of Christ has once-for-all, fully, finally, and forever forgiven our sins.

  * When you became part of the New Creation, you became part of the New Community.

  * There are no great people, just ordinary people committed to great causes.

  * The grass isn’t greener on the other side of the fence, it’s greener where you water it.

  * God uses the unlikely to accomplish the unthinkable in ways that are unpredictable.

 

Extravagant Generosity

June 21st, 2008

This upcoming Sunday, I’ll be concluding my series What a Good God, God Is!  In this series, I’ve been highlighting some of the key aspects of God’s goodness–His love, His grace, His faithfulness. This Sunday, I want to focus on another important aspect of God’s goodness–”God’s Extravagant Generosity.”

Have you ever thought about God’s generosity? His lavishly extravagant, scandalously wasteful, “doesn’t make sense” generosity? God is a God of unfathomable riches and unlimited resources. And one of His greatest joys is to give…extravagantly! He’s an “exceeding abundantly above and beyond all that we can ask or even imagine” kind of God!

We’re going to look not only at God’s unlimited provision, and God’s unbounded generosity, but also some of the things that limit God’s provision in our lives. The problem is not God’s unwillingness to pour out His riches, the problem is our inability to receive it. Find out how you can enlarge your capacity to receive God’s provision.

By the way, this Sunday is a special one for my family–my son Steven will be dedicating his daughter Leah to the Lord at oour 10:30 am service.

Hope to see you there!

A Personal Update

June 19th, 2008

There has been a number of changes in our family, so I thought I’d give an update on what’s happening.

My daughter Patti is still living in Jersey City and working in NYC at the National Center for Chilren in Poverty. She enjoys the work she does (research, evaluating childcare programs, policy-making, etc.), but she’s considering some possible changes as she looks to the future.

My daughter Nancy, and her husband Richard, have moved from Bloomfield to Franklin Lakes. They’re living in a beautiful garden apartment complex. We don’t see them as much during the week, but Janet’s thrilled that they have a pool in the complex. So maybe we will see them just as much as when they lived in Bloomfield.

My daughter Lori has transferred from Rutgers to Ramapo College. Lori plans to be an English teacher in secondary school, and Ramapo has an excellent program in education. Before atending Rutgers, Lori attended Rider for one year. Rider, Rutgers, Ramapo. It’s amazing how many colleges in NJ begin with the letter R. Lori insists, however, that she’s not planning to attend Rowan the following year.

And then there’s Steven (or, Sven, as his friends from Brookdale Baptist Church know him). Of course, the big change in his life is his beautiful daughter Leah. He celebrated his first Father’s Day last week. He’s really stepped up to be a devoted and loving father. He’s dedicating Leah to the Lord in a service of dedication this Sunday.

Oh, and he’s going on a 10-day missions trip to China in August.

Janet (Grammie) and I (Pop-Pop) are enjoying our grand-daughter, who is like a little ray of sunshine in our lives.

Senility Prayer

June 16th, 2008

You’ve heard of the Serenity Prayer, right? But have you heard of the Senility Prayer? Here it is:

“God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.”

There’s a prayer to try.