Next of Kenn

actions over words

2011-09-06T11:16:00.000-04:00

Someone said perception is reality. I offer you a variation, action is reality. Perception, more often than not, is a delusion.

I heard a guy say that his love for his children was so great that it surpassed everything else in his life. However, there was nothing too small in his professional life that did not outweigh some special event in his family's life. Their special game, their concerts, graduation, even illness. What he was doing was more important.

I've seen events absolutely ruined by someone whose words and emotions were nothing less than toxic waste.

I know this one fellow who is given to self-righteous rants and ramblings in spite of his own less than loving attitudes and thoughts. Ouch!

The observation is this: The ironic thing about selfishness is that for the selfish person every personal inconvenience seems like an extreme sacrifice. In other words if it is in fact your cookie, but I am under the delusion that it is mine, and I am forced to give it to you, as far as I know I am not being selfish I am being sacrificial martyr!

The selfish person will never see their selfishness for what it is because they see themselves as martyrs!

Heart check, if you always see yourself as the martyr; know that your actions and attitudes are killing everybody else!

Selfishness is blind and brutal. Ask Jesus to open your eyes.

Purposes, Pleasure, plans

2011-08-30T09:49:00.002-04:00

One of the things that I struggle with is the competition that exists between my plans and God's purposes. I struggle with trying to figure out how I can get God to bless my plans. After all, they're really great plans. They are kingdom plans! Plans that do a lot of good things and they would be a blessing to everyone. Plans for God to use me to make Him look great!
My play...I mean my prayer goes something like this. Oh Father, I commit myself to serving you and I commit right now to being a better boy than I have been because all I want is to be used by You for Your glory. Oh God, I want You to do this and do that...and if You do, I promise to stay humble and faithful... yada, yada, yada...

(It just occurred to me that one of the reasons God can hear all of our prayers at once is because much of what we call prayer is just us talking to ourselves...the real prayer lines are probably not all that busy...)

This past Sunday the sermon included Philippians 2:13" for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for bHis good pleasure."

(Hmmm...I wonder why Phil. 4:13 is so much more popular than 2:13?)

It struck me this morning that a great turning point in my life will be to make sure my motivation is to fulfill God's purpose and pleasure and not mine. My life should be a response of obedience because of Who He Is, what He has done, and all that brings Him pleasure. Not mine.

If God has given you a vision or a calling, do it! If you are day dreaming about what you would love to see God accomplish through your life, dream big!

But when it comes to the true intention of your heart, make sure it is for His Purpose, His Pleasure, and not yours.

wanted

2011-05-18T14:31:00.000-04:00

What, how, when, why, where, the way...I wanted. Just got off the phone where I had to tell someone no. Not! what they wanted to hear. And it was amazing at how quickly they started making me feel like I was wrong because I was not giving them what they wanted.

Which made me remember something; it is not evil to want something. If it's legal moral and appropriate it is not wrong to want something. So long as you understand that just because you want something, does not make it your right! Just because you want it does not give you the right to demand it.

Do you want something? Great! Good luck. Go for it. Ask for it if you have to. But just remember one thing. Wanting it does not entitle you to it. It does not make someone else wrong for not giving it to you. Don't let your desire become an ugly demand. Don't go all guilt-goddess on someone because your want is different than their want. If all it is a want, all wants are equal even if they are opposites.

And before you go all golden rule on me...just remember the golden rule is proactive not reactive. An attempt to enforce the golden rule is equal to breaking it.

Is that what you wanted?

for Him

2011-03-23T15:01:00.000-04:00

upon the stones I go stepping
to make my way along the path
hoping always to go higher
in the ways of truth and light
oh to meet my Lord and master
at the glory of his feet
to offer Him my journey
every day lived for Him

kenn hucks

I despise the Golden Rule.

2010-12-16T15:30:00.000-05:00

Seriously, what exactly makes it golden? Gold is shiny and relatively soft as far as metals go. It's very expensive, and an object of desire in most cultures. So how in the name of bullion did the golden rule get named the golden rule?

Cause let me tell you, it's not shiny and its not pretty! It's not relatively soft; it is exceptionally hard! I mean Chinese arithmetic hard! In fact the last thing on the planet I would call golden is the rule formerly mentioned as golden.

I think it should be called the "stinking impossible I can't stand it rule." Or the, "are you kidding me this is not possible rule!" Or the, "why don't you just cut out my guts and set me on fire rule!"

And on top of the fact that I don't want to keep the rule, there is an equally high probability that I'm not gonna get it in return if I do keep it. I mean it's like the more I try to keep the hardest rule in the world the less others have to!

Think about it, if I do for you what I wish you would do for me it is highly likely that will probably think I don't need you to do anything for me! And that stinks, right?

And listen, if I just keep on keeping the "Rule" I am gonna wind up worn out and wasted. And who knows if anyone will ever come along and treat me the way I want to be treated? Right? Not to mention it will probably cost me all of my gold. It should be called the gold-less rule for crying out loud!

But wait...that's what Jesus did. He came and He gave and He gave and He gave and He died. Sacrificed. Crucified. Despising the shame the Bible says.

And so the root of the root is this, Jesus said, "take up your cross and follow me." He said, "love others the way I love you." He said "my followers will obey Me."

So the question that haunts me is this, do I even try to live by the rule...do I try to keep the Rule in hopes of getting it kept toward me, or will I keep the Rule in order to please and obey Jesus?

A long time ago I learned that a "rule" is a measuring stick consisting of a strip of wood, metal or plastic with a straight edge that is used for drawing straight lines and measuring lengths.

And so with all of the above in mind, how do we measure up to the Rule?

Who's blind?

2010-10-20T11:20:00.001-04:00

There is a stretch of street I travel with growing frequency. Along that street are two large planters full of beautiful orange flowers. I know this because a blind girl showed them to me the other day.

I was stopped, against my will, at a traffic light the other day. As I sat there delusional that I was wasting my very valuable time I happened to notice two people stopped along the sidewalk.

They caught my glance because of the way they seemed to be entangling their hands, holding them nearly shoulder high. Suddenly they began to walk together up the street and with her white cane tapping ahead of her I realized that she was blind. It seemed her companion was holding her hand more in communion than in aid.

I sat in admiration at the bravery and will she possessed to be out and about in spite of her challenge.

And then, without warning she came to an abrupt halt and thrust her face into the flowers that filled a very large planter. She seemed to be enjoying smell of the flowers and the feeling as they caressed her face.

I was as much surprised by the presence of the flowers as I was her actions. I had never noticed the flowers before, but she did. She then just as abruptly pulled her face away and continued her journey only to repeat her actions as she came to the second planter. I had never noticed the second planter either.

As I sat and reflected on that scene this morning these thoughts came to me... to what am I more blind than the girl who could see, to what am I more deaf than the boy who cannot hear?

I want to be focused on where I'm going, but not at the expense of where I am. I want to find what I'm looking for but not at the expense of whom I see.

I am thankful to a blind girl who helped me see the flowers.

Bye Definition.

2010-10-19T09:26:00.000-04:00

It has occurred to me that one of the hardships of life is learning to live with how differently everyone defines the same words.

Some might remember the spectacle when a former president wanted to defend and define his use of the word, "is." And while we found that quite ridiculous we are all guilty of something very similar. Only what we do... may in fact be a whole lot worse.

My son Jonathan has been quietly demonstrating a reference for the word Love. He keeps correcting himself when he uses the word love when he realizes he should be using the word like or enjoy or appreciate. I want to learn to do that too.

The problem is that we use the word love with our own unique definition attached. The phrase, I love chocolate, is a great example. "I love chocolate" really means I love the pleasure and sensations and satisfaction I get from the taste of chocolate, the sweetness of the sugar with which it is mixed, the texture of it as it melts in my mouth, the smell of chocolate as it mingles with the other ingredients.

The phrase I love Chocolate really has nothing to do with how you feel about chocolate but everything to do with how chocolate makes you feel.

What about "I love you?" Could it be that when we use the words "I love you" the emphasis is actually on the "I" instead of the "you?"

Jesus lived out the words I love you in their purest and most powerful expression. For Him it was not about what He derived from us but what He wanted to give to us. He gave to us His holiness in everything He did. He gave Himself to others in every word, every action, and every miracle.

When Jesus used the word love He was not talking about how He felt, He was talking about what He was and what He was going to do for others, for us.

I am sure He enjoyed fish, and honey. I am really sure He liked figs! But He only loved His father and He loved us.

So the next time you tell someone you love them, make sure you are talking more about them than yourself. Make sure your actions are going to prove that you love them and not how they make you feel.

Make sure the phrase I love you means you are intent on making their life better, more beautiful, more holy, and more wonderful. Make sure you are not looking for some selfish feeling of importance that you can manipulate them into giving you. Make love about their security not yours. Make love about caring and compassion and actions not indulgence and consumption.

I have said many times, "I love Oreos"...but that means I like to drown them in milk and crush them with my teeth...you would not want to be my Oreo! And I don't want to be yours!

But I really do want to learn how to love others...do you?

small small world

2010-09-10T12:31:00.000-04:00

A friend sent this to me back in 2001...I just came across it while looking for something else...assuming it is accurate... I hope you take a moment to reflect on your world view and focus!

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100
people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look
something like the following:

There would be:

57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south
8 Africans

52 would be female
48 would be male

70 would be non-white
30 would be white

70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian

89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual

6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be
from the United States.

80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need
for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent.

The following points are also something else to ponder...

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...
you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of
imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation...
you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest,
torture, or death...
you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead
and a place to sleep...
you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish
someplace ...
you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married...
you are very rare.

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that
someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over
two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Someone once said: What goes around comes around.

Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like no-one's watching.
Sing like no-one's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

moon trance

2010-06-10T10:18:00.000-04:00

The silver moon makes its ride, across the velvet sky

And casts its magic spell, upon the rolling tide

Beneath its glow and silent draw its powers work their charm

the ocean full with depths unknown can't help but come along

So is the power of a woman’s love upon a poor man’s heart

with all the strength of his iron will her wooing he can’t stop

Ticked off

2010-05-25T10:03:00.002-04:00

Ever been ticked off: annoyed, bothered, offended? It happens. Big stuff little stuff by people we know or will never know. It almost seems inevitable that someone somewhere sometime is going to join you in a rubbing the wrong way match!

The truth is I have done it and I have had it done. It's no fun. Sometimes the sting lasts for a moment and sometimes we build a monument to it in our minds and make a really huge deal out of it!

One time, hundreds of thousands of seconds ago, I got into a tick match with someone. I said something they did not understand so they said something I didn't appreciate so I said something they did not appreciate and poof. It was over. Bridge burned, line cut, toilet flushed. I had done it. I let my fumble fingers create pixels formed into letters that were fatal. A friendship died, a relationship ended, an association dissed!

It left me wondering. Could the whole thing have been avoided? How and if can it be repaired?

It also got me thinking about ticks...the tick of a clock, a second. A tick mark, which is a small mark beside an item on a list. And of course there is the very small parasite. The point being they are all small.

It made me realize I want to be a person who has more time than a second, more space than an ink mark, and that is not so easily bugged.

What if we all became just a little less likely to strike a match, pull the plug, or press the lever. What if we were not so quick to jump to a conclusion that feels more like an amputation? Which is what follows the tick, the off.

So the next time you're down to your last tick, make sure you stop before the off.

The Setting Sun

2010-05-24T14:12:00.000-04:00

The setting sun calls to the colors
Like a mother to her young
come hide with me for the evening
and I will set you free with the dawn

k.i.hucks

deeper still the love of God

2010-04-21T16:16:00.000-04:00

deeper still the love of God
when I have reached my end
when the depth of hurt and harm
like an ocean raging

deeper still the love of God
as sorrow takes my breath
when death like an icy tide
wins the war we're waging

deeper still the love of God
when all my hope is gone
and like spilt water on the sand
is drunk with endless wanting

deeper still the love of God
no strength for holding on
caring not where I land
for there He will still be holding

k.i. hucks

Eternal Salvation

2010-03-25T14:42:00.000-04:00

It's stated in so many different ways...perseverance of the saints...once saved always saved...security of the believer. These are the three ways with which I am most familiar. It also seems to me that there are three people who obsess over this.

The first is the parent or grandparent of a rebellious child holding tenaciously to the hope that though their child is living on the road to hell, that the decision they made when they were eight years old is going to miraculously snatch them from the fires of hell at the very last moment.

