I feel called to be a pastor. One responsibility within that calling is the task to preach. I am to teach God’s Word in such a way as to inspire, convict, and train God’s people to grow in their faith. I am humbled to even think that anybody would even give me a moment of their time. But I am reminded that it is not my words that people come to hear, but God’s. So with that in mind, I invite you to listen to a few sermons that I’ve preached recently. Listen not for my eloquence (or lack thereof), but rather for God’s message to you.
First, Twelve
Posted on April 2nd, 2009 by Chris
I read Seth Godin’s blog from time to time. I started reading it when I was into web design. When I gave up web design for the sake of the gospel (I may post about this soon), I stopped reading all of the blogs that I read that had to do with web design. But there were a few blogs that I continued to read because I thought that their message was much broader than web development.
Today Seth posted about the power of an idea spreading by those who believe it. He suggests finding ten people who really love your product/idea/message, and investing in them so that they have the resources to then tell ten others each, and you will see how fast your message spreads.
I immediately thought of Jesus. He did not find ten, but twelve. He invested in them for three years. For three years they didn’t get it. But once Jesus rose from the dead, they got it. And they spread the message not to twelve each, but to hundreds if not thousands each.
Then I thought about our churches today. We often struggle to find one or two people willing to “give us a chance” by coming to church. Despite our churches being full of believers, very few are added each year. If we truly believe the message, and love it, we would be spreading it so fast and so passionately that people around us would want whatever it is that we are so excited about.
This resurrection season, think about what Christ did for you, and think about what you can do for Christ.
Pastoral Care Training
Posted on March 16th, 2009 by Chris
I’ve been taking some training in counseling and pastoral care this spring, in addition to taking my last course at seminary (which is also related to counseling). Since I feel God has called me to be a pastor, I think its pretty important to have a strong foundation in how to provide pastoral care. I’ve learned many things about myself, many things about people, many things about counseling models, and many things about the Bible.
But I think the most important thing that I’ve learned is that I still have many things to learn about all of these things. Prior to taking this training, I thought I had a better handling on these matters than I do. But I haven’t arrived yet. I am still learning and growing in this area, and I pray that I always will.
Why We Go to Church Every Single Week
Posted on March 2nd, 2009 by Abby
Our pastor today said that less than 9% of metro Louisville claim to be a Christian AND go to church on a regular basis. I don’t know where he got the statistic or how accurate it is but it got me thinking. Why don’t other people go to church regularly and why do I. So here are the reasons I am at church almost every single week.
1. I am weak, I have issues, I have problems, I need encouragement. People don’t get their lives in order and then go to church, they realize their lives are not in order and go to church for help. Church is a place where I get encouragement and biblical training so that I can recharge and go back to my daily life with hope and strength.
2. I believe God died for me and loves me. The more I think about how much God has done for me the more I see what a small sacrifice of my time and energy it is to go to church and worship him.
3. It’s like a family get together. The same reason that I get together with my family for birthday parties and holidays. Jesus said, “Who is my family? Those who do my will” Christians are a spiritual family and its good for us to get together and love on each other, encourage each other, and help each other. Just like we try to get together with our earthly families and love on each other and help each other.
The Bible tells followers of Jesus “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another” (Heb 10:25). If you are a follower of Jesus who is out of the habit of church (or maybe you never got in the habit), consider this a reminder RSVP card. You don’t need to have your life in order to attend church (you’ll quickly see that none of us regular attendees do either). God loves us more than we can comprehend and died on a cross for us; we need to put priority on going to his house to worship and thank him for all he has done for us. Your brothers and sisters in Jesus want to encourage you and we need you to come and encourage us.
Maybe you have always just considered Jesus a good person or teacher from history but that’s as far as your relationship with Jesus goes. There is so much more to it than that! There is a spiritual family that meets together at a local church near you and we would love to have you join in a personal relationship with Jesus and become part of the family!
No More 3rd Shift
Posted on February 16th, 2009 by Chris
We hear all the time about how the economy isn’t doing so hot. And it’s true. Though gas prices have fallen, it seems as though the price of everything else has skyrocketed. I heard that this is the worst recession since the Great Depression. I’ve talked with several people in the last few weeks who have gotten laid off because their employers needed to make cut backs. So why in the world would I quit my job? Several factors came together as reasons to leave my full-time employment at the boys’ home.
- I’m focusing on my studies. I only have one class left at seminary, and I’ll be graduating with my M.Div this May. I wanted to take the class that would be most beneficial to my future, and it is offered at a time that is not very compatible with my 3rd shift schedule.
