I’m Tired

I’m tired
…of singing the same old songs, praying the same old prayers and going through the same old motions.

I’m tired
…of worrying about all of the same old worries, paying all of the same old bills and having all of the same old stress

I’m tired
…of hoping the same old hopes, holding the same old fears and dreaming the same old dreams.

I’m tired
….of living like Jesus didn’t die for me
….of living like His resurrection didn’t assure my salvation
….of living like the eternal God, creator of the universe and lover of my soul, is silent on His throne.

I’m tired
…..of pretending that homelessness is just a problem somewhere else, that widows don’t sit lonely in their homes and that children don’t go hungry

I’m tired
…..of thinking that I can’t do something about it, that I shouldn’t do something about, that I won’t do something about it.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matt 11:28-30

Are you tired? Jesus said “Let me teach you”. He reminds us that the burden that He will give us is light. “Come to me” He says.

Dream all of the dreams YOU want. Do all of the things YOU want to do and BE TIRED.

OR

Come to Jesus. Let Him give you the burden that He has. It’s light, it’s bearable. Amazingly, when we take His work (yolk) we will find rest. BE REFRESHED!

Find rest in the purpose that He has just for you.

Helpful Tips for a Good ’11

First of all, I don’t think I’ll be having a having a New Years resolution.  I don’t think I have ever kept one and I probably never will.  Resolutions are usually born out of  ”the moment” or tradition.  We have them because everybody else does it.  We all want to lose weight, have more money and live generally better lives.  Unfortunately a resolution without a plan is going to get you about as far as all of the other resolutions that you’ve made and not followed through with.  So why not start it out right with a plan?

I want to share two plans with you that I intend to follow this year.  Maybe they’ll help you as well.

Plan #1:  Follow an online daily bible reading plan.

There are a couple of ways that I have found to do this.  One is two become a YouVersion user.  youversion.com is a totally free online bible reader.  You can find any translation imaginable and YouVersion even allows you to keep notes online and interact with other online users.  YouVersion also offers tons of choices for daily bible reading plans.

Another suggestion that I have is to participate in the “Twitter Bible Study” with Greg Surratt.  Greg is the pastor of Seacoast Church in Mt. Pleasant (and beyond).  It’s a great way to never forget to read.  Click here to learn more about it.  I will probably be participating in this.

Plan #2:  Begin the year with a period of fasting.

Fasting is about as far away from our southern culture as we can get but it is a great way to find out realign yourself with God’s purpose and plan for your life.  I believe that God speaks to us more clearly in a fast because we are shedding things to focus on him.

For the last couple of years my church has participated in the Awakening fast.  Go to awake21.org (or just click that link).  Awakening was developed by Stovall Weems for Celebration Church in Jacksonville.  It’s basically a Daniel fast but it is designed to be flexible and I would encourage you to participate however you can.  There are tons of resources including a fasting calendar and “fast friendly” recipes that are a big help.

So there you have it.  My two cents for 2011.  I hope you find this helpful.  If you have any questions or would like more information comment here or drop me an email at wwhutto@gmail.com.

I’d also like to hear from you.  What are some ways that you plan to have a better year?

The Church Defined

You may not realize this but almost everything that scripture gives account of in Jesus’ ministry is not only mentioned in the new testament, but also in the old testament in the form of prophecy.  While at “The Sticks” conference in Orangeburg, SC, this week I has the uncomfortable pleasure of hearing Dennis Pethers  speak about one instance of prophecy that I had missed my whole life.  I want to unpack some of what’s been on my mind after that over the last 24 hours or so.

Let me first start with this scripture.  It’s one that he shared and one that answers the question “What is the work or purpose of the church?”

“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 NAS

You see, it’s really that simple.  Jesus came to seek the lost sheep.  He came find those that have wandered away from Him and His Father.  Jesus didn’t come to decide what kinds of songs we sing on Sunday mornings, or whether or not to have drums and colored lights.  Jesus didn’t come to pat the church leaders of His time on the back and encourage them.  Jesus didn’t take time out of His ministry to stop and speak at the big conference in Jerusalem about 5 fail safe ways to grow your synagogue.  He was too busy go after the lot sheep.  The ones that the previous shepherds (the church leaders of that time) let get away.

