I had really only given my life over to serving God a few month’s when my boyhood best friend’s step-dad passed away. I hadn’t really spoken with him much over the past few months, but to my knowledge he was an atheist.

I guess the family asked me to officiate the funeral because I was a friend and I think they viewed me as pretty religious.

I wanted to help if I could, but I was clueless. I was 18 years old.  I was not a pastor.  I remember I was terrified. I remember I wanted to be true to the Bible and not offend everybody at the funeral. I don’t remember anything I said.

That was 30 years ago.  I don’t thing I’ve ever gone a year since without thinking about it.  I knew this man for years and I don’t think I ever clearly shared the gospel with him.

Here’s what I do know; eternity is a long, long time. And without receiving the forgiveness Christ offers we will spend all of eternity in unimaginable darkness and torment totally separate from God and all that is good.

But I also know this; God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8).

This week you and I have the best opportunity we will have all year to invite people to church.   Surveys show that almost 9 out of 10 unchurched people would attend an Easter service at church if someone invited them.  Surveys also show that only 2 out of 10 church attenders will invite someone to church.

Could I encourage you to pray for an opportunity to ask someone to attend an Easter service with you on Sunday?

Could I encourage you to take the opportunity when God gives it to you?

I would like to point out that they are dressed in very modest jammies (“jammies” is a Greek word from the root meaning “you really shouldn’t go out in public wearing that”).

Everybody in Texas seems to has an opinion on this.  This is a lot of opinions (and every Texan opinion counts for two “regular”  opinions).

That being said, I thought it was important to add a Floridian opinion.

Some would say that a “stunt” like this to attract people to church is a poor strategy to reach people who are not yet followers of Jesus.  I’ve heard it said that “what you bring them in with, you have to continue to keep them” (i.e. if you’re on the roof this week, you’ll need to be on the steeple next week).

This is a good sociological observation, but not a good theological one.

One extreme belief is that the only strategy for evangelism should be to live as Christ would in our community.  We share our faith with people as they see our love for them and for others.  In evangelical circles this thinking (or some version of it) is often called incarnational thinking.

Another extreme belief is that the only effective strategy for reaching people is to attract them to a church or meeting where they will hear the gospel proclaimed.  This is often called attractional thinking.

What makes these strategies extreme is when either of them are presented as the ONLY way to reach people.  You don’t have to go far in church history to see both incarnational and attractional evangelism.

Incarnational Evangelism:
42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper, and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity – 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. – Acts 2:42-47

Attractional:
2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 5 At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. 6 When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. 14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you… 41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day-about 3,000 in all.
- Acts 2:2,5,14,41

You will notice that what attracted these people was not the recognition of their own spiritual need.  It was not that they had seen the love of God expressed in the lives of sincere followers of Jesus.  There was a really loud noise.  And a bunch of people said, “Dude! There’s a really loud noise over there.  Let’s go check it out!’

When they got there, the heard the gospel.

It’s my prayer that a bunch of people in Texas who may not have yet recognized their own spiritual need  will say, “Dude there’s some crazy guy who’s in bed with his wife on a roof streaming interviews about what God says about sex! Let’s go check it out.”

Maybe they’ll be baptizing 3000 people in grapevine next week.

Would I spend 24 hours in a bed on a roof with my wife? Honestly…? I’d have to ask my wife.

What do I have to say to Ed Young? To quote The Apostle Paul (I use the word “Apostle” because statistically, people are 23% more likely to believe your quote if you throw in the word “Apostle.).

“…Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,” – Philippians 1:18b.

I’m sure we would all benefit from some more opinions on this topic, so please feel free to use the comments section (just don’t forget to quote an Apostle).

I learned yesterday the Panama City definition of a split second is “the amount of time that elapses between when the postman rings my doorbell and then puts a sticker on my door saying he needed a signature and couldn’t drop off my package because I wasn’t home and sprints to his mail truck and speeds away.”

So I called the post office to see if it was there and if I could pick it up today.  I was concerned that I would need to wait in a line of Space Mountain at Disney proportions, but the postmaster informed me that there was no one in the post office.  He said that on Monday their parking lot looked like Northstar’s during an 11:00am service (well he didn’t say that exactly, but it was the same general idea).

