God is Perfect. Explain.

I am huge fan of Ravi Zacharias. For those of who do not know him, click here (www.rzim.org).

In a 2004 message on Creation and Post-Modernism, Zacharias shared with his audience a question presented on his doctoral examination. The first question, on a five-page questionnaire stated, “God is perfect. Explain.”

Zacharias commented to his wife that he was glad the professor allowed only enough space for a one paragraph answer. “That tiny space allowed me less room for doctrinal error,” he told her.

Zacharias’ answer was one sentence in length. He responded:

God is the only entity in existence, the reason for whose existence is in Himself; all other entities or quantities exist by virtue of something else and in that sense He alone is perfect, uncaused, infinite and an independent being in essence.

Before you give that statement only cursory attention, return and read it again.

Last night during WOW – Worship on Wednesday – at CrossPoint we studied Psalm 46, in particular Psalm 46:10, which reads, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth.”

During the message I presented two fundamental truths from the text:

Truth #1: God wants us to be still.

Truth #2: God wants us to know Him.

In discussing what it means to know God I said, “The biggest problem most of have with knowing God is that we do not know God.”

Do you know who God is? I am not talking about the God of your parents or the God of your own making. Neither am I talking about a white, middle class, Southern Baptist God who speaks English. Nor I am particularly referring to the God you learned about in Vacation Bible School or at summer camp. When I ask do you know who God is, I am talking about the God of the Bible, the God of the universe, the God who “alone is perfect, uncaused, infinite and an independent being in essence.”

Sometime today do what God wants all of us to do—be still (cease striving, cease hurrying) and know that He is God.

Faster World

This morning a Sprint radio commercial wanted to sell me a new phone plan. The advertiser asked, “Would you like to make your world a little bit faster.”

How does that sales pitch strike you?

When I heard the by-line I chuckled, out loud. “Faster world,” I responded, “I don’t need a faster world.”

(For those of you who do not know, I often talk back to my television and/or radio. And there is no need to tell me the people on the radio or television airwaves do not hear me. My family tells me that weekly. Responding verbally is a cathartic release for me. Now back to my blog.)

“I don’t need a faster world,” I thought out loud.

It was at that moment I turned off the radio and decided to return to my fast from the media. I only broke the fast this morning to hear if Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s homerun record. (That is different blog for another day).

After powering off my radio I started thinking if I don’t need a faster world, then what is it I really need.

Here are a few things I think I need instead of more speed in my life.

I need more CONSISTENCY.

I work on my consistency every day. Even though I never want to get in a rut, a consistent routine is good for me. I begin and end my days the same way. When I do that, what I live in between the beginning and the end is more consistent. I have found beginning my day with God and ending my day with God helps me live my day for the Lord.

I need more FAITH.

The one sentence about faith in the Bible I most identify with is the one the father of the demon-possessed boy made when he said to Jesus, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

When I say I need more faith, it is not that I do not already have faith. Sure, I believe. I just need more faith for the things that nag at me most.

I need to be more LOVING.

I like to think I am a loving individual. I trust my wife and kids know that I love them. I hope my family of faith knows that I love them. Yet sometimes, I do not act in a very loving way. I need to be more loving toward others.

I need more TIME.

Time is my greatest commodity. If I can find an extra hour here and a few minutes later in my day, I can get many more things accomplished. I have found by watching less television, I have more time. I crave more time. More time, I have noticed, helps me have more consistency, more faith, and to be more loving.

I would be curious to hear what you need MORE of. Let me know.

True Treasures

In my message Sunday morning we defined a “treasure” as anything that means everything to you. Thus, a treasure could be a collection of albums, a house, your income, a relationship, an automobile, a memory, a vacation, and so on.

Today I want you to continue to wrestle with what you treasure. In doing so, I want you to consider, once again, the five questions I posed toward the end of my message.

Ask yourself these questions, and I think you will know what you treasure most:

1. What occupies your thoughts when we have nothing else to do?
2. What is that you fret most?
3. Apart from your family and loved ones, what or whom do you dread most losing?
4. What are the things that you measure others by?
5. What is that you know you cannot be happy without?

When you finally get a grip on what really matters in life, you soon learn that the things on earth that matter most are not things.

Learning to Pray

I have been increasing my faithfulness to prayer lately. I attribute this increase in communication with my Father to several things.

First, preaching through the Sermon on the Mount challenges me to take the “righteous acts” of giving, praying and fasting more seriously.

Also, I have been reading much about prayer during my summer reading schedule. Hopefully this weekend I will conclude Philip Yancey’s new book Prayer: Does It Really Make a Difference (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2006). I strongly recommend the book for anyone wanting to learn more about prayer.