- I’m taking additional counseling training. A huge part of being a pastor is counseling, so I want to be well-trained in all things related to counseling. This additional training takes place all day on Mondays, which would be very difficult to do while working 3rd shift.
- I’m serving more at my church. Part of my additional counseling training is being intentional about pastoral care. I’m looking for more opportunities to have meaningful conversations both at church and with unchurched friends. This is something that I ought to be doing all the time anyway, but my additional counseling training is forcing me to be more intentional about it.
- We’ve budgeted in such a way as to make this possible. I generally wouldn’t agree with someone quitting their job without another job already lined up, but we looked at our finances for this very carefully before making this choice, and we’re going to be okay. We’ll just have to pinch pennies a little tighter.
Some people probably think I’m crazy for quitting my job while the economy is the way it is. But God is taking care of us. We trust His provision, and know that He will always give us all that we need. We are praying, however, that He will lead me to a church in the next year to become their pastor.
Pure Religion
Posted on January 22nd, 2009 by Chris
I used to work 3rd shift at a boys’ home (last night was my last night…more on this in another post). When Abby and I moved to Louisville, we both needed jobs. We wanted to find jobs that were meaningful, where we could make a difference. The Bible often stresses the importance of looking after orphans, so we prayed about it and sought employment in that field.
It could often be quite emotional to work there. The boys have had some of the worst experiences imaginable, everything from neglect to abuse. Not only did I have to learn to cope with their pasts, but also with their present behaviors. Amist the constant defiance, offensive remarks, and fighting, tension can build extremely fast. At first, it was was quite difficult to bear.
After awhile, I became kind of desensitized to all of it. In a way, I had to force myself to do this, in order to cope. But from time to time, I still got a glimpse of the reality of the situation.
Often when I came in to work at midnight, the boys had their radios blasting very loudly while they slept. Before turning the radios down last night, I remembered why they do it. It gives them a bit of normalcy in spite of their chaotic lives. The music drowns out their parents’ raised voices, drowns out the gunshots down the street, and drowns out their own horrific memories.
I’m not saying it’s right, only that it’s the reality that thousands of boys grow up in. Being pro-life means more than being against abortion. It means caring for those who need someone to care for them. How can you, as James urges, “look after orphans…in their distress” (James 1:27)?
5 Things I Like About Each of the People I Live With.
Posted on January 12th, 2009 by Abby
Not necessarily the top 5 or anything like that, just the first few things that came to my mind.
Chris-
- He can get a room, no matter how much the kids (and I) have trashed it, looking pretty good in under 20 minutes
- He is a very involved Daddy with his little ones- playing with them, wiping their dirty hands clean, praying with them, and listening to them.
- He is a positive person and dwells on peoples’ strengths more than their weaknesses.
- He makes sure we get lots of pictures of our children as they grow up.
- He’s good at budgeting.
Amber-
- She asks me questions like “Did God put the paper in the fortune cookie?” and if I can wrap her up in her blanket “like a burrito.”
- Her laugh- it is one of the best laughs I have ever heard!
- She likes to practice memorizing Bible verses with me.
- Watching her write her “scribs” which is what she calls little tiny scribbles she does in rows like she is trying to write in cursive.
- Listening to her sing songs she makes up.
Corban-
- The way he smiles and gets excited when its time to get our coats on to go somewhere.
- The way he runs up and hugs Daddy’s leg whenever he comes home.
- He loves to eat hummus with me.
- Watching him play with Miss Ruby’s dog (his Sunday School teacher and our close friend who watches him often)
- He is a cuddle bug!
Foods Worth Trying
Posted on January 4th, 2009 by Abby
We eat some stuff in our home that I wouldn’t say are strange foods; you’ve probably heard of all of them even. But I’m guessing the average American family rarely if ever has these things in their diet.
Hummus: made mostly from mashed chickpeas. Its a great dip/spread. Tastes great on pita bread. Its very nutritious and often made with olive oil which is a good fat. My little boy absolutely loves this stuff. Which makes me happy since he is small for his age and sensitive to dairy. Its nice to have a healthy food that has some good fat in it that I can give him.
