Doctor, Heal Yourself or Preacher, Feed Yourself


I want to be transparent with my brothers and sisters in Christ (in all I do and say) so I’ve shared this truth (or better said confessed my sin) of not having a constant walk with Christ with the Men’s Small Group and with the Monday Night’s Small Group. I’ve studied to the furthest points in preparing to preach through the gospel of John and in preparing to teach through Hebrews but I have stopped feeding myself God’s Word. One day turned into a week and a week turned in a month and so on. I told myself that I was busy doing God’s work; too busy to eat. The Holy Spirit kept reminding me that Martha was too busy to seat at His feet and learn but Mary made the time to seat at His feet. My make-up is more like Martha than Mary but I need to stop and seat at my Master’s feet and learn of Him.

I can always tell when I’m not walking like I should when my temper isn’t as long as it usually is. The last week, my spirit has been dark to the point I just wanted to do nothing. That is not me at all. I just read two chapters of Revelation and man it was so sweet to my soul. I felt the loving embrace of my Lord welcoming to His feet. My dark mood is replaced with peace. I had forgotten what it feels like to seat and rest in my Master’s arms. Only one word can describe it; AWESOME.

I write this only to encourage you to keep your walk constant. If you have a good walk then great; it’s so easy to allow ministry to keep us from our true calling of knowing our Savior and learning from Him. That can only be done in reading His Words and speaking with Him. With teaching through Hebrews, I’ve been reminded that we can go to our Heavenly Father boldly through his Son anytime we want. The Old Testament people had to go through the priest and the high priest could only enter God’s presence once a year.

May God grant you peace in your daily walk with Him.

My Little Girl



On Wednesday night, I burned 2 CD’s full of Ripley’s photos to give to Teresa’s parents. I put all the photos we have of Ripley; from the ultra-sounds to the ones we took last week. It’s amazing how much she has changed. We just bought Ripley a new rocket ship (what we call her car-seat) because she out grew her first one. I saw a photo from Thanksgivings Day of 2009 where she barely took up half her first car-seat. It blew me away.

I can’t believe in just another 5 ½ weeks, Ripley will be one year old. God has blessed us with such a great little girl. This past year has taught me a lot on relying on God. After being just 5 days olds, we found out that Ripley was born with her lower intestines reversed. It’s called mal-rotation and on her 10th day she was in CHKD and having surgery. God carried Ripley, Teresa, and I through the surgery and recovery. There is no tell-tell sides of this condition other than a 2 inch scare that is barely noticeable. God is good.

Teresa’s aunt gave us the DVD series “So Your Baby Can Read” so Teresa has been watching it with Ripley. If you are not aware of this series, it helps children plan to read. We are in the first DVD which you watch until the child is 14 months old. Ripley is really learning; she is clapping all the time (one of the thing on the DVD) and yesterday she is starting to try to wave. She is very cute doing it. I’m praying that she has Teresa’s ability to learn fast and loves to read. She already has her beauty and now I’m hope she has Teresa’s brains. Poor girl has my energy level so she is always moving like her daddy.

Below are the newest photos of Ripley in action.

Digging Deeper



On Sunday morning, I lead a men’s small group. The last few weeks, we are studying the book of Hebrews. After 4 years of using curriculum, the men wanted to just read through and discuss each chapter. I challenged the men to not just read the book but to ready study it during the week. One of the guys sent me an e-mail with questions relating to his study. Below are his e-mail and my answers to his questions.

Tom,

I was reading Hebrews 6 and 7 this morning, when I came across the cross references which was talking about covenants. So, I went off on a bit of a tangent but, I have some questions for you. I did a little bit of reading on the Abraham, Nomadic, Davidic, Mosaic, and the "new covenant" in Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31:31-34 reads:

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Ok so here come the questions...

Question 1: The covenant is with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Are we included in that? By we, I mean gentiles and 'Christians'?

Answer: Jeremiah is telling Israel that a new covenant will be made and that new covenant is Jesus Christ. The nature of this covenant in general is a new covenant and not according to the covenant made with them when they came out of Egypt; not as if that made with them at Mount Sinai were a covenant of nature and innocence. Sinners in the Old Testament were saved by old covenant upon their repentance, and faith in a Messiah to come, whose blood, confirming that covenant, was typified by that of the legal sacrifices as shown in Ex. 24:7, 8. Jesus Christ is the new covenant; the Promised One who paid the sin debt once for all. We are part of this new covenant because through belief in what Christ did for us we are called God’s children.
Question 2: If we are God's people then don't we have law written on our hearts? And if so, why? Why do we have something written on our hearts that can only condemn us as law can?

