The Sounds of Fall

fall trees mountain

So, there has always been this desire in me to write poetry. I have always enjoyed making words rhyme and finding creative ways of expressing a thought or an idea. I have been driving around a lot lately and have been noticing how beautiful everything is. For some reason, this year more than other years, the trees seem to just burst open with a variety of color patterns and if you drive next to a mountain or a hillside, the entire hillside just looks like a painted canvas and it really is beautiful.

Anyways, I was flipping through some of my poetry and found a poem that I wrote about fall. It seems like it applies to my current surroundings, so I thought that I would share it. Lets together hear the sounds of Fall. Lets together see the impact that Fall can have on our lives, on our relationships, and on our walk with God. Think about what you read and hopefully it will impact your life today in a positive way. Hope you enjoy it, please feel free to comment.

Title: The Sounds of Fall

Crunch
Snap
Happiness to all?
Or happiness to few?

The sound of leaves?
An amazing comparison, which causes people to think
But maybe what I am saying
Can only be answered by that King of Kings

Or maybe what I am trying to say is
The sound of leaves is what you make it
Leaves in the mountains, during the fall
Make the most noise because they are falling

Falling makes no sound you say?
The most exciting part for the leaf is…
…the FALL
Isn’t it the same for humans?

If falling equals sin, then maybe
Maybe the leaf and all humans
Should cling to the tree longer
For if Falling makes no noise
Then clinging to the tree…
…must be a wondrous sound.

Published in: on October 27, 2009 at 9:31 am Leave a Comment

Passion 2010

Today’s post is a video post. I saw this video as a promo for the Passion 2010 event and I thought it was amazing. Check it out. Tell me what you think.

Does your walk with God make you feel the same way that the person in the video is feeling? Think about it.

Published in: on October 16, 2009 at 11:24 am Leave a Comment

SBC Observations – Part 2

university-church-steepleI was advised by my parents to take some time to think about this topic. Apparently I took too much time to think about it and I forgot about it, then 2 months later here I am trying to remember what the heck I was going to talk about in the first place…ahh now I remember. My parents wanted me to be careful how I was going to address this issue before actually writing it and putting it up on the internet, but here it goes.

When I was at the 2009 Pastors Conference in Louisville, KY, I mentioned some of the things that were pressed on my heart by one of my favorite speakers, David Platt. You can read that first observation here. After that message, I took some time to talk with my Dad about a growing concern that I have for the Southern Baptist Convention. Before, I get into all of that, I will briefly mention one of the best things that I believe that the SBC could do. Dr. Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Seminary, has suggested that there be a denomination wide resurgence of the Great Commission. It is a sad day in the lives of supposed “Christians” when we think that we can do church without the Great Commission woven into everything we do, say, proclaim, and believe as a denomination. The fact that there are so many who are getting behind this commission gives me great hope for the future of this denomination.

Now on to my concerns. There are only a few that I will be mentioning in this blog post, but I firmly believe that those concerns can cripple any denomination. These concerns, to me, are so devastating that if you are reading this blog post and see these concerns taking place in your local church, it is my prayer that you may seek to address these issues before any more of these crippling actions continue to hurt the bride of Christ.

The first concern that I would like to mention is one being stuck in the rut of tradition. Now , before you simply write me off as “another youth who wants solely guitars, drums, and contemporary music in all the worship times and who thinks he knows how to fix every problem within the Christian faith.” This utterly not true. While I may be young and energetic to continue serving my God in whatever form or fashion He so choses, I am also a new kid on the block when it comes to all the aspects of the Southern Baptist Denomination. Being a pastors kid for 22 years of my life, I have been in several different types of churches with several different outlooks on what church is supposed to look like. I have seen a church fail at its attempts to try new things and become newer and more appeasing to the younger generation. I have also seen a church fail and die in their stubborn refusal to try new things and give God a chance to work through something new, as opposed to continuing to do things the way its always been because it has always worked.

The churches that thrive. The churches that survive. The churches that make the greatest impact for the Kingdom of God, and in the communities surrounding where the church is located, are churches who are able to meet the needs of the people around them. Just because it worked with you does not mean that is the way it will work for the rest of eternity. The sad thing is, it seems like people go from either one extreme to the other. It is very rare that you find a happy-medium in a church. There a several churches that I believe that are making a strong successful attempt at the happy-medium when it comes to meeting the needs of a multi-generational congregation. If you would like to take a glimpse at what these churches look like you can go here, here, and here.

Why do I say these things? Why do I feel so strongly about this and willing to speak out about it?

Look at 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. Paul is making a case for reaching all people, no matter where there are in their lives. In verse 22 he says, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”

Now take a glance at Matthew 13:52, Jesus says, “And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the Kingdom of Heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” This means that whoever is trained and believes what the truths found in the Word of God, will not only portray the church practices that appeal to themselves or a certain group of people, but that everyone must work together to meet the needs of everyone in the church. The people who say “hymns are best” or “we want drums” are not at church to give God glory, but for their own entertainment.

I implore you to take a closer look at the practices of your own church. Does it meet the needs of everyone or just a select group of people or even a select age group? If not, I encourage you to respectfully present a biblical case that the church staff takes a look at their practices, in order that the maximum amount of people will be impacted by the church, but more importantly, by the Gospel.

Keep Living John 3:30

Published in: on October 1, 2009 at 10:20 pm Comments (1)