Since the Post Office does 1 day express mail I was surprised that no one was mailing packages on Dec. 23.  I did a little research and found out that Fed Ex is extremely busy on Dec. 23.  Why is that?

Apparently Christmas procrastinators do not trust that the Post Office will get their package to it’s destination over night. They believe the Fed Ex hype if “it absolutely, positively has to get there overnight.”

It doesn’t matter what really happens, people make their choices based on what they expect.  They expect Fed Ex will deliver. Overnight.

I wonder what the people coming to the Christmas Eve services are expecting?  Many have learned to expect religion when they attend church.

I just finished talking with a man in the foyer who said how refreshing it was to find the people at Northstar were not pretending to be something they weren’t (I don’t think that was what he was expecting).

I wonder what you’re expecting to find at Northstar this Christmas Eve? Because what you expect will determine if you come and what you’ll experience once you arrive.

Here’s what you can expect…

Jesus.

Whether or not Lee Baker hits every cord perfectly (and I’ve never heard him do anything else), whether or not Marty Martin says words and phrases that those of us who speak the English language have yet to encounter (I have no comment on this) what you should expect this Christmas at Northstar is Jesus.

Come.

Experience.

Jesus

“You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” – Jeremiah 29:13

The app has been termed “remarkably detailed” by technology experts and iPhone owners call it “depressingly accurate.”

Said one iPhone user, “ I am shocked that my phone has been documenting the fact that the highlight of my week is watching people how to figure out the self-serve checkout at Walmart. And yes, I don’t take vacations, or try new restaurants, talk to people, or read. But does that warrant my phone blinking “pathetic” on the boring scale?”

Other phone users have seen detailed charts mapping their daily tedium: Work, store, work, store, work, store, work, store, and then after 263 cycles a trip to the doctor to have a sore bunion evaluated.

Fortunately, the phone offers help for the sudden, insightful realization that you’re life is boring and uneventful.  When the tedium reaches a critical mass, and concern over the economy and the uncertainties of the world limit the phone’s battery life, the app automatically launches your Bible app.

Boredom and monotony are symptoms of a life distracted from the awe-inspiring immensity of God. The Bible will help you bring your relationship with God back into focus and the adventure back in your life.

Live. Laugh. Join a Northstar fun group.

You need to laugh together.

You need to laugh at yourself.

You need to laugh at one of my jokes.

Please.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice. – Philippians 4:4

Joy: There’s not an app for that.  But there’s a God for it.

One of the keys to the answer is the word “needlessly.”  For example if the fashion or established standard of the culture is to dress immodestly you must violate that standard because God’s word clearly says not to dress immodestly (1 Tim. 2:9).

However If I refuse to wear close-toed shoes when I officiate a funeral because I prefer to wear sandals, I have needlessly violated the established standard of the culture (as much as I have searched Leviticus for a verse that says I must wear sandals to a funeral, it’s not in there — although I’m sure Jesus wore sandals to Lazaras’ funeral).

Let me give another example.

Have you ever wondered what qualifies a word to be labeled a curse word?  There are actually two reasons:

1) When we trivialize a word that God sees as weighty and eternal we make it a curse word. If we use God’s name in any other way than to address Him or refer to Him with a sense of respect and awe we have just done the verbal equivalent of  spiting in the face of God.

Jesus speaks of hell as a real place of eternal suffering and damnation as the horrifying  eternal fate of those who have rejected God’s mercy. When we use  “hell” to emphasize our “no” and “damn” to emphasize our “good” we have stripped these word’s of their sacred weight and importance, dishonored God and desensitized ourselves to that which should never be common.

Before the air gets too thin up here on my high horse, let me state that I would have already been damned to hell (and I’m using theses words in their most Biblical sense) for the way I’ve used these words were it not for God’s mercy.

I think it’s time to move on to the second kind of cursing.

2) Some words are established in a certain culture and time as curse words.  For example when I was in 2nd grade, why did my mom smile when I used the word “poo poo” referring to something my little niece did and violently wash my mouth out with soap when I used the word “s**t” to describe something my big sister did (I’m hoping the strategic use of asterisks will keep my mom from feeling the need to get permission from Jesus to visit me from heaven with a hefty bar of Dial soap).