Answer: The whole “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts” refers to the indwelling of God (in the form of the Holy Spirit) in the hearts of God’s people and not the law as the Ten Commandments. In this passage, Jeremiah is showing the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. The new covenant brings with it the grace of regeneration: its doctrine, therefore, is not that of the letter, but penetrates into the heart and reforms all the inward faculties, so that obedience is rendered to the righteousness of God.

Question 3: In v 34 it says 'for they shall all know me...' does that mean that Hebrews (or other folks he is talking about) are saved? Because they know God and he will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more. I mean that sounds a lot like salvation.

Answer: I’m thinking that Hebrews 8:12 is quoting Jeremiah 31:34, so reading this passage (Heb. 8:12) in context will answer this one. The new covenant also promised knowledge of God based on personal experience according to Jeremiah 31:34 and Hebrews 8:12. The knowledge of God based on personal experience was limited under the old covenant because the law restricted access to God. Only the high priest was able to enter the Most Holy Place where God dwelled on Earth. And that entrance was only available to the high priest once a year. The superior high priest, Jesus Christ, has provided access into the very presence of God and He (Jesus) invites us to draw near. The new covenant makes a personal knowledge of God available to us. The final characteristic of the new covenant is that God would no longer remember his people's sins. This does not simply mean that God had a decision to forget some information about the sins committed by his people. Rather it means that God is providing a means by which the sin problem can be taken care of. Atonement, not just for sins but for sin, was made by the better sacrifice offered by Christ.

Showing True Love



Yesterday, I preached on John 13: 31-38 which is Jesus giving his disciples a new commandment to love each other. I pointed our several things regarding this passage of scripture. The most important is that this is not a new commandment but a completed commandment.

God gave Israel the Ten Commandments basically telling them that they could not follow them so a sacrifice was needed to atone for their sins. The commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself” is the original commandment. The command to love one another that Jesus gives his disciples (and us) is not new in the sense that it had never been given before. The Greek word for new that is used here does not refer to an innovation - something never before existing. Rather, it refers to renewal and restoration. The love commandment's newness comes from the fact that the work of the cross and the gift of the Holy Spirit were about to make it possible to really love one another for the first time. The commandment was renewed by the work of Christ. Because of what Christ did on the cross, we are able to truly love our neighbor and our fellow Christians as God first intended us to do so.

Our people at Common Ground took this sermon to heart yesterday and did show love to one of own; in every sense of the word “love.” This past Monday, we found out that Barbara Dean passed away. Barbara was only with us for a year before she had a massive stroke which made her wheelchair bond and unable to speak (or sing). Because of the stroke, she was sent back home (by her daughter) to Nassau Bahamas so she could be taken care of by the family. That was 3 years ago and this past Monday God called her home. Emmy (her daughter) still comes to our little church. We made known that a minimum of $350 was needed to help Emmy make it to Nassau for the September 4th funeral of her mom. Roger (our senior pastor) told the people during the announcements of the amount needed and $650 came in. Not only do we have enough for Emmy’s plane ticket, but extra for whatever is needed. We took this new commandment to heart yesterday and by our actions we showed we are Christ's disciples.

Any of the spiritual gifts can be and have been imitated by non-Christians for profit. Any of the external marks of piety that Christians have adopted can be faked. But sustained, on-going love for each other, love modeled after Christ's love for us cannot be counterfeited. Such love is the true mark of the Christian.

Conservatism Does Not Equal Salvation


This post is influenced by what I have been hearing the last few weeks on talk radio and Fox News channel (which I enjoy watching) and seeing since the early 1980s. I am very conservative in my Biblical Theology and Liberal in my Methodology which means I preach Christ is the only way to heaven but serve others with God’s love with no strings attached. God draws people to Himself not me. When it comes to politics I try to be apolitical; meaning, I do not use God’s pulpit to preach the GOP or the DNC platform. I hold to what Billy Graham once said, “I’m not for the right wing or for the left wing; I’m for the whole bird.”

I think in our churches; especially the evangelical ones (once called fundamentalist churches) that when we see and hear someone who is a conservative politician who think they are a Christian; especially if they claim to be one. I’ve learned to not make that assumption. Some who claim to be are and some are not; God truly is the only One who knows His children. I want to caution Christians to not leap to that conclusion.

I agree with Glenn Beck on somethings and I think he and his radio partners are funny; however, I can not and will not call him a Christian. He is a Mormon and if you know anything about the “Latter Day Saints” you know they are not Christians. They hold to works to earn salvation and they believe that God (or what they call God) is only one of many gods. He is the god of this section of space but there are others. There is only one true God and there is only one way to heaven and it’s not through works; it’s through Jesus Christ. So use caution when you put too much into what Glenn Becks says when he is saying America needs to get back to its foundation. He is speaking about “spiritualism” and not Christianity. He sees (I heard him say this on the O’Reilly Factor) the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and any other group’s god as being the same; they are not. Research it out; yes the Christian and Jewish faith hold to one true God but the Jews do not see Jesus as the promised Messiah. When you research Islam, Allāh is not the same name for the God of Christianity, but is the name of the moon god thus the use of the Islamic symbol of the moon and star.