Additionally, I have been praying more because more of you are asking me to pray for you. I do not know why, but many more of you email me your concerns or mention them to me in the hallway on Sunday, asking me to pray for you. As a result, I spend more time in prayer each day than I have in a long time.

Another reason I find myself devoted more to prayer is simply because the more I pray, the more I want to pray or the more I realize I need to pray. When you pray long enough, you learn you cannot pray enough.

The Bible is replete with examples of people praying. A singular statement in Mark’s gospel helps me understand the importance of spending more time in prayer. Mark records,

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he (Jesus) departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
Mark 1:35-36

If Jesus made prayer a priority as the Son of the Living God and Savior of the World, then how much more should I make prayer a priority?

Perhaps the greatest reason why my prayer life has increased in time and intensity is due to my commitment to pray for the entire CrossPoint family a little each day of the week.

I made a commitment to pray for each of you by name last May. Sure, I have always prayed for CrossPoint in general terms, and only in specific terms when it felt necessary. However, after reading Mark Dever’s book The Deliberate Church (Wheaton, Illinois: CrossWay Books, 2005), I was convicted to pray for each of you by name.

The first week I prayed for you was wildly exhilarating. I was so charged by the experience I challenged our staff to do the same. By the fourth or fifth week, my prayer for you became a burden. For several weeks I struggled. The more I prayed for you, the bigger the burden would grow. At times the burden was debilitating. After realizing the burden was self-inflicted, I returned to amazing moments of intercession.

For those of you wondering how or what I pray, let me explain my last three or four prayer cycles. A prayer cycle is when I pray through the entire roll of names before I start back over, usually in the opposite direction.

As you know, I have an alphabetical listing of every CrossPoint member in my daily prayer journal. It usually takes me an average of 15 days to work through the 47-page list. That typically translates into praying for 25 – 30 people per day.

When I pray for you, I work on a particular theme throughout the cycle.

One of my favorite themes is to quietly call out your name before the Lord. I usually do not have a particular request. Sometimes when I do this the Lord will impress me with what to pray and sometimes He will not. Whichever the case I audibly call out your name, wait a moment, and if nothing comes to mind I move on.

Another theme I have recently worked through is what I call my “repent and believe” prayer. This is where I ask the Lord to call each CrossPointer I name to live a life marked by repentance and faith. I like that prayer because I see it being answered in such a dramatic way each week.

Another way I pray for you is by noting the needs I am aware by your name. Some of you are awaiting a new job. Others are awaiting the arrival of a new baby. Some are praying for the opportunity to have a new baby. Some are depressed. Others are going off to school. A few are battling a terminal disease. Whatever your need, I usually list it beside your name and ask the Lord to meet that specific need.

This week I am building my prayer for you based on a simple passage in Proverbs 15:33, which reads,

The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

All the rest of this week and the next, I will pray that passage over every CrossPointer who calls CrossPoint home. Can you imagine what will happen to a church when the people adhere to that simple sentence? Imagine what would happen if only the pastor would practice that kind of humility?

We might have revival. I think we are already having revival, what about you?

In closing I wanted you to let me know how I can pray for you. I consider it an honor to love this congregation and to shepherd it in faith and prayer.

Indoor Baptisms

I am so stoked about the baptism video provided below. The video last approximately 13 minutes, but if you are like me, you will watch every second with anticipation. This video epitomizes the existence of CrossPoint. We exist to bring glory to God by reaching JUST ONE MORE to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. The baptisms in this video represent a small portion of what God is doing through us.



Video courtesy of Ron NeSmith

Spread the word. God is doing great things through CrossPoint!

Humility Comes Before Honor

How many of you read this article (or one similar to it) surrounding Ruth Graham’s death? If not, this is an awesome story everyone should read:

NEW ORLEANS - Shortly before he died, convicted murderer Richard Liggett was asked to make two of the simple plywood coffins he meticulously crafted for fellow prisoners. Except the caskets would be for Billy and Ruth Graham.

"Humbled? He was honored, he was honored," said Burl Cain, warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary. "He told me, of everything that ever happened in his life, the most profound thing was to build this coffin for Billy Graham and his family."

Graham's son Franklin made the request after seeing the coffins on a visit to the Angola prison and being struck by their simplicity, according to a statement from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Ruth Graham was to be buried in one Sunday at a private ceremony at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C. She died Thursday at age 87 after a lengthy illness.

"I wish you could look in that casket because she's so beautiful," Billy Graham told mourners who gathered Saturday to remember his beloved wife. "She was a wonderful woman."