The second is the person who believes their salvation is dependent upon their perceived ability to live right. They have an imaginary line drawn in their mind and as long as they don't cross the line, or cross it too far they will still go to heaven. For them grace means God grades on a curve.

The third person is someone who for whatever reason believes that arguing and presenting hypothetical situations of either extreme actually helps the people listening. It would seem that they are either interested in appearing to be spiritually superior or trying to rationalize their own sin.

One error in this discussion is that we often equate baptism and church membership with salvation instead of the life that continues in obedience and seeks to become more and more like Jesus as a part of the personal relationship they have with Him. However, the proof of one's salvation is not their recollection or record of the event in the past. The greatest evidence of salvation is not a memory of the experience but the demonstration of the effects!

The whole discussion reminds me of a faulty syllogism I remember from college. Many things are green, grass is green, therefore all green things are grass. Saved people make professions of faith, Billy made a profession of faith, and therefore Billy is saved. It is obvious that both conclusions are wrong.

However, the security of one's salvation is not a topic for hypothetical discussions or arguments. One's salvation is so precious that it should only be thought of and discussed in regard to the ongoing relationship that you have with Jesus Christ. Salvation is a sacred and holy connection between you and God. No thought need be given to what might constitute the failure of it, but rather only the efforts necessary in making it even more precious and apparent in your life.

No time should be given to debating how far a person can go before they lose their salvation. Rather prayer for Christ to win in their life regardless of their past confessions is what is demanded.

Here are what would seem to be the most basic tenets regarding the eternal nature of salvation.

Jesus gives eternal life.

ESV John 3:16 ¶ "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

ESV John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

In its most basic understanding Salvation is believing that Jesus Christ is the powerful and eternal provision made by God for humanity...from the thief on the Cross to you and me...faith in who and what Jesus did for us changes our eternity. He did an eternal work to provide eternal life for those who have an eternal need! Salvation... is... eternal life. By its very nature the work of salvation is eternal in its effects. Where there is no eternal effect there is no eternal salvation.

But they made a decision...

Jesus said the kingdom of God is like four soils. (Mark 4) Jesus gave us this as the clearest metaphor for of what is observed in life. The point seems to be that the lack of genuineness in someone's confession is not an indictment on the ability of God to save or keep saved. The genuineness of a person's decision is measured by the lasting effect of the gospel upon their life.

This parable is not about the one sowing: Jesus. It is not about the viability of the seed: the effectiveness of the gospel. It is about the condition of the heart and whether or not it is capable of sustaining lasting faith. Three of them do not and one of them does. The problem arises when we want to apply the literal germination-time- frame of seeds and the typical growing season of common grain to the complex mystery of faith in the mind (heart) of a human.

It might take four weeks, four months or forty years for the genuineness of someone's faith to be revealed. But the ability of someone to attend church on a regular basis and live within the moral frame work of the religious community does not equal faith or genuine salvation. Our freeze dried, micro waved, time-lapse photography perception of life skews our understanding of eternity and the Spiritual realm of God.

From God's perspective He sees our encounter with the gospel. He sees the genuineness of our response. And He sees the ultimate revelation of its authenticity all in one single frame. The confusion for us is our perception of time as it relates to our observations and not the true spiritual condition of an individual. The length of time someone is able to pretend does not negate the fact that they were pretending.

So what about sin?

We are saved from the penalty of our sin. On the cross Jesus took the penalty of our sin. I am trusting Jesus' death on the cross to be sufficient for all of my sin, past, present, and future.

The issue for a person who is abiding in Jesus Christ is not that they might sin too much but that they sin at all. Because of the deep confidence I have in the blood of Jesus to atone for my sin the question is not how much can I sin and still be saved but rather because I am saved how little can I sin.

Seriously, would you believe that someone loved you if their actions demonstrated that their only concern was to see just how much they could indulge themselves regardless of how much it would cost you?
Someone said it this way, "a believer lapses into sin and loathes it, a lost person leaps into sin and loves it."

The church member or person who confesses to be a Christian who goes off into sin and self-indulgence has not lost their salvation; they are demonstrating the faultiness of their confession and existence of their religious facade.

For the believer in Jesus Christ they should regret their sin, repent of their sin, seek to avoid sin, but never live in fear that the occurrence of sin in their life means they are no longer saved. The security of the believer is in their relationship with Jesus Christ and that He maintains their redemption as we reside in the relationship with Him.

Read these words again ESV John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. If you are experiencing this then the thought of losing it should be the furthest thing from your mind. If you are not experiencing this, you might not have anything to lose.

...decrease

2010-02-18T11:17:00.000-05:00

warning...graphic content...short fiction...about a real event.

"He must increase and I must decrease"...those words had felt so right, so brave, so true. But as John sat alone in the dark those words were now fading as quickly as the day light from the narrow gap at the bottom of his cell door.

John had been sitting in jail now for almost a year. All of those who had looked to him as a spiritual leader and mighty prophet had diminished to two, the same two that he had figured were the two most likely to walk away. While he was still free he was not sure if they were followers or stragglers. But now there they were, week after week speaking to him through that narrow space at the bottom of the door.

That space had become his only connection to the world outside. His food came through that space, light came in through that space, voices came through that narrow gap the width of the door.

The tiny cell was more than torture to a man who had lived most of his adult life in the desert with the sky the limit, the wind in his beard and the taste of honey in his mouth. His conscience now questioned his memory. "Was that him, was it all a dream, is this a nightmare?" You know what it's like to wake from a dream and not be quite sure if it was a dream or reality? John was not sure if he ever woke up or if he ever went to sleep, he just knew that either way the nightmare never ended.

These two disciples had been his last contact with the one who must increase. The little bit of hope Jesus' message had brought to John, was now of little consolation. Darkness takes a lot out of a man.

John had no idea if it was day or night when he heard the guards at the door. Had he dozed off for a moment or night? He did know that the light from the torch was brighter than he could remember it being. For an instant a memory flashed of him sitting by a fire and the flames dancing with the evening breeze and the feeling of contentment that a warm fire can bring.

That glimmer was quickly shattered by the guards as they reached in and drug John into the passage way. The guards let their disgust be known as they got a whiff of the disgusting odor that filled the cell and clung to John as he lie on the ground. The guards could hardly believe that the frail body and matted hair belonged to the mighty John the Baptizer. The men could feel the frail flesh and bone as they lifted him to his feet to make their trip out of the dungeon.

You probably have no idea the level of atrophy that can happen to a man trapped in a cell the size of small walk-in closet for almost a year.

Even disoriented and weak by his abrupt departure from his cell, John had no delusions about what was going on. He had imagined this moment. He had hoped for a little dignity. Early on he had dreamed of Jesus actually setting him free somehow. But he knew what was happening, deep down he always knew it would.

The last words John heard was the guard whispering into his ear, "Herodias said "to let you know this was the happiest night of her life." The last thing he heard was the sound of the knife coming out of its sheaf. The last think he felt was the cold steeled tearing at the flesh of his neck.

But no one can imagine what John experienced next.

Five Days in Bolimbar, Burkina Faso 2010

2010-01-18T10:13:00.000-05:00

Here is a very rough and sketchy account of the week...

Saturday...1:00pm local. We had been traveling for about forty eight hours with a 12 layover in Casablanca.

It was in the nineties and we were beat. We set up our tents and tried to rest a little...it was so hot we could not rest...we hung out until supper and when it finally got dark it cooled off enough for us to be able to get in our tents and rest...I was down for the count by eight o'clock...by God's grace it cooled off during the night. In fact it was chilly by sunrise on Sunday morning.

Sunday morning was beautiful. The service began around 9:00 and we had a great worship experience. I spoke in the service and God blessed the gospel. Some people responded.

After lunch we opened the clinic for a couple of hours to treat a few dozen people...it's a little like a trial run to see what happens and what needs tweaking.

I fully expected to be involved in Malaria treatment...I have a passion for it for obvious reasons. (In case you do not know I came back from Africa last January and became deathly ill with Malaria and or Dengue Fever.) After having raised so much money for treatments I just anticipated being involved in that part of the ministry... However, God had a different plan.

Quite by default I found myself in wound care with a couple of our ladies (Angela a nurse and Deanna a volunteer). All I know is that before I could come up with an excuse to get out of it I was holding the limbs of people with the most awful looking sores you can imagine. Almost everyone we treated had some kind of crater shaped sore. The sore descends through all the layers of skin into the flesh. They ranged in size from a pea to a couple of inches across. A few of them even larger.

The God-side of this is that I am usually very squeamish when comes to any kind of sore or wound.

So as I found myself serving in wound care I prayed daily for God to give me power to be strong and able to serve no matter what I saw. Believe me when I tell you He gave me strength because I am not comfortable posting the pictures of what I saw and helped treat.

We closed up shop around five Sunday afternoon and returned to our camp. Dinner was soon served and showers were had. When I say shower I really mean pour. Before we arrived they had built mud block shower stalls for us. Crude cement floors with mud brick and mortar walls. We used a large cup to dip water from a bucket and poured over our bodies as a means of washing. The biggest drawback was that if you leaned against the wall with a wet hand it came away dirty...so balance while pouring was a must.

Because of all the elements of our environment and circumstances most of us were ready for bed by around eight o'clock every night. I'm not sure I made it past 7:30 that first night.

We awoke Monday morning to a beautiful sunrise and temperatures somewhere around 65 degrees. Each morning we would meet at 7:30 for group devotions. The American team would offer a song of worship and then the African partners would offer one. Then a member of our team either American or African would share a devotional thought and then others would offer comments and insights. It was a great experience each morning.

Each morning my responsibilities include a morning message to those who gather at the clinic for the preaching service. Monday morning was hard. I thought I had a great introduction prepared only to find out that I had miss understood the interpreter about an illustration and started with something about which no one from the village had a clue...so in the midst of trying to recover it all went pretty flat. But when things go flat you just move on and we did.

That day we treated dozens of people both in the clinic and wound care. Did I mention I don't do blood and gore? Each wound had to be scrubbed so that it would bleed again and then we would apply an antiseptic of some kind and bandage it. I held feet and legs and hands and arms while Angela scraped. Deanna prepared bandages and supplies for the patient to take home with them to redress their wound.

We would work all morning. At mid-day we ate lunch and then redirected for a while. The girls engaged in ministry to the children in crafts and stories and I would assist in various other places or try to take pictures of what was going on around us.

Each afternoon we would treat wound until around 3:00. At which time the Sun would have reach a point that exposed us to the direct assault of the afternoon sun. We would then pick up the benches and supplies and move to the opposite side of the building. We did that each afternoon. There is one thing you cannot compete with and that is the Sun in the sub-Sahara climate of Burkina Faso.

Tuesday Morning was again Sunny and chilly...up at six, coffee and oatmeal, devotion at 7:30, service at 9:30...every morning between the time I woke up and the devotion time began a big decision had to made...what would the sermon be?

Each morning I was all ears trying to hear what God was saying to me. What experience of the moment or the day before would he call to mind?
Tuesday morning he brought to mind the shrinking moon that I had observed the night before and so talked about the brevity of life and that we had been called to do one thing and that was give glory and honor to God by confessing the Jesus was Lord... I read Hebrews 9:11-14 and shared three things...Jesus came from a greater place...He did a greater work...and that Jesus could do us a greater good.

The day before a woman who was wearing a fetish, a necklace that she thought would help her eyesight. I told them that even if the fetish did her good her eyes would still close in death and that then, only Jesus could help her. About a dozen people came forward in the invitation.

The rest of that day was treating sores and wounds and pain...as much as any where I have ever been or seen...these people live in pain.

Wednesday morning I talked about our wounds and read from Hebrews 2:1-4. I shared that we all start out with wounds that get progressively worse. That much of what we suffer is not the act of God or demon but simply the consequences of our own choices. The final point was that we have a healer in Jesus Christ...he can heal our heart wounds.

What made this morning special was that I did not have my strong partner and interpreter Patrice. Because we had lost our transportation out of the bush he had to go negotiate new arrangements...needless to say we were praying for him! However with him gone I had to rely upon a much less experienced translator. He was petrified with having to try and keep up with me...I was worried that he would struggle to such a point that there would be no continuity in my thoughts and his translation...so we prayed...everyone prayed. The word was shared, the invitation given and more people came forward that morning than any other morning... when we live in a place where the need is God sized...God fills the space!
Wednesday morning was the morning that we met Adia. She is between 6 and 8 years old. Somehow she had fallen into the fire and burned the back of both thighs. She lay silent and motionless while we treated her. We gave her liquid Motrin, a shot of antibiotics and used a syringe barrel to let her sip water from a cup. She was the most pitiful sight I have ever seen in person. She was the bravest little soul on the planet!