Who gets to decide this?  Is there some guy named “Billy-Bob” in a government cubicle somewhere who decides which words are appropriate to describe excrement (my apologies to any biology majors I may have just offended who actually know what “excrement” means)?

But regardless of who gets to decide, I know the words that have been established in my culture as curse words (and so do you) and if I use them so I can sound “edgy” or get someones attention I am needlessly violating the established standards of others and not acting in love.

I know you may disagree and I’d love to hear your perspective. But until then, I’ll be using the phrase “poo poo” when I leave the bathroom and I’ll be wearing real shoes when I arrive at a funeral.

But there is one place when I don’t think Jesus would say “Hi” to people.

Exiting the men’s room.

You see, the entrance (and exit) to the men’s room and the ladies room are directly across from each other.  This means that if I exit the bathroom at the same time a lady is exiting her feminine bathroom counterpart we have “an encounter.”

Whenever I have an exiting-the-bathroom-encounter I ALWAYS totally ignore the lady I just came face to face with.  In fact we don’t actually come face to face because I avert my eyes and sprint for the hallway.

If I have done this to you please don’t take it personally. I always have this feeling that if I say “Hi” to a lady too soon after she has exited the restroom I come off a little like a creeper (this is a term I have learned from my teenage daughters, as in “Dad when you smile like that you look like a creeper.”)

Could someone please tell me how much distance you need between a lady and the bathroom door before you can say “Hi” without being labeled a “creeper?”

Whatever the socially acceptable distance is, I’m pretty sure Jesus would abide by it (you never hear Jesus being referred to as a “creeper” in the New Testament).

This is one of those theological “gray areas” that is determined by the culture in which you live. I’m sure the “no creeper” distance from the bathroom is different in Panama City than it may be in Hong Kong or Timbuktu.

Surprisingly, this kind of stuff actually matters to people who are trying to follow Jesus.

1 Corinthians 13:5 says “love is not rude” (some translations read “love does not act unbecomingly” or “unmannerly”). The Greek word we translate “rude” literally means “fashion, appearance, or outward behavior.”  “What is not in keeping with established standards of taste or proper form.”

The Apostle Paul is talking about things that are determined by your culture and are constantly changing.

But the Paul also tells us in Romans 12:2 that we are not to be conformed to this world. How does that fit with not violating the “fashion” or “established standards” of your culture? Please leave a comment below.

We’ll talk about it in my next post.

But in the mean time, can someone please tell me where the “creeper zone” ends by the women’s restroom?

As we focus on God’s plan for how to get out of debt we are going to select at least 6 people that we will give $1,000 to pay down their consumer debt.

If you’d like to participate, you can sign up here.

But you might be asking this QUESTION: “Isn’t giving away money at church a little “gimmicky?”

ANSWER: No… we’re just trying to follow Jesus.

Jesus cared about people who were weighed down with the challenges of this life. He fed people who were hungry and healed people who couldn’t walk.

But Jesus knew that full people get hungry again and even healed legs eventually lose their strength.

Because Jesus loves people, He cares more about their broken eternal souls than their broken temporary circumstances.  He cares more about someone’s quality of life for the next 50 million years  in heaven or hell than their next 50 years on earth.

But Jesus knew that people who don’t think they will survive the month are not usually very interested in hearing about what their life could be like in a hundred thousand years.  People who are about to lose their home to foreclosure are rarely interested in talking about the “eternal home in heaven” that Jesus might be preparing for them.

So Jesus dealt with the immediate problems that people were facing so they were willing to talk about their eternal problems.  If you read John 5 you’ll see one of the many examples of Jesus caring first for someone’s immediate temporal need so He could then address their eternal need.

Our church helping several people get rid of $1,000 of their debt is not a gimmick. It’s an opportunity for our Northstar family to invite their neighbors, family and friends to a church that cares about their immediate needs as well as their eternal ones.

Find someone who is struggling financially.  Invite them to come learn God’s plan for budgeting, investing and debt. Tell them they might get rid of $1,000 of their consumer debt when they attend.

Go ahead.

Jesus would.

Here’s how it worked for Abraham (the father of faith).

