Divine Delays

Mark Batterson, Sr Pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC led a Life Group Bible Study on the interesting subject of Divine Delays. He explaied that sometimes when we are hurrying along in life wanting to get from point A to point B as fast as possible, God is more concerned with our journey than our travel time.

Have you discovered God's purpose for your life? Do you have a five, ten or twenty-five year plan to fulfill that Divine destiny? Before you make too many plans to get where you want to be, take time to consider the process by which you'll arrive. Consider Abraham and Sarah and the Divine Delays that God used in their lives before fulfilling the promise He made to them.

Sometimes we sense God stirring us towards a particular project or ministry only to end in what the world (or even, we) would consider "failure" or "significant delays." In the midst of our brooding, God has done something magnificent, though. He has used our circumstances to grow us in wisdom, patience and probably one or two other areas in which we need growth.

When you look back at your life, what Divine Delays have you experienced? How have they been used in your life to be an advantage or blessing today?

Christ In Culpeper is Today

Christ in Culpeper will gather today at the Culpeper Depot Center (train station) in room #2 from 12pm to 1pm. This is a prayer gathering to focus our prayers on the community of Culpeper – e.g., local government, school system, businesses, churches and those who don’t know Jesus Christ.

People from around our community – across denominations – are invited to join us.

Christ in Culpeper meets on the last Wednesday of every month at the Depot Center from 12pm to 1pm to pray for our community.

Are You a Mentor?

Have you ever heard the expression, "You can't give away what you don't have?" In the Bible, we read about how some gifts are for edifying ourselves and others are for edifying the Church. God definitely wants us to have the kind of relationships that build into one another. The Apostle Paul was a mentor. Jesus was a mentor. The Great Commission commands us to make disciples of all nations. You cannot make disciples without discipling others. That means you must mentor someone.

That brings me back to the statement, "You can't give away what you don't have." Do you know how to mentor or disciple someone? It's not as difficult or scary as you may think. The biggest part of mentoring and discipling is the investment you make into someone else's life. It's taking the time to sit down with someone and share the Word of God in an understandable way and share what Christ has done in your life.

"You can't give away what you don't have."

Do you have a love for others that includes a desire to see growth and maturation in a person's relationship with God? Have you built into your life's hectic schedule some time set aside for mentoring and discipling others? Do you know and understand the Word of God enough to share it with someone else? Do you have the kind of obedient heart for following Christ that should be imitated by your protege? Does your life with Christ represent what you would want others to see and duplicate?

Take an honest look at your discipleship habits and lifestyle. If yours are dysfunctional or disobedient, then it's time for you to be mentored. Find someone in your church who will take you under his/her wing and nurture you into a stronger follower of Jesus Christ. Then look for someone else who needs your discipleship and mentoring. You can't give away what you don't have. But you do give away what you do have!

How Big is Your God?

My soul will make its boast in the Lord; the humble will hear it and rejoice.
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:2-4 NASV



Many of us really struggle in our concept of God. We all tend to have a mental image of who God is based a little on what we've read from the Bible and more on what we've experienced of Him in our life. The end result is that some of us have a perception of God that is much too small.

Our relationship with God and our worship of Him is primarily based on who we believe Him to be and the amount of confidence we have in Him.

Is your God too busy for your problems?

Does your God enjoy only one kind of worship style and music genre?

Is your God ready to do big things in your life only when you've been a "pretty good Christian" (whatever that means)?

Our God is so much bigger than we can possibly imagine! The Psalmist exhorts us all to magnify the Lord. He doesn't mean make God big (you can't make an infinite God big). But we can see God big!

What Do You Have to Offer?

This weekend's message was on Spiritual Gifts. Next weekend, I'm kicking off a series on Jesus' parables and will be starting with a look at the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25 and the Parable of the Ten Minas found in Luke 19.

One of the important things we, as Christians, need to remember is that God has made us uniquely for the specific purpose He had in mind for us before time began. For example, God's purpose for me has always been to be a pastor. Therefore, He didn't create me with a fear of speaking in front of crowds and He didn't create me with a hard heart towards those who need to experience the love of Christ.

According to Jesus' words in the parables of the talents and ten minas, we are responsible for what God has given to us. We are stewards of gifts from our Lord. Those gifts come in many different shapes and sizes - they're not just the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4. God's gifts to us are our children, our job, our friends, our finances, our home, etc.