Thursday morning was the beginning of the last day. Again God gave me an opening illustration about that was perfect...Joshua had made friends with a little boy. The little boy wanted to do everything that Josh did...it was so cute...I used Philippians 2:9-11 to teach that we have been created to imitate God. I shared four things...We were created in the image of God...we were created to imitate God: lift Jesus above everything, we are called to bow and confess the Lordship of Jesus...my final call was to not see us as anything but that they should give glory to God for the good they had received. While I preached God put a young man in a red hat on my heart...I went to him after the service, shared the gospel and he prayed with me to confess Christ. When I saw him later you could see in his countenance that something had changed...it was amazing.

Well if you have seen the video blog the rest of trip is pretty lame...packing, traveling, getting lost in the capital city because our bus driver refused to go fast enough to keep up with the lead car...not to mention he spoke only French and none of us on the bus could speak French...it was hilarious! But obviously we made it back.

Well this has gone so much longer than I wanted it too, but how do you cover so much in so little space. Thanks for reading. Please keep us in your prayers.

m.m.x.

kenn

A Different Christmas Poem

2009-12-07T08:51:00.000-05:00

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear..
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always
remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.."
" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

your story...

2009-11-23T11:40:00.000-05:00

Moses, Joshua, David, Samson, Daniel, Jesus, Peter, Paul...how about Lottie Moon, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Joan of Arc, Martin Luther...you know all of these stories, some better than others. Besides the Bible and the place in history that they hold...do you know why you know their story? They were just ordinary humans, living for the most part very ordinary lives until one day they made a decision.

Their situations were very different, what they accomplished ranges to all aspects of human life. But the simple thing that made their life and story historical and memorable was that they made a sacrifice.

They looked beyond themselves, beyond their convenience and comfort and made a choice. They took action. They decided that the challenge was worth the personal cost.

In the story of your life where is the sacrifice? The sacrifice that costs you and benefits someone else? The sacrifice that does not want recognition or praise, but only the peace and satisfaction of knowing that your life made a difference, left a mark, changed the future of someone else. An effort that changes you. A sacrifice that leaves you with less, without, with pain. This Christmas and this coming new year...what will you do that costs you?

What will you sacrifice to give someone else's story a better ending?

I am Jesus.

2009-10-12T13:12:00.000-04:00

Now before you call the facility or my family…give me a minute.

As a husband, who am I to be to my wife? Jesus. As a friend who am I to be in the way I love you? Jesus. Who am I to be one with? Jesus. Where am I? In Jesus. Whose righteousness am I? Jesus’. Who am I alive in? Jesus. Whose body am I? Jesus.

If you have an electronic bible program or search tool, do a search using the phrase, “in Christ.” Read them all in the context of who we are.

Now, I do not think that I am the historical Jesus. I do not believe I am a reincarnation or a second coming or anything crazy, cultic or blasphemous. No Waco wacko here!

But it has occurred to me that the only way I will ever really be able to be Jesus to others is I have to start being Jesus to me!

Let me put it another way. You have landed the starring role of Jesus in the movie called your life! In this movie you are Jesus in your home. You are Jesus in your career. You are Jesus in traffic. You are Jesus in your church. Everywhere you go you are Jesus.

How about this one…with whom have you been crucified? According to Galatians 2:20 who exactly is supposed to be living in you? According to the divine transaction who exactly are you?

You can play word games and semantics and give me all the reasons why I am not Him. And when you are done…I will look you in the eye and tell you that I am Jesus. And if you know Him as Lord and Savior, so are you!

I am not to have any other goal or aspiration. I am to have no other identity. I am to have no other expression toward others than one simple thing…be Jesus.

To say that I am Jesus is not arrogance or narcissism. It is not a boasting or a psychotic delusion. It’s a humble confession. It’s the embracing of a call upon my life. It is an acceptance of all the N.T. teaches me about who I am and how I am to live. It is a goal, a determination, a desire.

Jesus is who the Father sees when He looks at me…Jesus is who the world needs to see when it looks at me…Jesus is who I should see when I look in the mirror.

Imagine how you would live your life if for a whole day you had to wear a T-shirt that had a simple statement on the front and back, I am Jesus Christ. Imagine living a day being Jesus to everyone you meet…regardless of how they treat you. Imagine being Jesus in every situation. Imagine loving those around you as Jesus does.

While you may still think I am wrong, crazy, heretical or whatever for saying I am Jesus, just so you will know, I am okay with that…as Jesus I have to be!

But with all the Bible says about the lost world around me…they don’t need me. They don’t need a better me. They need Jesus. And whose body am I? Whose hands am I? Whose voice am I? Whose will am I to fulfill?

I will just proclaim again with all the faith and courage and hope and desire and will and every other fiber of expression that is trembling within me, I am Jesus…who are you gonna be?

Spiritual Relativity: the purpose of life (2)

2009-09-24T15:40:00.000-04:00

20Sep09 Ephesians One

Last week we began this study entitled:
Spiritual Relativity: the purpose of life.
Our life has meaning only as it is relative to the purpose of God.

I used the idea that Einstein’s theory of relativity E=MC2 which helped the world discover nuclear power is an analogy that if we could unlock God’s purpose for our life we might discover an equally life changing power.

And so I am excited to unveil my equation for Spiritual Relativity.

P=HKC Purpose = His Kingdom Come

In every situation of our life our Purpose is to choose the action or attitude that demonstrates His Kingdom Come into our lives…

The Purpose of God and the purpose of life is to make what is a reality in the Eternal World a reality in the Earthly World.

Last week we talked about The Principles of Spiritual Relativity.

Principle #1 We live in a multi-dimensional world.

We concluded that the great conflict in which we all live is the struggle between the human purpose to make everything about us and the purpose of God which is to unite all things in him.

The conflict is between what we see in our mind and what God sees in His.

It occurred to me this week that there is in most people a great struggle between several versions of us that exist in our own mind and the version of us that exists in God’s mind.

There are so many versions of us… for example…

In our relationships
…husband…Dad…preacher…friend…

In our self awareness…

The version of us with all the dysfunctions created by our past wounds that we don’t want anyone to see…

The version we want to be and want others to see.

But the version I need to focus on is the version that God sees me as!

Which brings me to :

Principle #2 The way we exist in the mind of God.

This is the application of the equation

P=HKC [Purpose = His Kingdom Come]

In these verses Paul describes our existence in the mind of God…

READ VERSES 1-10

“In the heavenly places” means that there is a version of us that exists in the mind of God.

“In the heavenly places” we are God’s intentionally created object of His affection.
Instead of unwanted I am chosen

“In the heavenly places” we are holy and blameless.
Instead of wounded and disgusting I am holy

“In the heavenly places” we are predestined to be adopted…
Instead of alone and unwanted and aborted…I am adopted!

“In the Heavenly places” we are lavished with His grace to make up for all of our wounds and wickedness.
Instead of being eternally separated from God…nothing can separate me from the Love of God in Christ Jesus!

From eternity past God has had us in His mind and how He was going to love us and what he was going to do for us and what He wanted to accomplish in our lives and that is His purpose.
That is the power of Spiritual Relativity - P=HKC

The Ultimate question is have you by faith embraced the version that exists in the Heavenly places?

Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, Redeemer and Lord?

Which version of you is dominant in your life?

Are you ready to make it the purpose of your life to bring to earth what exists in the heavenly places?

Then get alone with God right now and invite Him to make real in your life the Purpose of His Kingdom Coming into your life!

13Sep09 Galatians 6 Gravity vs Healthy

2009-09-10T17:15:00.000-04:00

℗The World Health Organization…estimates that 2 billion (B) people will contract some type of H1N1/Swine Flu this year.

℗The Center for Disease Control here in the US estimates that there could be as many as 90,000 deaths this fall…more than double the 30-40,000 people who die each year from regular flu related illnesses.

The greatest defense against the disease is basic common sense hygiene i.e. wash your hands, avoid others who are sick, maintain good physical condition!

℗The best way to protect your health is to stay healthy!
(read Six)

℗Four gravity defying signs of Healthiness

℗1.We live in the Grace of Jesus…Him dying for your sin.

We must never get over or away from the Lord Jesus on the Cross for us! (Gravity will pull you away from the cross)

℗2.We live by Faith in Jesus…depending on Him like air.

We must consistently engage our dependence upon Christ. (Gravity will pull you toward independence)

℗3.We live with the Promise of Jesus…there really is someone on the other end of the rope.

We must never lose the mystery of our Faith.
(Gravity will pull you away from the idea of relationship)

℗4.We live through the Spirit’s power to love others more than self.

How are we touching the most frequent people in your life.
(Gravity will pull you toward carelessness )

℗The Very Practical Expression of Healthiness

℗1.How are we dealing with the needs of others?

Restore him in a spirit of gentleness...bearing one another’s burdens

Remember Grace is a Jesus dying on the cross for your sin!

Remember the only requirement of grace is to give it!

To whom do you offer less grace than you demand?

How you treat others is the genuine expression of your faith.

℗2.How are you doing on the test, “let each one test his
own work”

℗What role do you play in this ministry?

How are you trying to make a difference in the lives of others?
℗Are you trying to make a difference with your praying?

℗Are you trying to make a difference with your giving?

℗Are you trying to make a difference with your serving?

Based upon what you are sowing into this ministry what could you realistically expect to reap in the crisis of your life?

Based upon what you are sowing into the lives of those around you what can you expect to reap in the crisis of your life?

℗3.How would you describe the work of the Cross in your life?

℗ Is it lifting up Jesus in your life?

℗ Is it crucifying the selfishness that keeps you from living like Jesus?

℗ Is it crucifying the things of the world that have a hold on your life?

Seriously what really is the most important thing to you in your life?

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see it right now…

Notes for Sunday Morning 06Sep09

2009-09-04T14:55:00.000-04:00

If we had been in the upper room that night we would have heard Jesus speak these immortal words recorded here in Mark 14:22-25

℗And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

What did that mean to them as they sat and listened to Him?

℗The word covenant or testament first occurs in Genesis 6:18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

℗It is repeated again…Genesis 9:9&11 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;… "And I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth."

In a conversation with Abraham God makes a covenant to establish the Land of Palestine with him and his offspring…
℗ Genesis 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

From the city limits of Cairo to the Northern border of Syria!
From the Mediterranean coastal city of Haifa to Bagdad on the Euphrates!
And only under David and Solomon did it even begin to move in the direction of its potential…

Then God involves Moses in the Covenant to invite the people to join Him in claiming the relationship…
℗ Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;

God extends the covenant to a family and the sons of Noah in the context of protection from the judgment of the world…

He then extends the covenant to the sons of Abraham in a geographical context so that they would have a place to call their own and worship Him and bring blessing to the world.

Through Moses God redefines the Covenant in the context of a protection from judgment (The Passover) The possession of the Land of Canaan and victory over the inhabitants and a relationship with Him guided by the Ten Commandments.

And for 1400 years the nation of Israel staggered and stumbled through feast and famine, freedom and domination until the ultimate covenant was made.

And just like in all the covenants before it came down to a conversation between God and a man…in this situation it was Jesus and the Twelve…

℗For clarity sake, a covenant is a solemn agreement that is binding on all parties…

And the Covenant that Jesus was talking about was similar to the old covenants but yet eternally greater…
I have protection for you from the judgment…John 3:16

I have a place for you…John 14:3

I have a plan for you… I am the Vine you are the branches…
Love me with all you heart soul mind and Strength and love those around you the way I love you!

Here is what I want you to focus on this morning as we distribute symbols of the covenant…
℗ You are celebrating and reaffirming that you are in a covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ in relationship that will deliver you from judgment.

℗ You are celebrating and reaffirming that you because of this covenant you will spend eternity with Him.

℗ You are celebrating and reaffirming that you want and choose to live out the rest of your life loving Him with all your heart and loving others the way He loves you.

Notes for Wednesday Night September 2, 2009

2009-09-02T16:06:00.000-04:00

Proverbs_2

How many of you feel like you made a major mistake this week? Who is struggling with a major decision right now? Who feels like they are at a major cross road of life?
Who knows that you made a tiny decision that in time will be your undoing? Wisdom is what we need.

THE POSTURE FOR GAINING WISDOM. 1-5

Treasure
The idea is to hide that which is of great value so that it cannot be stolen.