19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, – Heb. 11:19-20

I find it personally challenging that Abraham “faced the fact” that Sarah’s womb was dead and his body was “as good as dead.”  I wonder how Abraham feels having his physique described in scripture for all eternity (because the Word of God is eternal) with the phrase “as good as dead?”

Without faith it is impossible to please God. But without facing the facts it is impossible to have faith. Here’s what I mean.

• You face the fact that you don’t know how you’re going to pay your bills this month.
• You face the fact that your health is failing.
• You face the fact that someone close to you has let you down.
• You face the fact that you don’t even have someone close to you.

And then you face the promise of God.  Find a promise in God’s word that specifically addresses the fact that is troubling you.

What am I going to put in the space between the fact I faced and the promise I found?

I get to choose.

If I dwell on “the fact,” the space is filled with unbelief and worry and God is dishonored. If I dwell on the promise, then the space is filled with strength and confidence in God, and God is pleased with my faith.

But if I never “face the facts” I live in this fantasy world of denial, God is never invited in (because I don’t realize how much I need Him) and my fantasy quickly becomes a nightmare.

So I choose too…

Face the facts.

Find a promise.

Focus on the promise.

Grow in faith.

Please God.

Typically, Pastor’s Kids grow up “in church” waiting around all day (and sometimes all night) complaining & making trouble while their parents do their job.  Most Pastor’s Kids (at least in their teen years) aren’t all that excited about the church their dad or mom works for (you’ll notice I’ve chosen my words carefully here).

However, most PK’s are smart enough to know that if they want their parents to continue to be employed (and have enough money to continue to pay for the data plan on their cell phone), when somebody asks, they’d better smile and say how much they love the church. But how do you know what they REALLY think about the church?

I was thinking about that very question as I was driving to church this morning.   I realized that our staff teens don’t just attend our church.  EVERY ONE of them volunteer (as in, of their own volition) in at least one ministry of our church.  Over 90% of them actually hold a leadership position in a ministry.

In fact, most of our staff regularly find themselves at Northstar, not because the staff member is ministering to someone in the church, but because they’re waiting for their teenage son or daughter who is ministering to someone.

If you’re interested in what Northstar Staff teens REALLY think about our church, just listen to what they do.

My whole life I’ve dreamed about working at a church like this.

Top financial experts announced this morning that any chance for the sputtering U.S. economy to stay out of recession rests solely on the shoulders of  Lynn Haven resident and Northstar attender Anita Groop, (not her real name) who has still not signed up for a Northstar Group.

On a side note, If you can identify the secret meaning of Anita’s name you will win a lifetime supply of free, unlimited coffee and donuts each Sunday morning.

Since starting to fill out her connection card with the group of her choice during the 5 p.m. service on September 4, Anita has been closely monitored by Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner, market analysts and government officials, all of whom confirmed the future of the U.S., and possibly the world, hinges on Anita’s completing that card and joining a group.

“It’s all up to Anita now,” said Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who along with millions of investors worldwide is holding his breath as Anita finds several of the groups she is interested in full. “At this point, our only shot at creating jobs is for Anita to pick a group by week’s end.” Ben said.

Markets have been fluctuating wildly since Anita told a friend she may sign up for the Wednesday 12 group. The Dow Jones industrial average spiked 300 points on news she would provide a salty treat the first week, but took a 400-point plunge after she said she prefers to bring soda in the fifth or sixth week.

The Wall Street Journal called me to ask me a question. In your opinion as Northstar Groups pastor, what are our chances for survival?  I told the WSJ, “We’re desperately hoping she’ll join that Tuesday group she asked about. Not only would that keep us out of a recession, but provide a huge boost to consumer confidence. Otherwise I expect all the PIG countries, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain to fall into economic ruin.”

I explained to the Greek Parliament, media and the general public that we are doing everything in our power to get Anita into a group, before leaders in Washington have to call an emergency joint session of Congress to debate a bill that would provide Anita with tax breaks in excess of Warren Buffet’s in exchange for her joining a group. President Obama called to remind me “the clock is ticking. ”

My message to Anita and all the other Anita’s  out there that have not signed up for a group. You still have time to save our society, the Parthenon, the Sistine Chapel, and the Roman Colosseum. Sign up now.

Next post – Charlie Sheen joins Marty’s group