Have you stopped to acknowledge the gifts from God in your life? This week, take an inventory of the gifts you've received from the Lord. Then make a point to pray about how each one can be used to honor God, increase in value and build His kingdom in your life and in the lives of those around you.

Young Life Golf Marathon

Getting ready to head out the door to swing the clubs ALL DAY LONG!

Haven't played the links in almost a year, but this is for a very worthy cause. Young Life is a wonderful organization focused on bringing teens into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you'd like to sponsor me, go to http://tiny.cc/3oBn3.

Intentionality

One of the hot discussion points among leaders in our community for the last couple of months is that revival in Culpeper probably isn't going to happen in one big instant in time. It's going to happen one person at a time. That means the Church needs to be intentional at cultivating relationships with those in our community who need to know Jesus Christ.

Who do you know who needs Jesus? What are you doing about it?

It dawned on me last night as I was flying home from my work trip to New York that I need to be better at this. I told my wife that we, as a family, need to be more intentional at meeting people in our community and then (here's the sticking point), be intentional at following up with them to nurture the relationship.

Here's the example that came to my mind...

Scene:
My wife and I are at Yowell Meadow Park with our kids playing on the playground.

As normal, our kids befriend other kids playing. The sets of parents smile and exchange polite conversation while the kids have fun on the slides and swings. After a few minutes we all go our separate ways.

Instead of allowing that to happen, my wife and I need to be more intentional in making meaningful conversation with the other parent(s) while the kids are playing. We need to lead the conversation in such a way that it's comfortable to exchange contact information and have an opportunity to spend more time with them - cultivating a relationship - whereby we share who Jesus Christ is and the difference He makes in our lives.

It was a bit of a V-8 moment for me.

Domino Effect

Yesterday and today I'm working at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. As I was riding in the elevator after lunch yesterday, I noticed an ad hanging on the wall of the elevator. In large letters, it read, "Hundreds of lives were saved with one surgery." The ad explained that when a prominent oncology surgeon suffered an aortic aneurysm, a cardiac surgeon at Mount Sinai performed a life-saving surgery on him. Within 14 days, the oncology surgeon was back in the operating room saving lives.

Have you ever grasped the domino-like effect that your evangelism has on the world? When someone you've shared the Gospel with receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, you can't necessarily chalk that up to only one salvation. That person will likely go on and evangelize as well. When it comes to evangelism, we have "grandchildren" and "great-grandchildren" and so on.

One of my dreams as a pastor is to be at least a grandfather church planter. In other words, I want to multiply City on a Hill Church in such a way that someone from our church will plant a new church and then someone from that church will go on to plant another new church and so on.

You can never underestimate the domino effect that Christ has on the world through our lives!

Young Life Golf Marathon

I've been a hacker for years. I've enjoyed using the game of golf as an opportunity for fellowship as well as discipleship. I've had my frustrating moments on the links like everyone else has as well.

On Friday, April 24, I'll get a chance to experience a whole new side of golf. I'll be participating in a Golf Marathon to support Young Life-Culpeper. Young Life is a wonderful Christian organization that presents the Gospel to and disciples teenagers. I would love it if you would consider sponsoring me with a donation to Young Life. You can sponsor me by making a donation on a secure website located at the following link:

http://sites.younglife.org/sites/Culpeper/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=14

Just click on my name and complete the online form.

If my arms and back are still functioning over the weekend, I'll blog again with some updates and pictures from the event. If you don't hear from me, you can simply conclude that I was buried in one of the bunkers along the back nine of Meadows Farm!

"But first..."

Still another said, "I will follow you Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Luke 9:61-62

When we hear God call us to something, how often do we act immediately? When we hear God call us to minister to someone, how often we do begin ministry right away?

It seems many of us have our "but first..." on our hip pocket, ready to be pulled and used at a moment's notice. There always seems to be something else more important to do first before following the call of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Jesus' response to this is that we can't move forward, knowing where God is going and where to follow Him if our head is turned around, looking at our past and what we're leaving behind. Is our focus on following Jesus or is it on the world?