How valuable is the wealth of God’s wisdom?

Do we seek to truly incorporate it into our lives or is it just for our passing interests?

Do I see the teaching of Scripture and the leading of the Spirit as the most valuable assets available to me?

Attentive
To position yourself so that your hearing is optimized.

To turn your head so that your good ear is toward what you want to hear.

To turn down or away from the distractions or conflicting sources.

Call out
James 4:2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.

Do we consistently ask for God’s guidance and wisdom?

Seek it.
This takes us back to treasure and do we see the will and wisdom of God as something valuable and that will enrich us?
Often we see the will of God as the right thing but maybe not truly the best thing.

THE PROMISES OF GAINING WISDOM. 6-11

Verse 6…either God is lying or we are not listening!

The promises:

He gives…its free!

He shields…He protects us

He guides…its accurate…He knows the right way!

He enlightens…you grow in intellect

He gives you discretion…insight and intuition

THE PURPOSE OF GAINING WISDOM. 12-22

To protect you from harm…

There are only two kinds of bad people out there:

Men and women!!!

We have two major areas of vulnerability:

The need for money

The need for love

We will make our biggest mistakes, our biggest failures, and face our biggest temptations in these two areas.

Think back to the biggest mistakes you have made…the majority of us will find it was in regard to one or the other.

We may not face a major challenge everyday…we may not face a major challenge every week or every month…but the devil knows how to tempt and trip humanity…with the two oldest tricks in the book!

Let’s decide to seek God and treasure His wisdom before we find ourselves living with regret.

Miles Away from Malaria...a ride for help!

2009-07-22T11:30:00.001-04:00

I am excited to announce that one month from today…August 22, I will seek to ride my bicycle 100 miles, from Conway SC to Charleston SC. This is a fitness goal and a faith goal.

I am calling the ride Miles Away from Malaria, a ride for help! My goal is to raise $5,000.00 dollars for Malaria Relief in Burkina Faso. Burkina is one of the poorest countries in the world. The people there suffer tremendously from Malaria.

In case you did not know I traveled to Burkina in January of this year. Upon my return I was diagnosed with Malaria. For four days I lived through the most terrible suffering I have ever known. The good news is I lived…a million people a year do not.

As I recovered I knew I had to do something to help the people who suffer the way I did. As I recovered and was able to ride my bicycle again I decided to try and do a century ride in celebration of my upcoming 50th birthday. I also determined to make it more than just a ride. I wanted it to be a ride for help…a ride to help people get away from Malaria.

Would you consider a donation to Miles Away from Malaria…a ride for help. All donations will go toward purchasing and shipping supplies for testing, treatment and prevention of Malaria. If you will please make your generous donation payable to:

Sardis Baptist Church, for: Malaria
3602 Unionville Indian Trail Rd W.
Indian Trail, NC 28079

Please forward this email to your as many people as possible.

Thank you in advance for your prayers and support!

The biggest day in History!

2009-05-12T11:01:00.001-04:00

Do you know what May 31st is?

Let’s see, the last day of May? Your anniversary? The 151st day of the year? It’s the fiftieth day past Easter? Bingo! Figured out where I am going yet?

Sunday May 31, 2009 is Pentecost Sunday. The biggest day in the celebration and practice of Christianity. Without it Christmas and Easter would not even exist. Seriously! Pentecost Sunday is the most important day of all the events of Christianity.

Were it not for the Day of Pentecost the story of Jesus would have disappeared like the story of Theudas. Who is Theudas…exactly.

It all builds upon the next…Christmas became significant because of Good Friday. Good Friday became significant because of Resurrection Sunday. Resurrection Sunday became significant because of Pentecost Sunday!

You want to know why we don’t celebrate it? Embarrassment! We are ashamed of it. Rather we are made ashamed by it! We are ashamed because we cannot speak in tongues. We are ashamed because we cannot heal, and cast out demons, and raise the dead.

We are ashamed because our lives are not marked by power and anointing and change! We are ashamed because the most Christian country in the world has legalized abortion. The most Christian country in the world cannot pray in public and will not pray in private. The most Christian country in the world is on the verge of embracing homosexuality as legitimate marriage. The most Christian country in the world is the most spiritually anemic country in the world.

Let’s face it, we can handle a baby in a manger, and a man on the cross, but enough wind and fire to change our lives and the world we live in is too much of a good thing!

After all how do you decorate a tree with tongues of fire? How do you make jewelry that looks like a roaring wind?

We refuse to celebrate it because the only way to celebrate Pentecost is by experiencing it and expressing it. Why would anyone want to celebrate their most glaring failure and shortcoming!

Christianity does not need more education, or elucidation, or indoctrination. We do not need more symbolism or relativism or modernism. We do not need more style or studies or shtick.

We need, as Jim Cymbala wrote about it is, ”fresh wind and fresh fire.” What every Christian and every church and every community in the country needs is “fresh power.”

Maybe we should stop worrying about whether or not we can put a manger in front of the court house or whether we should call it Easter holidays or Spring break. And start seeking God for the outpouring of His Spirit before the whole world goes to hell.

Happy Pentecost!

Square Root Day

2009-03-03T15:42:00.000-05:00

I am not a mathematician but I do love numbers… Today’s date is 03/03/09. 3 times 3 is 9. The square root of 9 is 3. So geeks and mathematicians are celebrating Square Root Day. I also like it when all of the numbers are the same…this year it will be September 9th, 09/09/09.

I like pi too. I love that no matter where you are or who you are or what language you speak, pi is always the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle; approximately equal to 3.1415926. It is a constant…even dare I say eternal.

Which brings me to our current financial crisis. The bottom line to all of it is that the numbers just did not add up. Through a series of confusing and convoluted calculations people were allowed to fulfill their greed at every level from the consumer to Wall Street financier. Madoff was not the only scam running on Wall Street!

Which brings me to another math equation…one plus one equals one. It’s called creation math. God revealed it when he created a man and a woman. He said the two shall become one flesh. In fact He took from the man and made the woman. Making it so the only way they could be whole or one again was to be with each other in marriage. A man and a man will not add up. A woman and a woman will not add up.

People who say that God created homosexuality and therefore approves of it are either liars or …nope there is nothing else…they are just liars! A lie is a lie no matter your means or end.

As far back at least as 1977 (Soap) the entertainment world has been trying to convince us that homosexuality is normal, acceptable, or right. Over the last couple of months two of my favorite T.V. shows have totally endorsed the idea. House a show about a jerk Dr. with a god complex reveals that a team member Dr. Hadley a.k.a. Thirteen is bisexual. Of course they showed very steamy bedroom scenes to arouse us. The show affirms that it should be seen as perfectly normal. Now she is living and having sex with one of the other male Doctors on the team which is equally morally reprehensible.

Then on Bones, another FOX show one of the regular characters reveals that she has a bisexual past that is revealed through conversation and of course a wet kiss, on camera. And of course the whole dialogue is about how no one should judge them or think that it is anything other than acceptable if not completely normal.

Well here is a news flash. It is not normal! It is wrong. It is sinful. It is promiscuity and sexual sin at nearly its pinnacle. (S&M is the pinnacle.) It is physiologically wrong, it is morally wrong, it is mathematically wrong.

One more…while watching a hilarious movie yesterday I was struck by a very odd occurrence. At one point in the movie they took God’s name in vain by connecting it to the word damn. They did not bleep it or hide it in anyway. However, a few minutes later they bleeped the word faggot when it was used to refer to the character who was being outed as a homosexual. Seriously, I don’t like the word faggot. It’s a slang word. Intelligent people do not need to use slang. But then do intelligent people need to take God’s name in vain?

I appreciate that they did not want to offend homosexuals by calling them faggots. But how and why was there no regard for God by taking His name in vain or for believers when it came to taking their God’s name in vain. It just does not add up.

It seems that it all comes back to a math problem. The world has forgotten that there is another eternal constant besides pi, its God! They have forgotten that the square root of every human problem is the individual and that they are in deep need of a new figure in their life, God! Who interestingly enough on this square root day, is revealed as the trinity…

Finally, when we are more worried about offending a sexual deviant than the Holy God, something does not add up. And unless something changes, America just might get what everybody keeps calling for when they drop the G.d. bomb!

The Long Run

2009-02-24T14:54:00.003-05:00

This is gonna be weird but stay with me… I love music, all kinds of music. So when I saw something yesterday about the highest grossing concert tours of 2008 it caught my attention.

Here is why…#13 Michael Buble. Basically he is a reincarnated Frank Sinatra. BTW Sinatra would be 94 years old today. #12 Trans-Siberian Orchestra, they are a cross between Beethoven and Boston. #9 was the Eagles they have been around about thirty years. # 7 was none other than Neil Diamond, he turned 68 this year. The #1 tour of 2008 was a band that has been touring for 25 years…none other than Bon Jovi!

Neil Diamond grossed over 80 million dollars. He sold out 61 shows with an average ticket price of $97.00 each! Bon Jovi grossed over 200 million!

Why did I tell you this? One little reason. The world does not need or want something new or different. They don’t need or really want cutting edge or what’s never been done before. They want true, tried, tested and pure! They want the best! They want it over and over. They want it no matter the cost. They want the real thing!

What if we as believers and the church stopped trying to be something new and different and cutting edge and started focusing on being true and tested and pure. What if in our everyday life we always tasted like 2000 year old living water. 2000 year old bread of heaven. 2000 year old Spirit-filled men and women who were always the same! What if no matter when, where or who found us, we were always simply Loving Jesus, Serving Others, Reaching the World.

What if we stopped trying to be hip and relevant and contemporary and started being genuine and real. Not dressed up or dressed down, just dressed in humility. What if we put on Jesus instead of a show? What if we just made sure we were no more in public than we are in private. What if we hid so much in the prayer closet that we had nothing to hide on stage?

In the long run only Jesus will be able to give that peaceful easy feeling to a world that has a heartache, tonight!

Oh by the way…the number one selling album of all time? A collection of songs recorded between 1971 and 1975 by some guys who call themselves…The Eagles. 29 million copies sold.

Wastin’ away in Malaria’ville

2009-02-03T15:00:00.000-05:00

At about 3:00 am Saturday Jan 24 I experienced the onset of Malaria. A recent trip to Burkina Faso Africa had exposed me to mosquitoes that were bearing the disease. And though I had been back for 12 days, the virus was still very active. The short story is that from that early morning onset of symptoms I did not find real relief until sometime Thursday morning. I faced high fever, intense body pain and headaches that responded best to ice packs on either side of my head. In short it was the most horrific experience of my life. I would wish it on no one.

And while I would gladly have never experienced it I must say with all honesty I am grateful. I am grateful that my son Jonathan who slept on the cot next to me in Africa has to date not shown any symptoms. If one of us had to have it, I am grateful it was me.

I am also grateful that I had the privilege of being treated by a great infectious disease Doctor and a fine staff of nurses who did everything in their power to help me seek relief. They were very patient with me when all their efforts seemed ineffective.

I am grateful for a wife and family who cared for me so tenderly. I am grateful for a family of faith, that extends farther than I can imagine, who prayed for me without ceasing. The difference between my condition Wednesday evening and Thursday morning January 29th is borderline miraculous.

I am grateful that I will never be the same. I have been given and incredible gift of understanding, like few can, what it means to millions of people around the world to suffer from Malaria.

While in Africa this year I had held the feeble fingers of a small child as we tested him for malaria. You could almost tell by looking at the child that they had the disease. We had treated adults who had traveled many miles on foot to the clinic. I look back now and remember how desperately ill I was as I traveled by car to the hospital and wonder how they ever made it to the clinic.

I am grateful that for the first time in my life I have a passion for something and for a people that is beyond the walls of a religious status quo. I have already been challenged to never go back to Africa. They argue that the danger to my health is all the reason I need. And my response is,” how can I possibly not go back.” How can I not go and try to help people find relief from a treatable disease of which I now know of the terrible affliction first hand.

Had I known then what I know now I would have spent every moment of every day trying to care more tenderly for those who had the disease. I would have done everything I could to check and treat every person I could.

I will not likely return before January of 2010. But when I do I will go back with a greater sense of focus and passion than ever before. I hope to be able to do more to be prepared than ever before. I want to give an insecticide treated mosquito net to as many mothers of young children as possible. I want to give as many families as we can some repellent for their homes. We will test and treat more people for Malaria than we ever have before. I will share the love of Jesus more passionately than I ever have before.