I am saying this so you don’t assume a conservative politician is a Christian, or a liberal politician isn’t a Christian; check them out. Since the 1980’s rise of the “Religious Right” more politicians have made the claim of being a Christian. I can not say who is and who is not but actions speak very loudly. The best test to determine if a person is a true Christian (not fool proof) is if they say Christ only when speaking about eternal salvation. If a person says Christ plus (anything) they are most likely not a Christian or really theologically ignorant. If they say Christ plus the church, Christ plus good works, or Christ plus . . . a read flag should pop up because of John 14:6 (Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.).

I write this only to make sure people are not blindly following anything or anyone other than the one true God and relying on Him through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection from the grave. Be a person a political conservative or a political liberal; if they confess Christ only for salvation they are a child of God. If a person is a political conservative or a political liberal and says Christ plus whatever, there is a good chance they are just religious. Being religious will not get a person to heaven; the person Jesus Christ does. It’s something to think about.

The “One” Who Does



From time to time, I think about what God is doing with Common Ground Community Church. I can’t believe it hasn’t been a year yet since we put more focus on getting the ministries of the church more organized. Roger (the Senior Pastor) asked me to get the church better organized because this is my giftedness. Last night Teresa mentioned how he has changed (in a good way) and it is because he can now just focus on studying for sermons and preparing for the Leadership Training sessions we do for future leaders of CGCC. In less than a year, a lot has happened in our little church and ministries are more organized and we are growing.

It can be freeing to know that you can rely on someone else to get things done so you can focus on your passion. I learned several years back that God is the One who builds a ministry/church. After all, the church is His bride. I’ve been a stuff member of some churches that say you must do XYZ and the ministry or church will grow. Sometimes it did and sometimes it didn’t. If it grew, then you felt like you did things right and if they didn’t you had the stress of figuring things out to get it to grow. If you notice the common denominator is “you.” We don’t do anything to grow a church and/or ministry. God does the growing.

As the Executive Pastor of CGCC, my goal isn’t to organize the church to better reach our community with the gospel of Christ. My goal is for us to stay out of God’s way and follow His lead. If we keep our eyes on our Master, He will direct us where He wants us; He will send people to us to reach and teach; and He will send us labors to work with us to reach our community.

Once I discovered this truth; that it’s all about Him and bringing God the glory it has freed me to serve Him better. It’s not about building a name for myself in the SBC or having people ask me how we got it done or how we grew to X number; it’s all about pointing people to Jesus Christ. The words me, we (the Elders of CGCC), or us (the members of CGCC) should never be used in completing the work of the gospel. God does not need us to do His work; He chooses to use us.

Remember the main goal of the any local church. It’s not to build to a certain number; it’s not to be known in our community, city, start, or country; it’s not to have other churches calling asking how, why, or when; it is all about honoring our Savior and bringing Him the glory.

You’ve Got to Be Kidding!!

Today the department I work in at Dollar Tree did a team building outing; it was fun. Before we left, I sent out a memo suggesting another type of team building event. I put a link to this blog along with a link of the video of me finishing Saturday’s race. I wrote that next year’s “The Military Challenge” race would be an ideal team building event. You can have up to 5 people to a team. I meant it as a joke, but I have enjoyed the reactions from my co-workers.

Not long after I sent the memo, I was talking with Teresa and I heard “You’ve got to be kidding; that man’s not right!” from the lady who sits beside me. I told Teresa I thought she had read my memo and she did. I know that are some that might even think about it but I know they are few. We adventure racers are few and far between.

On Saturday, I did see a team of 4 that started with me in the second stage from First Baptist Church of Norfolk. I thought that maybe next year I can get a few of the guys from Common Ground to run with me. One almost did this year until he did something to his knee. We have some in our church that would try it at least. Maybe next year, there will be a Team Common Ground. That would be a different type of outreach.

The Military Challenge 2010

Below are some photos of the race I ran in on Saturday, July 31. This race is Teresa’s anniversary gift to me; 14 years on July 20. My wife knows me so well; I loved this gift. In the middle of the photos is a link to the race’s website that has a video of me finishing the race; its 25 seconds long. If you are wondering why I ran this race, my answer is why not. That’s how I’m wired. A challenge is never too big.
Since this is “The Military Challenge” there were a lot of military there. I saw a Marine wearing a t-shirt with “Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body.” I agree completely. Enjoy seeing my insanity.

The face of a very excited man ready to get dirty!

It's 6:45am and we just arrived at the VA Beach Sporting Complex.

You people are crazy; it's 6:45am. It's sleeping time!

Stretching for the race.

Just kissed Ripley for luck.