We all have to learn to leave our "but first...'s" out of our relationship with Christ. God isn't going to call us to do something that is hurtful to our spirit. He isn't going to make a mistake in His plans for us. Everything He calls us to is according to His good and perfect will for our lives. Let's leave behind our "but's" and keep our eyes and lives focused on pursuing God.

Lion and the Lamb

I recently read an article on Christianity Today's website that reminded me how Jesus is referred to in the Bible as both the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God. As the Lion of Judah, Jesus is the Creator, the One who had authority over Satan himself and the One who had holy strength beyond anything we could imagine. As the Lamb of God, Jesus calls us to be meek and to turn the other cheek.

Which do you prefer? Do you lean more towards the omnipotent God-incarnate who overcame death? Or is your mind filled more with the images of Jesus as a helpless baby laying in a manger.

Our Jesus does not have a schizophrenic personality. He is, in fact, both the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God all at once - not one sometimes and the other at other times. Jesus revealed His power in and through weakness. His victory over death came through the terrible crucifixion. His poweful, world-changing ministry comes through the likes of weak people such as the twelve disciples, the apostle Paul and you and me.

Look around you today and see if you can spot God's power in the midst of weakness and gentleness. Let's embrace the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God in our own lives.

Watch Your Mouth

I can remember the day I said my first bad word. I can remember my brother telling me, "You better not let Mom hear you say that. You'll get in trouble!" The word I said isn't even considered a bad word anymore by most. I hear it used by young teens in front of their parents all of the time. I even hear it from the pulpit in some churches.

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29

Call me "traditional" if you want. Words like "cr*p" and "p*ssed" are ugly words of the world. I cringe inside every time I hear them just as I do other foul language. These aren't words that should be used by the Church.

"Get with the times, GW. Those aren't bad words."

Let me ask you this: if your 6 year old child or sibling said one of those words, how would you react? I would guess that you wouldn't feel comfortable hearing those words from a child. So do you believe God feels comfortable hearing those words from our mouths?

One of those words was my first bad word that initiated a warning from my brother. It was a bad word back in the early 70's. It seems that the world's sensitivity to foul language has become diluted enough to accept these words as proper language now - even in the Church.

I see so many churches try to be relevant in their music, message, methods and ministry. There's certainly nothing wrong with relevancy. I'm all for relevancy! But when the Church begins to imitate the world to the point that you can't tell a difference, there's a problem.

When you can't tell the difference between the Church and the world, how can we profess that Jesus has anything different to offer? May I offer an admonishment this morning to all of those Christians trying to be relevant -- as my parents used to tell me -- "Watch your mouth!"

Please Leave

In Mark 5:1-20, we see a fantastic story of one of Jesus' miracles. Jesus heals a demon-possessed man, and the demons are cast into a herd of pigs who drown themselves. The focus of the story is on the man who has been healed, of course. However, what about the owner(s) of the pigs? The story tells us that the herd consists of about 2000 pigs. That's a lot of pigs!

Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. verse 17

I believe one of the reasons why these people want Jesus to leave is because they are so upset about losing the herd of pigs. And they certainly didn't want to lose anymore. 2000 pigs were quite enough! Isn't that just like us, though? When we have an authentic encounter with Jesus Christ, something from the world that we hold on to dearly begins to die.

Then we must figure out what to do next. Are we going to dwell on the loss and lament? Or are we going to get our eyes on the freedom Jesus has just given us? Are we going to get angry over our sacrifice or are we going to rejoice in the new life?

What are the pigs that you have lost? Are they a job or a friend or an addiction? More importantly, are you afraid of losing more pigs? Have you invited Jesus to stay or have you pleaded for Him to leave?

Easter Weekend Wrap-Up

What an amazing weekend! The weather really kept us guessing on Saturday, but we continued to plow through set-up hoping and praying that the rain would break. Indeed it did! It wasn't sunny, but it wasn't raining either. The crowds came out, and 1900 Easter eggs and 300 hot dogs later, everyone had a great time!

Sunday, we had a wonderful turn out. A bunch of first-time visitors enjoyed the service along with our regular crowd. The message was "Conflict Resolution" - how Jesus resolved The conflict through His resurrection, and how we need to resolve our conflict with God by turning to Him with our love and obedience.

