Church in the Wildwood

The Seriousness of Sin

I tweeted earlier about Mike Hailey, a pastor that fell to the depths because of sin in his life.  Stories like that scare me to death, because I too am a sinner.  All of us need to be reminded of the seriousness of the sin in our lives.

The seriousness of sin isn't founded upon the fear of being "found out." Rather the true seriousness of sin is found in Romans 8:7, "...the sinful mind is hostile to God...."  My sin is an insult to my Holy God, a slap in is face, and a contradiction of his very nature.  Here is how R.C Sproul sums it up:

"Sin is cosmic treason.  Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign.  It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself.  What are we saying to our Creator when we disobey Him at the slightest point?  We are saying no to the righteousness of God.  We are saying, 'God Your law is not good.  My judgment is better than Yours.  Your authority does not apply to me.  I am above and beyond Your jurisdiction' ... the slightest sin is an insult to His holiness .... what could be more serious than this?" (Sproul, R.C. The Holiness of God. 151-152)

Like you, I need to be reminded that even the slightest of my sins is open rebellion against my heavenly Father.  So recently, I have been praying this prayer straight from the mouth of David:

Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

I need the purity that can only come through the forgiveness of Jesus, (1 John 1:9) and I need His help to be steadfast in living faithfully for Him.  Why don't we commit to praying that prayer together for the next few days? 

If I Were A Rich Man

I am sitting in my sister's back porch this Saturday morning up in Chicago.  We are here because of fulfilling a final birthday present for Patti's birthday (back in April - some birthday's last longer than others!).  We went to the Broadway musical performance of "Fiddler on the Roof," at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago.  As musicals go, this one is very good (obviously not as good as a Cardinal's baseball game - but that is a different issue). 

The real reason we went was to see Chaim Topol, who played Tevye in the original 1971 movie.  This is billed as his farewell tour, and we enjoyed it emmensly.  Upon researching I discovered that he is 73 years old and has been performing his role as Tevye over 2500 times.  We went with my sister Denise and her husband Tim, their middle daughter Lauren (who is a Sophmore at Wheaton) and her boyfriend Tommy. 

Here is a sentence in the literature that I read, "It is notable however, that Topol is often replaced by an understudy for the performance, particularly the daytime showings."  Can you imagine the dissappointment of my wife if we had made plans, traveled up to Chicago, only to have an understudy? 

Thankfully, when we turn to God we are never dissappointed because He is sick or tired.  Whenever we call on the Lord, He is present and ready to meet our need.   Hebrews 86:5-7 shares this amazing truth that when we call upon the Lord, He answers our prayers.

Tomorrow is Father's Day and we are going to honor and challenge each Dad present.  Don't miss out!

Killing Cockroaches

Yes it is a strange and unusual title, but I didn't come up wth it.  Its actually the name of a 1/2 day leadership event that I will be attending.  It is here in St. Louis and happens on Monday, July 6.   I am writing about it because I want you to come with me. 

Tony Morgan is a church strategist and coach of church leaders, and this is his event.  Here is the link to a little more info on the Killing Cockroach Tour.  Check it out and let me know if you want to attend.  It's $29 for the morning event and I will pay for yours (if you are a part of WCC) IF you let me know by June 22! (that is this Monday)

July 6, 2009, at Harvester Christian Church in St. Charles, MO.  9am-12:30 pm.  Let me know soon!!!

Bible

Just read this quote by Mark Batterson, "we read the Bible like a map trying to figure out how to get where we want to go only to discover that its a mirror revealing who we are."

That is so insightful, especially in light of our series on James.  It changes the way that I open God's Word.  This morning I continued my reading of the The Daily Bible, I was impressed about how seriously God takes our obedience.  I was also struck at how flippant I am with my own obedience.  I am reading in Exodus 31, about honoring the Sabbath. 

Exodus 31:15, Anyone who does work on the Sabbath must be put to death. 

Now that is harsh, and I don't fully understand all that God was getting at.  Here is what I wrote in my journal: Help me to understand the importance of honoring You and what is important to You.

When I am looking at the bible as a road map, passages like that derail me.  But when I am looking at it as a mirror, I realize how far I have to go in honoring my God.

What are you looking for when you open God's Word?

You can find out more about Mark Batterson at his blog, Evotional

Hard Head

Had an interesting evening last night.  Some of us guys play in a church basketball league on Monday nights.  It’s a fun evening and I enjoy hanging out with other bball fanatics.  Last night we were in the playoffs, and some guy on the other team sets a pick on Evan.  Only it wasn’t a legal pick, it was more of a push you out of the way pick.  He sends Evan flying where he eventually landed on his back and hit his head hard on the floor.  It took Evan a few minutes to recover, but he got up and sat down.  About 20 minutes later you could tell Evan wasn’t doing too well; he basically slumped down and was out of it.  An ambulance was called; he was taken to St. John’s hospital.  They did a cat scan and X-ray and gave him a clean bill of health.  They kept him for a couple of hours of observation, and then sent him home around 12:30am. 