Sold for $215 each

The coffins are made of birch plywood and lined with a foam mattress pad covered with fabric. Brass handles are on the sides, while a cross adorns the top. The price: $215 each.

Liggett, who was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder, led a team of prisoners who built the coffins for the Graham family. He had found God in prison, Cain said.

"You would never think he'd be a prisoner. He wasn't all marked up," Cain said. "He just did a terrible thing, one time in New Orleans."

The prison has a Bible college and chapel near death row funded largely by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse.

Cain said many of its 5,108 prisoners are Christian and were spending the weekend "preaching and praying and remembering the Graham family."

But Liggett won't be among them: He died of cancer in March, nearly 31 years into his sentence. He was buried in one of the last coffins he built, Cain said.

While reading this story I was reminded of Proverbs 15:33, which says, “The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”

Ruth Graham was truly a humble woman. Billy Graham is equally humble himself. The church would be in much better shape today, if more pastors and parishioners took on the Graham mantle of humility.

Wouldn’t you like to know how many requests have been made to Angola Prison for similar caskets? I would love to be buried in something that simple, wouldn’t you?

Wow, what a story! Wow, what a woman (and man) of God!

CrossPointers Getting in Shape!

While on vacation I heard through my grapevine that members of Nathan Poe‘s Bible Study class—Real Life, Real Marriage—were planning to compete in the Trak Shak Retro 5K Run on Saturday, July 28. My sources also informed me the competitors wanted me to run in the race with them. Since I always look for an opportunity to run with people I love, I told them I would be there.

Ten CrossPointers competed in the race last Saturday evening. This is what we looked like before the gun sounded.

(Pictured left to right are: Shane St. John, Eric Hays, Lee Hooie, Les Smith, John Wiles, Nathan Poe, Ryan Whitley, Jessica Welch, Christy Harper, Brian Updike).

I am so proud of this group. I am particularly proud of Nathan Poe, the class leader. As of this week Nathan has lost 87 pounds in one year. He is 13 pounds away from his goal of 100! Can you believe that?

How did Nathan do it? He says it is a matter of eating the right foods, exercising and deciding in advance you are going to get in shape. That sounds like a good plan to me. I have asked Nathan to share his story with us after he reaches his goal.

Nathan’s group has a class goal that I really like. Real Life, Real Marriage wants to run one 5K a month for the remainder of the year. I like that goal. I also like it that other CrossPointers are beginning to catch the vision that physical training is of some value.

I have blogged about running numerous times. Many of you know my passion for running.

I am not a fast runner. For those of you who have run with me, you will readily testify that I run more like a rhinoceros than a gazelle. Yet I plod away, and each step I take is another step toward being in peak physical condition. I will never compete for the winner’s trophy in any race. However, I do not race against others. I always compete against myself.

For instance, this morning I competed against myself by running 5 miles with negative splits. Negative splits are when you run each succeeding mile faster than the previous one. Today I set out to run each mile 15 seconds faster than the last. When I hit mile five this morning, I beat my expected time by 6 seconds. Thus, I won!

I look at running two ways.

First, I see running as a MEANS TO AN END. The end for me is to stay in shape and physically fit. I like the result of running. I sleep better. I feel better. I have more energy. I am more effective when I am in shape because I feel like I am in a healthier position for the Lord to use me whenever, wherever or however He desires.

I also see running as AN END TO A MEANS. The process of running is just as good as the result of running. Many mornings I begin with the same mantra: Enjoy thyself! I enjoy running in the early morning hours. I get pleasure from being outside. Just the other day I decided to count the number of squirrels I encountered along the way. (By the way, Trussville may be on the brink of a squirrel pandemic. I counted 27 squirrels in less than an hour!).

In just a few months CrossPoint will host her sixth annual 5K and 1 mile Fun Run. Last year we had a breakout crowd participate. Additionally, through that run we raised enough money for the CrossPoint Foundation to donate a refrigerated truck to a homeless feeding ministry in the inner city of Birmingham. This year we expect another better-than-ever crowd as well as a record-setting money raising effort for our foundation.

On Saturday, October 27, I want to see YOU competing. I do not want you to compete against each other (unless you are one of the more competitive runners I know of) but against yourself for a new personal best. Who knows, one of you may be the next Nathan Poe and let this challenge make a dramatic difference in your life with regard to weight loss and better physical fitness.

We are thirteen weeks away from race day. Right now is the best time to start training. Watch in the weeks to come for a Walker’s Training Guide and a Runner’s Training Guide to this year’s event. We will post both on the home webpage, in my blog and in the worship guide.

In closing, here is a photo of the CrossPoint running team after the race. If you ask me, I think we all look rather refreshed considering how hot it was in Homewood last Saturday evening.