Saturday's event and yesterday's service were wonderful. No doubt. The point of all of this, though, is to help people begin a committed relationship with Jesus Christ. So, the real work begins this week with the follow-up and continues on for several more as folks who took that first step keep their eyes on Jesus one step at a time, one day at a time. It's like celebrating Easter every day!

Picture by Vincent Vala, Culpeper Star-Exponent

Friday or Sunday

Throughout our life, we experience peaks and valleys. We have our ups and downs. We have our promotions and raises, and we have our lay offs and foreclosures.

On a Friday about 2000 years ago, the world came crashing down on a group of people who followed a man they called Jesus of Nazareth. All their hopes and dreams were crushed with his death. Where do they go now? What do they do now?

As they scattered and lamented in their loss, God was working.

On Sunday, their perception of life was shattered once again. This time, it was because Jesus had conquered death. He rose again, in fulfillment of the Scriptures, to return and offer life to His followers. His life was given so that they (and you and I) may have life eternal.

Are you stuck in a Friday moment? This Easter, give God a chance and let those Friday feelings be conquered with a Sunday resurrection. Please join us at City on a Hill Church on Sunday morning @ 10am.

Breaking Bread

Today is Maundy Thursday, the day in which Christians commemorate the Last Supper Jesus had with His disciples. In Jesus' culture, sharing a meal was an intimate experience. People reclined around a table sharing slices from the same loaf of bread and double dipping all night long. Definitely not what we Americans consider polite table manners.

Again, Jesus loved intimacy with his friends. He enjoyed being close to them and sharing the deepest, most profound thoughts and ideas with them. He laughed with them and cried with them. This is a wonderful picture of the relationship He desires with all of us.

The problem is that many of us really stink at intimacy. Intimacy scares us. It makes us uncomfortable. Besides our spouse, we don't let anyone close to us - mostly due to the fear that someone will see what we're really like and then reject us or hurt us. It's a natural fear, but one that we all must strive to overcome. God calls us into an intimate relationship with Him and an intimate relationship with fellow believers.

Go ahead, break off that piece of bread and double dip.

Easter Fun Day

This Saturday, City on a Hill Church is having it's largest event to date. We're hosting a FREE community Easter Fun Day from 1-4pm. Egg hunt, games, contests, moon bounces and food.

Someone questioned me about the egg hunt. Certainly there is a great deal of history we can all read about the origin of the pagan holiday celebrating the goddess "Eostre" and the theme of fertility that surrounds this pagan festival. There, of course, is as much non-Biblical history and festivities entertwined with Christmas as any other holiday the Church celebrates, e.g., Christmas trees, ornaments, stocking, etc.

For more detailed insight into the history of the holiday, take a look at this great article.

From a Christian perspective, our focus at Easter is on Jesus Christ, his resurrection and the victory and power that He offers to us as a gift. Our focus should be on the gift of eternal life. The eggs symbolize life - life that Jesus gives. And it's not just life, but life more abundant!

Please come on out and celebrate the life that Jesus offers with us! We'd love to see you!!

Connecting

The Word of the Day is "Connecting."

To whom are you connected?

With whom are you trying to be connected?

These are important questions for us to consider. God made us for relationships - a relationship with Him and a relationship with others. That's just the way we're wired, and when we try to go against that, we experience a range of difficulties from emotions like loneliness to the inability to accomplish the tasks assigned to us.

Connecting with God on a frequent, consistent basis gives us the chance to know Him better. We have the opportunity to know His general will as found in His Word and His specific purpose for our lives. This kind of intimate connection is referred to by John in 1 John 1:3 and is the Greek word "koinonia."

According to 1 John 1:3, this intimate connection is not reserved just with God, but also with other people. How many people can you honestly say you're intimately connected to outside your immediate family?

I believe Christians are to be connected with others so that we may encourage one another, pray for one another and bring others into a new or re-committed relationship with Jesus Christ. There are opportunities around you right now to get connected with others in your community. All it takes is a little bit of shuffling in your schedule and a commitment to make it happen.

God's Creation

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Nashville for a meeting for my tentmaking job. One evening, a group of us was having dinner. I sat near one lady from South Africa who is now living in Vancouver, BC. On the other side of the table was a lady from Ghana and who is now living in Toronto.