Thanks for your prayers. Thanks for your love. Pray for those who suffer right now from Malaria.

We the people

2009-01-20T16:17:00.000-05:00

As I watched the inauguration this morning I was intrigued by several things.

What was going through the mind of President Bush? Certainly it was a blend of thoughts and emotions. A sadness to be leaving a position that he must have loved more deeply than any of us can imagine. Not because of the power or the perks but for the love of his nation and we the people he called, “my fellow Americans.”

I am not a political pundit. I am ignorant of politics and the workings of partisan government influence. But I think I know a man when I see one. A real man. A man not of polish or pretense, but a man who cared more about doing the right thing than merely saying the right words. A real man who was willing to do the right thing regardless of how unpopular the decision.

Like you I was amused by the misspeaks and verbal gaffs uttered by the 43rd president. To say he was not a gifted speaker is to say that Gilligan was not a great sailor.

But when George W. Bush spoke in the National Cathedral following September 11, 2001 you knew he was speaking with genuine emotion, genuine grief and genuine resolve. When he spoke by executive order and appealed to the nation for support, as he called us to war against the terrorist that were harbored in Afghanistan and Iraq, what he lacked in eloquence he made up for in resolve and conviction.

History may judge my president poorly for the result and the recovery of Iraq. But a man cannot make a nation choose freedom and liberty and democracy, he can only give them a choice. And he gave them a choice.

My new president is gifted at speaking and demeanor. He is very intelligent and inspiring. But he like his predecessor, is faced with a great challenge that threatens the very fiber of our nation.

He is faced with a new enemy. The enemy is not foreign but domestic. Its weapons are not military but are monetary. Our new president has been given the great challenge of overcoming consumerism and greed.
President Obama must lead our nation beyond the intoxication of riches and the allusion of wealth without work. He must lead us to rise above selfishness and indulgence.

He as any president is charged with leading our great nation. If we are to prove we are a great nation then we must choose to follow. We will not all agree on every decision that he makes. But we must remember one man cannot make our nation great. He can only offer us a choice.

A choice to live within our means. The chance to choose to measure our wealth and our worth not by the mirage of Wall Street but by the true sweat of American ingenuity. Where people do a fair day’s work for a fair days wage to produce a product of which everyone can be proud.

President Obama is what every president before him has been. Just a man with great responsibility thrust upon him because he was willing to serve. We the people must choose to pray for him. Encourage him. Follow him as much and as far as we can. At best he will be able to lead and offer us a good choice…but we the people must make the choice.

Africa 2009

2009-01-19T13:42:00.003-05:00

Our 2009 journey to Africa began on Friday Morning Jan 2. We hit the road at 9:00 am. We flew out of Raleigh Airport to a connection at JFK in NY. From there we flew to Casablanca, Morocco. With a 12 hour layover we took in a tour of the city and made our next connection to Burkina Faso in West Africa. From the airport we traveled over 5 hours by bus to the mission house in Diabougou. By the time we went to bed that night we had been traveling for over 50 hours.

Our work week began Monday morning with a one hour ride to the village of Nakar. A small remote village without power or water. A village that has changed little in the last 500 years. It occurred to me that Jesus must have made his was into villages just like Nakar.

Each day began with a worship service and gospel sermon. Each day we saw adults from the village and surrounding villages make professions of faith. Following the service we would see patiences until 5:00 each afternoon and then make the one hour drive back to the mission house.

A typical visit to the clinic for one of the locals was an interview with a nurse with the aid of a translator. They would move from the interview to the Malaria testing station. With results in hand they would move on to an interview with a highly experienced nurse or with a Doctor. Following a visit with the Doctor the patient would move to the pharmacy bench where they would receive a worm treatment, a malaria treatment if necessary and other medicines as prescribed by the Doctor. Some of the most prescribed medicines were OTC pain reliever and antibiotics. Many patients went through a wound care area where major wounds were dressed and bandaged. Several severe wounds were treated. Broken leg, burns, lacerations, and the most abused feet on the planet were typical cases.

We saw patients for five days. Concluding the clinic on Friday afternoon by seeing nothing but infants and small high risk children. It was the toughest day of the week. So many sick and needy people and not enough time or resources to help them all.

Our return trip began early Saturday morning with a return trip of 5 hours back to the capital city of Ouagadougou. We took a short shopping trip for souvenirs and dinner before making our way back to the airport for a 3:00 am flight. We flew back to Casablanca and then on to JFK and back into RDU. Upon arrival in Raleigh we learned that none of our baggage had made the flight. I laid down in my bed at 1:00 Monday morning. The end of about 40 hours of travel.

A quick road trip to Dillon SC on Wednesday secured our luggage and we celebrated our trip with our congregation on Sunday night Jan 18 at Sardis.

On the trip we saw 439 people in the clinic. Treated 152 for Malaria and saw 94 people make professions of faith. I want to thank www.shatteringdarkness.org for planning the trip and for the whole team that went. I want to especially thank Frank and Kim Donohue, Rob and Angela Jackson, and my son Jonathan for being such great team mates.

I love you all. Kenn Hucks

Affective Humanism

2008-11-20T14:50:00.002-05:00

If I were to call you a humanist would you deny it? Would you want to fight about it?

A simple working definition of Humanism is someone who emphasizes a person's capacity for self-realization through reason; while rejecting religion and the supernatural…

According to the Humanist Manifesto of 1933 humanism regards the universe as self-existing and not created... man as a part of nature that has emerged as a result of a continuous process…and that the traditional dualism of mind and body must be rejected.

Now I would bet we have a hundred percent on the “I’m not a humanist list.”

But what if you are more affected by Humanism than you realize? What if while aiming and claiming to be a follower of Jesus Christ and a Christian in the purest sense, you were by action a humanist?

At any point in our lives either privately or in a church setting that we begin to operate in our own strength and our own abilities we become affective humanists.

When we fail to passionately pray for the power of God to be poured out in our lives we are being humanists. When we fail to realize that apart from Christ we can do nothing...we are in being humanist. When we reject the miraculous and the supernatural and the intervention of God we are being humanists.

Christianity has no greater enemy in all the world than Humanism. Humanism is the face and force of atheism. Atheism immediately gets the attention of everyone, but humanism sounds so, so human. And there in lies the danger.

When all we do and all we claim and all we expect is what humans can do, we are affective humanists. When we fail to throw ourselves upon the grace and mercy of God, we are humanists. When everything we design and do can be explained and accomplished by mere humans we are humanists in the purest sense. Whether it is by creed or deed, when we give no room for the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our ministries…we are nothing more and nothing less than Affective Humanists!

As believers we claim the Divine Creator reached down to man as the Suffering Redeemer in order to provide for each of us the Holy Indwelling. And we either choose to live our lives affected by Him or affected by humanism. Reject humanism expect a miracle!

a call to prayer

2008-11-05T09:18:00.000-05:00

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Abraham Lincoln, November 1863.

And here we are 145 years later and a man who then would have been nothing more than a possession is now able to become president of the United States of America.

For all the things that can be said to describe President Elect Obama, he is a man. Equal to and with all other men. Regardless of race, religion, or nationality he has taken the powerful words of Abraham Lincoln to their highest potential.

Regardless of your politics, prejudice or passion we are Americans.

If you are a part of my intended audience you are a Christian. You are a part of the most noble and honorable and compassionate people upon the face of the earth. You above all others understand that we are, under God all created equal. Because of our place at the foot of the cross and our position in the Lord Jesus Christ we all inhabit the highest and most lofty position possible.

It is in that place of high esteem and great expectation that I call upon you to engage in a great war, a war of prayer. Now more than ever we need to pray for Mr. Obama. He now holds the most difficult position in the world. And added to the pressure that comes with the office he now bears the burden of being the first black man to fill the position. He faces a level of expectation and criticism unlike any man before him.

We must pray for him with all of our hearts. Not that he will do the will and whim of a party or people. But that he will be able to hear the voice of God and yield to the Spirit that alone can turn the hearts of great men. We must pray for his safety, his health and his wisdom.

We must claim as our prayer the words of Lincoln, “that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Preparation not Prevention

2008-09-30T15:46:00.000-04:00

It occurred to me the other day that another one of the Porky-Jesus ideas that we have is the purpose of our quiet time.

Have you ever gotten up late or so tired that you decided that you were going to have to forgo your quiet-time? You heart was not set on evil; it was just set on sleepy. You had not decided to make a pact with the devil or align yourself with the “powers of darkness.” You just did not have a quiet time, this time. And off you go into the day.

And as the day unfolds or unravels as the case maybe, you decide after a flat-tire or a traffic jam, or a cup holder full of coffee that what has gone wrong with your day was the absence of a quiet time. You conclude that if you had taken time for a quiet time you would not have lost that document, or picked your hose, or whatever it was that prompted the contrition.

But as I got to thinking about that approach and thinking about passages like the spiritual armor passage in Ephesians…I was reminded that we do not have quiet times to prevent difficulties and challenges in our day. We have a quiet time to prepare us to respond and be like Jesus no matter what trick, trap or mishap we or the devil might spring in our life.

The quiet time is not to make my life easier, it is to make it easier for people to see Jesus instead of my flesh! Our quiet time is where we pick up our cross, or renew our crucifixion so that it is Jesus living in us that encounters the dung of life!

So, in the morning...when you have your quiet time…ask God for combat boots not silk slippers. Ask Him for a sword, not a butter knife. Ask Him for a fire proof shield not a parasol. Ask Him to help you smell like the Rose of Sharon, no matter how deep the manure gets!

Seven years ago today…9/11

2008-09-11T10:11:00.001-04:00

Its hard to imagine that seven years ago today at just about this exact moment (as I write) our world was changing. It would never be the same, for any of us.

For the thousands who lost their loved ones it will never be the same. The love, the loss, the pain, the fear, the anguish, the loneliness, the struggle, it all leaves a person changed.

After a couple of anxious phone calls that morning it became clear that what was happening was bigger than any of us knew. From our office we all drove around the block to my house so we could watch the live coverage. I will never forget seeing the tower begin its collapse behind Peter Jennings. He was focused on the camera and the report he was giving and for a couple of seconds we were seeing something that he wasn’t. It was one of the most horrible sights I have ever seen. Everyone in the room was devastated. The whole nation was thrust into mourning for months.

For a few weeks we all took things a little differently. Like Alan Jackson’s song says we hugged more and loved more and prayed more and appreciated more.

The tragedy is that here we are seven years later and for most of us it is completely forgotten. If you rarely or never fly then you don’t realize the extra security measures that are taken. For the vast majority of us it is business and politics as usual.

September Eleventh is a date and a number and synonym for tragedy. But what we have forgotten is that what made that day what it was, was people. It was people who flew the planes. It was people that died in the towers and in the Pentagon and in the field in Pennsylvania. We were shocked and horrified and tormented because of the loss of people.

However, the second tragedy of 9/11 is echoed every time we forget that the only thing in this world that really matters is people. We forget that the only thing that matters is people when we terrorize other people by driving recklessly and with rage. When we blow our horns and scream profanities at people who we perceive as being in our way!

We terrorize our families when we are unkind and ungrateful. When we criticize and accuse and mistreat them as if they were our debtors. We are nothing less than terrorists when our attitudes are self-serving and hateful and calloused.

Jesus taught us that if anger and hatred are in our hearts…it is as if our hands were already bloody!

Remember 9/11. Mourn the dead, remember the suffering, have a moment of silence. Then decide that you will make sure there is one less terrorist in the world. One less person driven by anger and animosity and rage. One less person who sees every other person as something in their way of self-importance. Let’s make sure that there is one less person in this world who is jealous and ungrateful and resentful. One less person like the hijackers and one more person who is more like Jesus!

May God bless the people in our country and our world.

PJ: Serve

2008-07-01T10:51:00.003-04:00

What an interesting word. If you are in a restaurant the word serve or service means how well the staff takes care of you. Are they prompt, courteous, attentive? Often a restaurant will succeed or fail as much upon the service they provide as the food they “serve.” Mediocre food that is served well can be very satisfying while a great meal can be ruined by bad service.

Take the word serve into tennis or volleyball and you have a whole new meaning. When one tennis player rears back and hits the ball as hard as they can at the other player, it’s called serving. However they do so with every intention of causing the opponent to either miss the ball completely or otherwise fail to return the ball properly. In this instance the word serve really means self-serving. I doubt very seriously that Venus Williams’ opponent was all that pleased to be served a tennis ball at 127 mph, a new record at Wimbledon for a woman. I don’t even want to think about how silly I would look trying to return a serve like that.