Smoothies: not your average smoothie either. We have a super-powered blender (vitamixer) that easily blends up chunks of frozen fruit into a smooth creamy treat. This is such an easy way to increase the amount of fruit and fiber in your diet. Chris’s favorite is frozen strawberries with a little OJ. The kids will drink “green” smoothies which at our house are usually made with frozen fruit, OJ, and some fresh kale. Kale is a very mild tasting but super healthy green veggie that blends into their smoothies wonderfully.
Cashew Macadamia Nut Butter: Mmmmm. This is a lot like peanut butter. I get it from Trader Joe’s when we’re visiting St. Louis. It’s made like the natural peanut butters, so no oil or sugar added. It is a great high protein, good fats, creamy treat. Makes a great dip for apples.
Freeze Dried Fruit and Veggies: Gerber recently started selling this as a toddler food. It makes a great toddler food because its not too messy and the fruit easily melts in your mouth. It also contains no added sugar or preservatives just plain fruit that has been freeze dried. Regular dried fruit is shriveled and chewy and hard for little toddlers to chew. Freeze dried is light, crunchy, and airy. Our favorites are freeze dried corn, strawberries, and peaches. Unfortunately, it is a little bit expensive when compared to buying fresh fruits and veggies. But if you buy it in large bulk tins online it is way way way cheaper than anything Gerber sells. Our favorite company to order from is Honeyville Grain. We have also ordered from Emergency Essentials as well. If you live in Louisville or St. Louis and are curious to try some freeze dried fruit or veggies just leave me a comment and I will try and get a sample of whatever it is we have a can of open at the time. (right now I have peas, corn, and bananas open). The only downside to this food is that we have to purchase it in big coffee can size amounts to get it at the best cost.
What kinds of unusual foods do you like to eat?
Parenting Children with Albinism
Posted on January 3rd, 2009 by Chris
When Abby and I first found out that our first child (Amber) had albinism, we were worried about what that would mean. Our minds feared the worst: that they would get burned every time they went out into the sun, that they wouldn’t be able to see across the room, that they’d be called “freaks” and laughed at because of their unusual appearance. After things settled down, though, we realized that it’s not that big of a deal. So when our second child (Corban) came along and we saw right away that he had albinism too, we were fine with it.
Everybody has something. We all have things we need to overcome or deal with. For our children, their albinism means that they’ll need to get the front row in class, put on lots of sunscreen, and maybe not drive when they’re older.
But there are also some positives. Having beautiful blond hair and blue eyes makes them stand out. People compliment their appearance all the time. When they’re older, their unique appearance will make them memorable, which may give them an advantage in whatever they decide to do. I’m not saying that having albinism is the key to success, but I am saying that having the right attitude about it can turn it into a positive rather than negative trait.
While writing this post, Abby asked me what I was doing, and I told her I was writing a post about parenting children with albinism. Without delay, she stated that it was simply “parenting up close.” That pretty much sums it up. We get a lot closer to them when we smile, we wave toys right in front of their eyes when we want them to play with them, and we make sure not to be too far from them at the playground (otherwise they may not find their way back to us!). Parenting children with albinism is pretty much the same as parenting children without albinism – only closer (and more sunscreen).
Raising Christian Children
Posted on December 31st, 2008 by Chris
I regularly watch videos made by atheists on youtube in order to understand their perspective more, and in order to challenge my own beliefs. If we’re honest with ourselves, we can learn from just about anyone. Every person has a unique experience which leads to their own unique outlook. I am often spurned to do more research into my own beliefs because of something I watched in one of these videos.
Recently, one of the videos I watched made the argument (and I’ve heard it before) that Christians indoctrinate their children with their own faith, causing them to be closed-minded and intolerant of other religious beliefs. He went on to explain how he raised his children to be free thinkers, not promoting any particular religion over another, and thus allowing his children to decide for themselves what religion, if any, they wanted to identify themselves with.
In some ways, he’s right. I teach my children what it means to be a Christian. I model my faith before them, and hope that they adopt it as their own. I do this because I think it is truth, and therefore important to put into practice, both for me and my children.
Although some parents would lie (or “fib”) to their children about minor things for various reasons, no good parent would purposely lie to their children about something major that would be life-altering. If Christianity is true, then I must raise my children to believe that it is true as well.
Concerning those who raise their children to be “free-thinkers,” they are in reality doing the same thing that I am. They are raising their children to adopt the same belief system that they have: that religion is either unimportant or even harmful and to be avoided.
My children will not become Christians simply because I am a Christian. I hope, however, that they will see my example and place their faith in Christ themselves. I can already see my daughter doing this to some extent, and pray that it will continue and increase in the years to come.