I asked them both, "What do you miss most about your homeland?"

Geraldine from South Africa responded, "I miss most the game preserves where I can see the wild animals and beautiful scenery."

Peggy from Ghana responded, "I miss most the white sand beaches."

I think it's great that God's creation can make such an impact on people. It wasn't old friends they missed the most - rather God's creation.

Take a minute today to look around you and notice the wonder of God's creation.

Christ In Culpeper

Pastor Brad Hales (of Reformation Lutheran) and I met this morning to put some ideas in motion on how we can re-invigorate Culpeper's passion for transforming our community for Christ. This new effort will be organized under the new name Christ in Culpeper. Ed Lyons (of Persecution Project) reminded me last evening that God’s Word certainly reflects the consequential power of communal prayer as seen in Acts 4:21-31. I hope that we can all begin to make it a priority to set aside one hour a month to come together and pray for the community we love and in which we live.

Moving forward, a monthly prayer meeting will be offered for a time of prayer for Culpeper (ie, the Church, local businesses, education, government and those who need to know Jesus). We will meet on the last Wednesday of every month (beginning April 29) at the Depot Center from 12noon to 1pm.

Christ in Culpeper is also seeking opportunities by which to establish relationships with business owners in our community. To this end, we’re currently exploring some possible solutions to this.

Let's gather together, pray and watch as the Holy Spirit leads us towards revival one life at a time, one day at a time, one prayer at a time.

I Need to Pray

I need to pray.

I need to pray more.

I need to pray more diliberately.

I need to pray more diliberately for our church.

I need to pray more diliberately for our church and God's will to be done in us.

I need to pray more diliberately for our church and God's will to be done in us and through us.

I need to pray more diliberately for our church and God's will to be done in us and through us so that His purpose is accomplished.

I need to pray more diliberately for our church and God's will to be done in us and through us so that His purpose is accomplished in our community.

Skatepark Update

There's a lot of discussion going on about the skatepark located at Yowell Meadow Park. Here's an update:

I serve on the Town Council Parks and Recreation Commission. This is a committee of concerned citizens that serve as an advisory committee for the Town Council on issues that affect the Parks and Recreation Department of the Town of Culpeper.

Last night's meeting included follow-up on the issues surrounding the town skatepark. The skatepark has been in the middle of controversy for at least a year due to damage to the park's ramps, skaters/bikers not wearing helmets, vulgar/obscene language used at the park and and a disregard for allowable equipment (ie, non-pegged bicycles) used at the park. The damage at the park has been caused by pegged BMX bikes being used on the ramps in combination with the detoriation due to water damage. The park is built in a flood plain and occasionally is submerged under water during heavy rains.

The town required our commission to create ordinances for the park and its users. These ordinances are more than just rules posted on a sign now because the police can actually issue citations for ordinances not being upheld by the skaters/bikers. The flip-side of the ordinances is that it seems the police department will likely not make it a priority to enforce the ordinances as they are busy protecting the community from more serious crimes.

The ordinances we created include the following two major points:
1 - All users are required to have a permit to use the park. The permit for Culpeper Town and County residents is free and it's $20 for residents of other areas.
2 - Skaters/bikers are advised (not required) to wear helmets and protective gear.

Aside from all of this, it is obvious SCOOP (Skate Culpeper On Our Park) needs to play a larger role in creating positive community awareness and support for the skatepark. Tabitha Riley, from the County P&R Dept. and member of SCOOP was present at the meeting as was Jack Maher, a former owner and operator of a skatepark, who is willing to become involved in supporting the skatepark and SCOOP. I suggested that I begin meeting with Jack, Tabitha, Bob Leftwich (owner of Bike Stop, Board Member of SCOOP) and other members of SCOOP to see how SCOOP can begin serving as a more productive advocacy group for the skatepark. The bottom line is that we need more involvement in SCOOP from the young people in our community who use the skatepark and we need more involvement from the local businesses supporting SCOOP through sponsorships, etc. SCOOP needs to be able to raise funds to assist with maintenance of the skatepark and they need to be able to play a large role in monitoring the activities (ie, disregard for the ordinances) at the skatepark.

If you're interested in getting involved, add a comment with your contact info or shoot me an email at pastorgw (at) cityonahillculpeper (dot) org.