But what does the word serve look like in ministry. Is it the effort and intention to provide something for someone else? For many it is truly about putting others above and better than themselves. That is what Jesus did and that is what He calls us to. But sometimes like out of date milk, service can go bad. Really bad!

In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul had to call a few folks out because as they served the Lord’s Supper it became all about their appetites and their indulgences and bore no resemblance to actually serving others…which is the clearest reminder in the experience…Jesus sacrificed everything to serve his body and blood to us!

Serving can become a guise for control and selfishness. Someone can say they want to serve in a certain area or position but the service has nothing to do with what they provide to others, but rather it is all about what they gain, feel, or can influence.

However, make no mistake. It is just about impossible to serve and not get something out of it. Every time you try to lift someone else up or seek to be a blessing to another you will get blessed. Short of experiencing extreme physical pain or personal loss, it is often difficult to not be more blessed by your own act of service than the one you were intending to bless. Which brings us to the crucial word in all of our acts of service, our intentions. It is the heart.

If a person has the heart of a true servant then their service will be selfless and deeply satisfying. If they are seeking to serve their own agenda and aggression, then it will be quite likely that they will end up serving in a way that is not really meant for the good of the recipient. And don't think about asking them to not serve or to serve in a new area.

Just for the record, whenever anger is your first response, you can bet there is no servant's heart.

Isn’t it odd that in tennis a powerful serve results in love for the opponent? And only in tennis does the word serve not mean servant hood and love really means zero. Now that is some serious porky-jesus. How’s your serve?

Porky Jesus: Comforter

2008-06-03T11:50:00.001-04:00

“Let’s get comfortable.” Isn’t that great thing? Oversized Tee shirt, loose shorts, perfect temperature, favorite show, and something to eat! That is comfortable. Being with people you know in a familiar place, no pressure, that’s comfortable.

How about this, a soft bed, a warm comforter, a full attack of the sandman and no schedule, let the sleeping begin. Sign me up! Oh hallelujah that Jesus said He will “give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever!” Wow! God wants us to be warm and cozy and comfortable! He has even dispatched the third person of the Trinity to make us comfortable! As a buddy of mine used to say, “Prob-lee!”

There is as much difference between Comforter and Comfortable as there is between Portuguese and Porky-Jesus! Jesus did not promise the Holy Spirit aka Comforter in the KJV to make us comfortable! He sent the Comforter, parakletos in the Greek language which means called along side; to come to our aid as we struggle and suffer through life. The fact is that if we are not out of our comfort zone and struggling and even suffering for Jesus, we do not need the “Comforter.” If we do not need the Holy Spirit, He will not be evident in our life.

A sail boat does not need the wind to sit moored in the harbor. It needs the wind when its sails are unfurled and its anchor is stowed and the rudder is set upon a course. We do not need the Holy Spirit or the Comforter unless we have willfully placed ourselves amid the fight and the fury of obedience in this sin-bent world.

Its seems that so many in the church believe that God has called and promised us, that if we will follow Jesus, we will be comfortable. Read the promises of many books and sermons and you would think that Jesus is the ramp to easy street. And yet nothing could be farther from the truth. Follow Jesus and you will need a Comforter, you will need someone called alongside to help. Because you will struggle and strain and feel like giving up. You will hurt and feel alone and be unsure. You could find yourself in prison or beaten or dying. You can find yourself abandoned, betrayed, and used.

What about the slap on the other cheek was going to feel better than the first one? What part of that second mile was going to be easier than the first? Just exactly how much fun was it suppose to be to keep loving those who spitefully use you? Jesus never said nor even hinted that the path of obedience was going to be comfortable. He taught us that it was going to be so challenging and so demanding that the only way we would ever make it is if we had someone to come alongside and help us press on.

However, if your Christian experience is quiet and comfortable and as easy as sitting on a padded pew or a personal Sunday School chair…you might want to double check something. If the path you are on is broad and crowded and relatively unchallenged…you might want to take a moment.

But if you feel like a piñata at Albert Pujols’ birthday party…or if following Jesus is making you pray harder and longer than you ever have before. If obedience is giving you a serious need for some comforting…congratulations! You must be following Jesus. After all He promised a Comforter for the conflict…not to make you comfortable.

Porky Jesus / No idles before me

2008-05-14T11:11:00.001-04:00

At the heart of our relationship with God, is the prohibition against Idols. Idols are manmade images that serve as the focus of worship and surrender. For most of us, we do not have a real issue with idols.

Through the decades some have tried to make a case that the things in our lives are or can become an idol. But I seriously doubt that any of you worship your car or T.V. or pet or anything else at the level that would offend God. For most if not all of us, these objects in our lives are not idols. They are merely indulgences and distractions. I am pretty sure there is no one reading this, who on a daily or weekly basis, spends anytime adoring a piece of metal or plastic that has electronic parts or a pet or a human partner for that matter.

The only idol that any of us come close to worshiping is ourselves. The only thing in the world that gives God a run for His money, is us. There is nothing in the world that can cause me to act in direct rebellion against God faster than me.

But even the idol factor is not the most damaging thing in the world. The most damaging and heretical thing in all the world is the idle factor. Far too many of us are idle…inactive, ineffective.

The Puerto Principle or as it is more commonly called the 80/20 rule, is what is destroying the fabric of our churches and our culture. The fact that 80% of the work and 80% of the funds come from only 20% of those in the fellowship is fatal. Literally! It is fatal. The influence and effect of the church upon America and the world is dead. The church is no different from the world and the world is spinning out of control and it is all due to the fact that the majority of the church is idle!

What if your heart was working at only 20%; or your lungs or kidneys or liver? You would be home bound and bed ridden if not hospitalized.

The church suffers from the fact that we are idle before God! We are branches without fruit, clouds without rain. We are a church of tares and not wheat.

God is calling the body of Christ to awaken, arise and function. The gates of hell cannot stand against the body of Christ if it is functioning in all of His power and glory. But if we are as a quadriplegic with only 20% of our body functioning, hell laughs at us instead of trembles.

The two great commands do not challenge whether or not we are focused on a figurine. To Love Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbors the way Jesus loves us, is a call to not be idle. It is a call to live, love and light this dark world in everything we do…and it is certainly a call to not be idle!

Don’t be an idle worshipper…do something. Bear fruit for the glory of God. kh

Porky-jesus/ Membership

2008-05-06T10:52:00.002-04:00

Do you remember the Member’s Only jackets of the Eighties? They had the cool stand up collar and the epaulets or shoulder straps. They were the bomb! They came in a small variety of colors. There was even a leather version. But the mystique was “members only.” They also had a marketing tag line, “when you put it on, something happens.”

The reality of course was that “Member’s Only” was a brand name not an identification for the person wearing it. Wearing the jacket did not make you a member of anything. The only thing it made, was profit for the retailer and the manufacturer. The jackets, like my silk shirts and very large bell-bottomed pants have, by the grace of God, gone out of style.

It is my opinion that the jackets were so successful not because they were so fashionably impressive, but because people loved the idea of membership. Give people the idea that having a membership is something that makes them better than someone else, or entitles them to something that otherwise they could not receive and they will line up. Sam’s, Costco, J.B.’s and others are cashing in on that idea!

I have in my pocket a card that says I am a Sam’s club member. I also have a Costco membership; it is great to be king! However, I do not carry any responsibility for either of those companies. I do not go in and ask how I can help. I do not clean windows or pick up trash or offer customers assistance. I am a member for my consumption. Sadly, that mindset is a part of the church culture.

For most, we see membership as something that makes us special, that gives us entitlements, that gives us power. Because I am a member I have a voice, I have a vote, I have rights! But that is a far cry from what Jesus had in mind.

The word member appears in Scripture as a translation of two different words. One means a place on the council, the other a limb or part of a human body. Guess which one is always used regarding members of the body of Christ? You guessed it. In the context of a believer it is always as a functioning part of the body. Church membership as we know it today in the local church has no Scriptural basis. It is a tradition that began prior to the Reformation and is a legal stipulation if not a hijacking of the imagery of the Book of Life.

We are not called to be members of a ruling body! We are called to be the arms,legs, feet, hands, ears, eyes and mouth of the body of Christ. There are no rights. There are responsibilities. My legs have no rights. They have a responsibility to remain attached and subservient to every other part of my body. They are to enjoy the benefit of being a functioning part of my body, enjoying the benefits of all the others parts doing their share. Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.

Until the local church realizes that it is the body of Christ and not a political or social organization we will fail to change our world. It is time that we abandoned the stockholder with rights and privileges mentality. It is time for believers to embrace the fact that we are to be parts that are responsible to the whole body. That we have the responsibility to do the right thing for the right reasons and that slaves and servants have no rights!

The next time you want to demand your rights and your voice in the church business meeting remember this; If Jesus had put His crucifixion to a vote, His very own disciples would have voted down their only chance of missing hell.

The world is waiting to see a local church whose members embrace their responsibilities instead of expecting their rights. Are you a member?

Porky-jesus: Go-spiel

2008-05-01T10:01:00.003-04:00

I am sure you have gotten them, the email identifying Barak Obama as the Anti-Christ. The one I received stated that the Scriptures revealed that the antichrist would be a Muslim in his mid-forties. Not real sure where in Scripture it says that, but the email said it did. And then there is Oprah, who according to the multiple emails I have received, is starting her own religion.

I remember when Ronald Regan was the anti-Christ. Then it was Mikhail Gorbachev. Then of course Russia was the force to be feared as the army of the Tribulation and Armageddon. Then the Gulf War came and the books came pouring out about how it was the build up to Armageddon. I am pretty sure Jesus has missed His second coming at least a couple of times. I don’t know why He keeps putting it off. But according to some very reliable Christian authors He apparently is not paying very close attention.

The modern church reminds me a lot of our little dog Elvis. If a bird landed in our backyard Elvis would get “all shook up.” If a dog came into our backyard Elvis was more than ready to bark a chorus of “you ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog!” I have seen his “temperature rising” over every little thing that came along. Seriously, we had a dog named Elvis!

The church is the same way. We get so worked up over the latest current event. I remember when the judgment of God was coming because of a movie “The Last Temptation of Christ.” Then Harry Potter was going to lead all of our children into witchcraft. Then there was of course the dreaded Di Vinci Code. Dan Brown should send a tithe to the churches in his area for what the church did for his book sales. And I guess we have not yet seen the fallout from “The Golden Compass.”

If I can go totally anthropomorphic for a moment…the Trinity must be rolling Their eyes at all that we get worked up about. I am pretty sure that the Kingdom of God is not worried about the scribbling of a few mortal authors. I am also convinced that God does not breathe a sigh of relief when someone steps us to confront the latest heresy just before the church caves in and all is lost.

I am very confident that when Jesus said the “gates of Hell shall not prevail” He was not overlooking the publishing industry or the next Johnny or Jane-come-lately. Maybe we would do well to heed Gamaliel’s advice, “keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is from men it will come to nothing” (Acts 5:38 NKJV)

Am I suggesting that we do nothing in the face of pointed and powerful attacks against the Gospel? No, I am just saying let’s don’t replace the Gospel with the Go-spiel. The word “spiel” means “plausible superficial talk.” The church is spending way too much time and money on the plausible superficial talk instead of the Gospel, the good news. We are not to try and drown out the world with more of man’s words. We are to turn up the volume and clarify the Gospel. Instead of writing books and Bible studies about the Di Vinci Code let’s prove that the Gospel is true, that Jesus saves and that nothing can stop us if we are following God. We need not fear the New York Times best seller list! The number one selling book of all time is the Bible, more than six billion. The next one on the list has sold less than one billion.

It is time for the church to start reading the greatest book every written and start living it loud and clear in our culture. The darkness is powerless; it merely exists in the absence of light. It is time we started loving, living and sharing the gospel in our daily lives. It is time we stopped being little barking dogs of the go-spiel. We must choose to live the light of the gospel so brightly and beautifully that the darkness never has a chance.

So the next time you feel compelled to send an email or write a Bible study or preach a sermon about the wickedness of the latest publication or celebrity, take a moment. Clear your head. Say a prayer and go be Jesus to somebody. Remember we have been called to preach the good news of the Gospel, not go-spiel.