He is doing well this morning (thankfully he has a hard head!), but I made him stay at home (we will see if he really listens to his boss).  Keep Katie and Evan in your prayers, they are a great family and we are blessed to have them here at Wildwood.

Saturday night was an example of the impact of the Student Ministry here at WCC.  Over 60 middle school and High school kids along with around 20 adults were at the YMCA.  This outreach event for the students brought 16 new kids into contact with our student ministry.  Thanks to Evan and his great staff for the work they do.
If you are interested in being involved in our student ministry, let Evan know!
Doug

  

Preschool Programs

This is our final week of preschool at WCC.  It is a blast to have those little ones around during the school year.  We have posted the video montage the preschool staff put together and wanted to share it with you.  Below are the links to the videos ... enjoy!

Preschool Video #1

Preschool Video #2

The Weekend

Another great Sunday at WCC.  I so appreciate the encouragement you are to others when you are at worship.  Thanks for loving Jesus through others.  I witnessed several interactions of people honestly talking to one another about life and their walk with Jesus. 

We continue next week in the book of James as we cover James 1:13-27.  We will spend most of our time dealing with 19-25, so read over those verses several times.  If you haven't yet read through the entire book, why don't you do so this evening?  It will help you in your opening up to God.

As we allow God's word to be that mirror so we can honestly examine our soul, I wanted to share with you a discovery I made today.  It is a new online journal for daily reflection.  Called Examine.me Here is the note from its webpage as to its purpose. "EXAMEN.me is a simple-to-use web site that fosters your personal interaction with God. This modern approach to ancient devotional practices guides you to examen your life as you meditate on scripture, pray, and journal all of your reflections. No matter where you are in your pilgrimage with Christ, EXAMEN.me will help you interact with God."  Check it out and let me know what you think about it.

Have a great evening!

Here is the photo from Christi's graduation on Saturday ... love you Christi!

Middle of the Week

Afternoon all,

Haven't written for a few days, and it's the middle of the week!  We have an Outreach Team meeting tonight, a team that is definately crucial to the future of WCC.  We are all about "connecting people to Jesus" and our OTeam is at the heart of that mission.

The leaders are in the midst of a discussion about what we are attempting to produce here as a church.  The Great commission calls us to produce disciples, but what does one look like?  I came across an article from George Barna which underscores the need for us to keep at this question.  Here is the link to the article, what do you think about it? Defining Spiritual Maturity.

We start our new series on Sunday ... check it out.  I challenged everyone to read through the book of James this week, have you????  Check out this great online resource for your bible reading.

Later, Doug

Back in the Saddle

Its good to be back home after spending time this week in central Missouri.  Thankful to have a Starbucks close ... am I getting citified or what?  The week was a real encourgement to the church in Callao, and I enjoyed getting to know Ken and Linda.  He is the Minister there, and I would ask you to pray for their ministry.  He is doing a great job.

I am looking forward to continuing our series this Sunday about Threads.  If you have any difficult people to get along with, then don't miss this Sunday. 

I want to share a couple of articles from other blogs I regularly read.  The first comes from Leadership Network and the second comes from Rev! Magazine.  They both challenged my thinking ... what do you think?

Why Churches Must Innovate

Innovate or Die!

Enjoy your weekend and I will see you Sunday morning!!

Doug

Efficient or Effective

I am spending the week in Callao, MO.  Callao Christian Church has been around for a while, well over a hundred years.  It is a tiny community about 8 miles west of Macon, MO.  Ken Mantle is the minister and is doing a great job here.  We had 150 on Sunday morning to start the revival, which is terrific considering the town can’t be much larger than that.  I am preaching tonight (Tuesday) and finishing up Wednesday evening.  I will be heading back to Wildwood following the services on Wednesday.  Then it is back to reality.

If you have no clue what a “Revival” is, let me enlighten you.  A revival is a method for reaching out into the community as a witness for Jesus.  At least that was the original idea.  Revivals have been around for well over 100 years.  In the past they would last for up to four weeks!  Of course, there wasn’t much else to compete with people’s time.

To be honest, it is a method of evangelism that is past its effectiveness.  Which leads to an important question, are the method’s we employ at WCC to reach non-Christians effective?  It is too easy to keep at a method long past its effectiveness.

I have been reading in the book, Deliberate Simplicity, by Dave Browning.  Let me share a couple of sentences out of the book:

“Maybe a church has a certain way it’s going about things, and it’s the way the church is ‘supposed’ to be going about things (maybe because ‘we’ve always done it this way’). But it’s not working.  It’s the difference between efficiency and effectiveness.  Efficiency is doing things right.  Effectiveness is doing the right things.  The key work when dealing with things is efficiency.  The key word when dealing with people le is effectiveness.”  

Then Dave asks the question: Has the traditional church given more focus to efficiency or effectiveness?  How can you tell?

It is challenging to ask those questions, because it leads us down roads that can be uncomfortable.  Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying my time at Callao, it is a great group of people who truly love Jesus.   I just don’t want to have a great group of people at Wildwood.  God wants a church that effectively impacts our community!

God bless and enjoy the day ... and remember that God wants to use you to influence someone for Him today.  Don’t miss the opportunity!

Doug