Porkyjesus: Normandy Christianity

2008-04-22T11:15:00.002-04:00

If you have not seen the opening scene from the film, “Saving Private Ryan” then you have missed what many call the most realistic reenactment of the WWII event of the American forces landing at Normandy, France. While I am on a reel I will refer to one more movie: Braveheart. If you are a man and have not seen Braveheart you need to. One of my favorite scenes is when the sword of William Wallace the main character is thrown high into the air and it lands point down in the ground as a symbol that the tyranny ends “here and now.”
You can see the clip at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGt2SoTPc2k

It is my deep conviction that for an extremely long time we have allowed painters and holiday card makers to focus our attention on the wrong image. In fact most of what we see going on in Christendom is as weak and worthless as a manger scene. Yes I said it, as worthless as a manger scene. You would think that the coming of Jesus had more to do with livestock than it does with Redemption. Christmas is not about a baby in a hay box. It’s about the King of Glory launching his attack under the cover of humanity, poverty and obscurity.

Christmas is about the Son of God putting on the uniform of flesh to wage war against sin death hell and the grave. Christmas was Jesus landing at Normandy to take on the evil power that had taken over the world. The truth is that Jesus was born in a cow stall because the devil was so in charge of the Temple and the country that Jesus had to mount His attack on the fringe of Bethlehem. The reason the whole world can embrace the celebration of Christmas is because we have allowed the real meaning and message of Christmas to be diluted, polluted and commercialized. Face it, babies, mangers and gifts, sell. The war against the dark powers of hell is reserved for Halloween!

When Jesus landed in Bethlehem a war started. A war that saw the murder of thousands of babies in an attempt to kill the Christ Child. Not many Christmas cards with “Rachel weeping for her children” is there? Christmas is about a Warrior King who against all odds mounted a one man war against the power of Rome and the power of Hell at a “Beach” called Bethlehem.

Easter is no different. We have surrendered the celebration of the greatest battle of History to become about eggs, bunnies and candy. The Cross was Jesus jamming His cross into the ground like a Braveheart sword and declaring to the world and to the king of this dark world that it was over. Sin was being defeated, death was being conquered and Hell was being invaded. Declaring that a world of people who would have lived and died and condemned to hell, were being set free! It was a war that started in Bethlehem and was finished in Jerusalem on a hill called Calvary! And those who walk in the power of the Resurrection would be able to change the world!

How in heavens name have we allowed the two most important events in History to be hijacked? It has been hijacked because we have forgotten that Christianity is about the power and purpose of a risen King. It is because Jesus is so small and insignificant in our lives that we hand over our faith and our truth without a fight.

The Church herself has taken the horror of the wrath of God and the punishment of sin through the Flood and the Ark to become about animals. Animals! God crushes the sin of the world and redeems one family and we turn it into a children’s story that focuses on animals. We have turned Christmas into a Manger scene when it was Jesus landing at the beach of humanity ready to destroy the kingdom of Satan. We have allowed Easter to become about everything in the world except the Kingdom and the Power and the glory of Jesus Christ! The greatest tragedy of all is that we have made our holidays to be about a day in the past instead of the power and dominion of Christ to be made real in every day and every area of our current life!

When I think about how we have allowed the power and truth of King Jesus to be obscured by the commercialization of holidays, I am more convinced than ever that all we speak is porkyjesus.

Fishers of Men

2008-04-14T15:37:00.001-04:00

Who does not love to watch the Discovery Channel’s “Dangerous Catch?” Men risking life and limb in order to catch fish or crabs or whatever. When you watch the show you kind of figure out why a few clusters of crab legs cost so much!

When I think about how these men are so willing to risk their lives for us to eat crab, it really seems kind of crazy. In fact it makes me rather ashamed that I am not more willing to risk life and limb to be a fisher of men.

When Jesus called the sons of Jonah and the sons of Zebedee to follow Him and become fishers of men He was making quite the play on words. What Jesus was saying to these men was, “Follow me and I will give you a new vocation. I will make something completely new and different out of you.” He did not say come follow Me, I want to teach you how to use your skills as fishermen to gain converts for my new religious movement.

Yet for most of the modern church growth movement it seems that the goal is to apply the most recent marketing and recruiting “fishing” techniques in order to draw the greatest number of people into the organization. It seems that when we hear Jesus say “I will make you to be fishers of men” we think it’s about catching the most fish. The methodology then becomes about how well we can bait our traps and attract the most fish to come into them. Then we have to make sure that we have become so indispensable in their lives that they will keep coming and keep giving so we can build bigger and bigger traps and provide better and better bait.

But if I read the Gospels correctly Jesus did not call these men to use their fishing skills in the kingdom. Jesus called them and us to a whole new objective. To make every new fisher of men to be a person who is leading others to become fishers of men.

A true fisher of men is not looking for how many but how much of a difference he can make in someone else’s life. Someone said, “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for a life time.”

The goal of Jesus was to turn those salty seamen into broken hearted followers who cried salty tears for those who are a heartbeat from hell. To see them lead others to a place where they were in a deep loving relationship with Jesus, loving and serving those around them and moved by that same compassion to reach others who are a heart beat from hell.

The evidence is that the bass tournament fishermen tactics that we use to grow our churches may in fact be working in direct opposition to the purposes of Jesus. In spite of how many fish our best anglers are catching we are losing the race in every way. The percentage of people who are unchurched and unsaved continues to grow. The difference between the lives of people who are in church and out of church has disappeared. The moral, ethical and spiritual condition of our country and our world continues to disintegrate at an alarming rate.

Maybe it’s time we took a hard look at exactly what Jesus called us to do and made sure we are making a difference in the lives of people and not just trying to find a better bait and build larger traps. Could it be that the difference between fishermen and fishers of men is as great as the difference between Porky Jesus and Portuguese? Ciao`

Porky Jesus: Caliendo Christianity

2008-03-25T10:52:00.002-04:00

I used to really struggle with Paul’s invitation to imitate him as he imitates Christ. I misread it thinking that he was telling people to imitate his imitation of Jesus. Sort of like someone impersonating an impersonator. Like me impersonating Frank Caliendo as he is impersonating John Madden.

But what Paul was calling them and us to do was to imitate Christ, just as he was seeking to do. Instead of an expression of arrogance it really is a solid principle. We are to all be imitators of Christ. We are to mimic Him…we really are to play the part of Jesus in the movie called our life.

What neither Paul nor Jesus calls us to do is imitate each other!

I heard Erwin McManus say and I will paraphrase, “I don’t want to be relevant. Relevant means just like everyone else who is already there.” If I understood him and I think I did, the same thing could be said about contemporary. Both basically mean, “ just like those around you.” It simply means existing in the same time period.

The church seems to be very happy with being current. We are very happy to just be like whatever is current. It seems to me that the biggest bunch of copy-cats on the planet is the church. You let one church find an effective way of reaching people in a certain place or with a certain style, and look out! Let the cloning begin!

It is amazing to what length churches will go in order to succeed. If a new church is succeeding and their name is different, the church down the street will change their name. If another church is drawing crowds with black curtains, rock bands and light shows you can then count on others will follow the pattern. It’s really no different than steeples or Colonial style buildings from fifty years ago. We see something and we think that what we see is making the difference, and we clone it.

When I find myself ready to copy some other ministry I have to wonder is it really about the kingdom and the calling. Could it be really be about competing? Sometimes it seems like churches are not partners in the kingdom but rather competitors vying for the same market share. It starts looking a whole lot like it’s more about commissions and not “The Commission.”

Could it be that just as Jesus has called each individual to be his or her own unique and gifted member of the body that this is what he wants for the local church too? Maybe He has called each church and each pastor to lead each church in such a way that together all the churches can reach the whole community and or region. What if instead of trying to clone the most recent methodology for success we started really trying to imitate Christ?

When John the Baptist was challenged with the success of Jesus he responded simply, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” John did not start copying Jesus methods so he could compete. John just kept on doing what God called him to do.

How has God gifted you? Who and what has he called you and your organization to be? Instead of worrying about competing, let’s become partners and serve as compliments to each other. Instead of cloning a ministry that is having success in the area, why not partner with them. Instead of spending a fortune to become competitive why not try to become more like Jesus.

What if we stopped trying to copy what we can see and started trying to copy the one we cannot see…Jesus. What if we really invested in being REAL instead of relevant? What if we started trying to be Christ-like instead of contemporary? What if we stopped trying to tap into current trends and we tried to tap into an ancient truth: “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord.” Or to be more relevant; Not by trends, nor by production teams, but by my Spirit says the Lord. What if we stopped cloning the competition…and started really being imitators of Jesus. I am pretty sure that is what the word Christian is supposed to mean.

PJ2 The Great Commission

2008-03-17T10:26:00.000-04:00

One of the things I love and hate about the English language is that words can have so many different meanings based on how they are used. For instance, Jesus gave us the Great Commission when He said, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19

Or I can say “there is a great commission on the sale of certain items in our store.” Or I can say, “because of her injury, she will be out of commission for a while.”

Commission can mean mandate, it can mean money, or it can refer to the ability to operate of perform.

As has been proven through the centuries it is very easy for a religious organization to gravitate from the Great Commission toward the great commissions that can be generated in the name of the Great Commission.

For some, in spite of all of their statements and symbolism about the Great Commission, it really is about the great commissions: the money.

In the business world, organizations like banks, discount retail marts and restaurants have figured out that if you want to reach more people, then create more and more places where the people are. Go to where there is a need and fill it.
However some churches want to see how big they can build their buildings. It seems that the greatness of the modern church is measured by how big its parking lots are and how many the sanctuary will seat rather than how many people it is sending out as a part of the Great Commission.

For some it is about power, prestige and profits. It’s about comfort and convenience and consumerism. It’s about the commissions. Power-broker pastors, dizzy with their own charisma, begin to believe that the world deserves to hear them speak and therefore millions should be spent in order to grant them their wish, once a week.

One day I can see the pastors of the twentieth century standing before God and hearing Him ask, “you raised how many millions to build a building so that the majority of your congregation could sit comfortably for one hour a week and listen to you speak?”

Does it seem likely that Jesus Christ, who never owned a place to lay his head, will be pleased that America spent hundreds of millions of dollars so that we could sit segregated and self-righteous for one hour a week while the third world starved to death and went to hell?

Is it possible that the church is out of commission because it has forsaken the Great Commission for the great commissions? Somebody is speaking porky-jesus if they believe that when Jesus said “upon this rock I will build my church” that He was referring to the buildings instead of the body!

Could it be that we have become far too much like our Roman Catholic fore-fathers who in the name of Jesus created a denomination of people who were ignorant of the gospel, held captive by fear and deception in order to maintain power, prestige and profits. Are we guilty of building cathedrals that function like corrals rather than calling our flocks to fulfill the great commission and go therefore into all the world?

Maybe its time we took a good look at which commission we are really after.

Back in the U.S. of A.

2008-03-11T16:42:00.000-04:00

Our trip to Honduras went great! We were able to accomplish a lot both in construction and for The Kingdom. We made some great new relationships with some amazing people. Juan, you are a real image of Jesus. Clementina, you are the best, and your tamales, aye yie yie! Omar, God is going to use you in a big way! I can hardly wait to see my new friends again.

Please find more of Porky-Jesus below...

heart to heart,

kenn

Porky-Jesus / Let us pray!

2008-03-11T14:01:00.000-04:00

No religious function can properly begin unless someone leads in a quick word of prayer. This has always puzzled me. I mean, if it’s a word of prayer is it just one word? And if it’s a quick word of prayer does that mean it has to be said more quickly than usual?

Prayer is such an interesting subject. Its one of those things about which people love to talk but few have any time or tendency to participate. Books on prayer are fairly popular. Sermons about prayer are even well received.
And if you want to get a group of well fed sheep in a stampede! Just talk about how Madeline Murray O’Hare, “the spawn of Satan,” got prayer out of school! And if you have email, you realize that she must be still on the prowl! I get an email about her just about twice a year if not more. And I probably will not make it to heaven either because I don’t love Jesus enough to forward it to everyone in my contacts. Because according to the email my faith is in serous question if I do not forward it.
Did I say a sheep stampede? Boy that’s scary isn’t it? A hundred sheep trotting along, teeth bared, wool wafting in the wind. They run into each other and stop. A few of them see grass and give up walking altogether. They just stop and eat. Those that manage to keep going for a few moments keep going with furrowed brows as they bleat baaahhh! Baaaahhhh! I get goose-bumps just imagining the scary sight. Where was I? Oh yeah.

Doesn’t it seem that in most services prayer is kind of like a sprig of parsley on your dinner plate? It’s not really a part of the meal its just there to add color. So it is with prayer in many services. There is an obligatory prayer placed in the order of service so as to actually acknowledge that God is invited to what it is we are doing in His name.

Isn’t it odd that prayer remains a part of the official events in Washington?
I actually lead a prayer in the House of Representatives in Washington. That’s right. It was televised on CSPAN and everything. The funny thing was, was what did not get shown on CSPAN. There were not more than thirty people in the room. There might not have been twenty. That’s right, out of 435 representatives in the house; there were probably about thirty people in that historic hall. Prayer is a part of the form, but not a part of the function.
It’s not very different in some churches. Someone prays out loud, most present listen to what is being said. A few actually engage in the experience. We may grunt our consent every now and then and even say amen at the end of the prayer, but did we really pray?

In fact you want to save on the wear and tear of the carpet in your sanctuary, just announce a prayer meeting. The janitor won’t even need to vacuum. It’s true. Have you ever heard about a church that was really packing the pews, in multiple services, because of their prayer times? Their music, yes; the speaker, yes; because they spend large portions of their meeting time on their knees or in quiet contrition before the Lord, never. A service may be rocked deeply on a rare occasion as the people pray, but no one plans or expects to see God move because of their prayer times in the service.

That is one thing that the early church did. Prayer is far removed from the modern day entertainment venues. Yes I said it, Entertainment venues.
If Jesus drove the people out of the temple for the money madness, He would surely drive us out for our entertainment. A whole lot is entertainment. We don’t spend long portions of our time in prayer because prayer is boring. We work on our transitions between segments of the worship service. Why, because we want to look professional and polished. And well, we don’t want folks to lose interest. We must keep them, entertained. And there is nothing entertaining about listening to someone talk with their eyes closed.
In all four Gospels, the occasion of Jesus cleansing the Temple is recorded. In three of them Jesus declares that His Father’s house shall be called “a house of prayer.”

Indulging the fact that a church can be loosely referred as the house of God, it should be first known as a house of prayer.
If you will concede that the church officially began on the day of Pentecost you will note that it was not about singing, preaching or fellowship, it was prayer. When the church faced a challenge, like its leaders being in prison, they resorted first and only to prayer. They did not call the press, they did not form a steering team. They did not call their councilman or call in a favor! They prayed. Every time the early church got into a jam, they prayed their way out!

We are not giving glory to God if we are giving Him glory for something He did not do! We are merely trying to justify our actions and the ends we intended by saying that it was God who did it! You want to know why jail cells open and guards cannot see grown men walking out in plain view? Its because God is doing it in such a way that only God can get the glory! You want to know how an earthquake can tear down a jail and harm no one inside. Because God wants to do it in such a way that only He gets the glory! The reason we would rather picket than pray is because we are neither willing to wait or consider that it might not be God’s idea!

Can you imagine what the opinion of the council is of the church that came in and bullied them with numbers? Did someone ask, who cares what the bunch of bureaucrats think anyway? Well God does. Every member of every council in our nation came screaming from their mother’s loins on their way to a devil’s hell in desperation to run into someone who could show them that God and faith in Christ is more than political power and organizational will. The last thing they need to see and hear was that the church is just another self-willed and self-centered organization.

What if instead of showing up as sheep in wolves’ clothing, and only when there is something vital to the organization is involved, they showed up at every council meeting. And instead of intimidation, they simply communicated in some low-key way that while they meet there, the church group would be praying for the council or board to have God’s wisdom while they made decisions that were in the very best interest of people of their city.

What if the group of people who meet together on Sunday morning spent more of their time praying about the time when they were apart than trying to make their time together more entertaining.

Has it ever occurred to you that in theory, when the church is meeting together that it is at its least effective? Whatever size your church is, let’s say, 250 people. Most of them will sit silently during most of their time together. They will say little and do little, but, when they go their ways, there are 250 individuals who can go out and be Jesus every where they go. In everything they do they can do it as unto Jesus. You have to admit that sitting and listening does not take the power of the Holy Spirit…unless you are A.D.D. like me. But the point is that as a group, prayer is the greatest thing that can be done. Because when the church disperses, the potential is exponentially greater than any one service! The church that is exponential in its prayer time will be exponential in its power and effect on this hell bound world!

Next service, invite everyone to join in many slow words of prayer.

Porky Jesus/ Feed Me

2008-02-25T11:53:00.000-05:00

“Feed me” is the cry of gluttonous churchgoer who defines their spiritual life by how much preaching they hear and enjoy. If they don’t like the speaker’s style or personality, then he does not “feed them.” And they will be off looking for someone else who can scratch their “religious information itch” with passionate and powerful insights. The Bible calls it “people having itching ears.”

The term “feed me” is forgery of what Jesus told Peter when He walked with him on the beach. He told Peter that if “he loved Him, he would, feed His sheep.” So people wanting to take advantage of what Jesus said simply cry out, “I need someone to feed me!”

“Feed me” also works well with the preacher. After all you cannot do any better than to obey Jesus and feed His sheep! If you feed them they will come! They will sit and swoon. They will take notes and nod with conviction and agreement. It’s a beautiful thing; a preacher feeding the sheep and the sheep eating it up! It’s an experience that I enjoy more than words can say. But is that what Jesus had in mind when he told Peter, “feed my sheep?”

In the context Jesus was not talking about the roughly 120 people who were already committed to following Jesus. He was talking about the whole nation of Israel and the lost world that were like sheep without a shepherd. People, who like sheep, had turned everyone to his own way. In fact it was not so much about just feeding them as it was about going out like a shepherd and bringing them into the sheepfold of faith!

In Jesus day, the effort to feed the sheep, the four legged kind, had a definite purpose. It was so that the sheep could be eaten, sheared or sustained so they could reproduce. The sheep were fed not to just make them happy, but to enable them to accomplish their ultimate purpose!

In the human world, when we feed the sheep, something else happens. The more well fed the sheep are, the less productive they become. A fed sheep (the two legged kind) should be looking for ways to share the meat of what they have been learning. They should be longing to sacrifice themselves for the good and blessing of others. They should share with those who are truly starving in our world that there is someone who really is the Bread of Life. The real goal of a well fed sheep should be to want the starving and truly malnourished of this world to eat of the Bread of Heaven.

It is such a tragedy that the entire modern church organization is set up to educate and instruct but not to enable and send out. Instead of equipping and sending out an army of people ready to share the blessings of the Good Shepherd we create more and more excuses for them to come and hide in the “sanctuary” and learn more of that, with which they refuse, to do anything!

For all the time and money that is spent on discipleship in this country, we have an ever decreasing number of people who are coming into the discipline.

Sadly most pastors and church leaders have figured out that porky, well fed sheep, don’t complain. They don’t make trouble. They just tell others about how good the food is and how they should come eat too. They consume, contribute and keep the cycle going and it never occurs to them that they should do something besides eat. After all, if Jesus told someone to feed, it’s our duty to eat, right?

Porky Jesus Continued

2008-02-16T10:13:00.000-05:00

Can you imagine a porky Jesus?

Of all the renderings of what Jesus might have looked like, I have never seen one that made Him look plump. Or to be totally politically incorrect, porky! I have never once seen a porky Jesus. Well, except for one.

One year a church had two men playing the role of Jesus. One was played by a small thin man that looked good hanging on the cross in his loin cloth and light enough to be hoisted up during the ascension scene. The trouble was he couldn’t sing.

Then there was the guy who they wanted to play the part that had a great voice but he was well, a little on fleshy side. The singing Jesus was, you guessed it, dare I say it, a porky Jesus. Just a little too porky to hang on the cross in a loin cloth and way too porky to hoist the 30 feet into the ceiling in the ascension scene, so they had the petite Jesus and the…porky Jesus.

I am pretty sure that the reason they never painted Jesus as porky was because while we have no way of knowing what He looked like, it is pretty certain that a man who had no home, walked every where he went and often worked without eating to the point of exhaustion, was not porky.

Remember the story of Jesus asleep in the storm-tossed, sinking boat? Of all the explanations I have ever heard, not one time has anyone blamed sleep-apnea due to mild or morbid obesity. The most likely reason Jesus was able to sleep in such an unlikely circumstance was that he was so mentally and physically exhausted that he passed out in the back of the boat!

You never see a porky Jesus because he was serving himself to death. He was walking along endless lines of hurting people whom He healed. He very likely spent few nights indoors. After all He was not born in a house and after He began His ministry, it is very likely that he spent more nights praying and sleeping on a hillside than in a guest house.

I wonder how many times someone invited Him to dinner and by the time the dinner was over they were so convicted or enraged that they did not invite Him to spend the night!

No, I am pretty sure there was no porky Jesus. The man Jesus was thin, weary and in need of supper, a shower, and sleep! The point is that He was so busy living, loving and going out into the world that he was as we would call it, malnourished.

While Jesus was not porky, the same cannot be said my most of us who call ourselves His followers.

“In a study on body weight and religion, sociologist Kenneth Ferraro of Purdue University discovered that active church members are more likely to be overweight than other people.

Ferraro found religion was associated with obesity in all 50 states. Broken down by religious groups, Southern Baptists were the heaviest, while believers from non-Christian religions were the least likely to be overweight.
Among other indicators, believers who watch or listen to religious broadcasts were more likely to be overweight.”

If you think that the research is faulty, just go to church. Look around. Check the bulletin for the next eating-meeting. You will find that typical church-goers are drawn together to eat, take a seat, and meet.

We have traded the Great Commission for the great Concessions. We call the food courts at sporting arenas concession stands. Because it is where we go to concede or yield to our cravings for food.

Church goers love to go to a church fellowship meals and have a Bible study. They love to concede to their appetite for food. But don’t ask many of them to serve a meal to the needy. And whatever you do, don’t make it a habit of going to the great concessions and not taking something or you will soon be treated as an outcast!

Does it strike you as odd that churches will build enormous meeting halls and furnish state-of-the-art kitchens but never host a daily or weekly meal for the needy and hungry?

Oh, you will have no trouble finding a porky Baptist or a porky Methodist or a porky Pentecostal. You might even find a porky actor playing Jesus in a drama, but when you look at the homeless missionary of the New Testament, you will not find a porky Jesus.

Maybe churches should begin to refocus on serving the needs of the community rather than the needs of its members.

Porky Jesus

2008-02-11T21:05:00.000-05:00

Do you speak Porky-Jesus?

Excuse me! Porky Jesus, that’s got to be taking God’s name in vain if not out right blasphemy!

Well before you heat up the tar and start plucking feathers let me tell you first of all these were the words of a precious, innocent two year old. She and her dad were having a random conversation and he referred to something as being Portuguese to which she responded, “Mommy, daddy is talking porky-Jesus!”

Well I just chuckled, as I hope you are now doing! Her dad had said one thing and she had heard another. Because of her limited vocabulary and understanding she translated what he had said into words that she could put together. Portuguese was not in her vocabulary box. So, she quickly grabbed the two things in her box that would coincide with what she thought she heard and so she came out with “porky-Jesus.”

I tell you this story to convey one simple truth; We interpret things in the framework of our box, our understanding, experience and vocabulary. We can see or hear one thing and because of our box we translate or interpret things very differently. This is especially true in regard to the Church (body) that Jesus founded and the churches that are in business today.

For about 1700 years we have been reading more or less the very same New Testament. Yet these centuries have been marked by blood, controversy and division because of the way we read the very same words.

Thankfully, it has been a long time since one Christian group has imprisoned and or executed a member of a rival Christian group. No longer is the government imprisoning people because of what they believe the Bible says, all in the name of allegiance to the Bible.

Nowadays churches just fight it out with music styles, superstars and media campaigns. One church can prove their superiority and spirituality if they are able to do a better job of saturating the market with their name and ministry strengths. Often it is about whether one pastor happens to be a more gifted entertainer than another. Not that content does not matter, content matters greatly. If your platform personality can say something profound and insightful in a moving and interesting way; then you will have a church with a growing attendance on your hands. The people probably came from another church but hey…you get more people and the church with the most people wins, right?

Currently the majority of churches are drifting or declining. And those that are growing and seemingly reaching people for the kingdom are all headed down the same spiraling staircase into self-centeredness.

Only a handful grasp the idea that the purpose of the church is to be a moving force charging out into our world and not a fortress built on a hill in which all of its people can hide.

I want to invite you to join me as we look at just how we have twisted and misunderstood what Jesus taught and commanded the same way my friend’s little girl changed Portuguese into Porky-Jesus. To be continued…