Jesus didn’t care about growing “the church”.  Jesus was concerned with growing the Kingdom.  Remember how screwed up the church was back then?  He got in trouble for HEALING A GUY because it was the sabbath.  Don’t get me wrong, I believe that we should honor the sabbath.  God commanded us to.  But, really?  HE HEALED A GUY.

The church of His day was so concerned with keeping the rules of church that they gave up on BEING the church.  They were so worried about appearing to be holy that they ran away from the heart of the Holy One.

How far away from that type of church today?  Would you plan an outreach for a Sunday morning?  Would you skip out on “service” to actually serve somebody?  Could you imagine NOT GOING TO CHURCH on Sunday because you wanted to take a meal to a homeless guy?  You know what the sad fact of my life is?  I spend my entire time budget of serving on serving INSIDE of the church.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am called to do what I do and so are many others that serve in roles INSIDE the physical church.  But is that all we are called to?  After all, what good would a church be without a pastor?

You know, God revealed something to me not long ago:  There are some things that you don’t have to pray about.  Let that sink in for a second.  Think about it.  Do you have to pray about feeding the hungry?   Visiting the imprisoned?  Clothing the naked?  Caring for the widow or the orphan?  When there are things that God’s word clearly instructs us to do we just need to do it.  Save your prayer time for something else.

Jesus told a parable in Luke 15 about the lost sheep.  I alluded to this earlier about prophecy, here’s where I want to show you something incredible that Dennis shared with us the other day.  I want to post Ezekiel 34 below.  Please read it.

1 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God , “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?3 “You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatsheep without feeding the flock.4 “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.5 “They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered.

6 “My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them. ”’”
7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord :8 “As I live,” declares the Lord God , “surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord :

10 ‘Thus says the Lord God , “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’”  Ezekiel 34: 1-10 NAS

You see, when Jesus told that story in Luke 15 that most of us have read time and time again I believe that he was sending a message to the pharisees.  I believe Jesus was saying something like this:  Time is up guys.  You have had my church for too long now.   The ones that you didn’t sacrifice for your own gain, you let wander off.  Instead of freeing the trapped and addicted, you let them die in their bondage.  Instead of caring for the sick and hurting you forsook them and you used the healthy (rich) ones for you own gain.  But now it’s going to change.  There’s a new shepherd in town.  Take your greedy hands off of my people.

Is there any wonder why he was crucified shortly after this?  I mean if He came up in some of our churches talking this talk, who knows.

Now, seriously, listen:  I believe that the church has the answer to all of the worlds problems.  I’m not suggesting that we should close up shop, and I’m not saying we’re doing it all wrong.  Being in ministry (even as a volunteer) has allowed me to come to know some awesome people who genuinely care about people.

The thing is this:  We have to change our perception of the place we go on Sunday mornings.  On our way to church on Sunday mornings we act like we’re on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  There is no place holier than right where you’re standing if you are a follower of Christ because where you go, He goes.  The Holy Spirit inside of you moves.

This is the longest blog ever so let me wrap it up with this.  Sunday isn’t the end of our pilgrimage.  The place where you worship isn’t your destination.  It’s a charging station.  It’s a rallying place.  It’s where we meet to strategize.  The place where we worship isn’t the destination.  It’s the starting point.

God, I pray that you open our eyes more and more everyday so that we see our friends, families and neighbors more like you do.  Break my heart for what breaks yours!

Hope Lives!

Where ever you are, stop and look around.  Within your line of sight, and maybe even within your reach is someone who is hopeless.  It could be a friend, it could be a stranger.  It might even be you.  In today’s troubled times there are a lot of things that we think will fix our situations.  Things like more jobs, better paying jobs.  More favorable working conditions.  Houses that sell faster or maybe cars that we can buy cheaper.  We look around and see lots of needs, but I believe we as a church, and a society, have overlooked the single biggest need of all:  Hope

Hopelessness causes people to give up, to quit.  It causes us to not only accept our situation but to let our situations define us.  Hopelessness is the worst disease that we aren’t treating.  Maybe we’re treating the side effects, or the results, of hopelessness but we are we really putting a dent in the plague of hopelessness that’s running wild through our neighborhoods and cities?  Do we even understand what it means to have hope.  Do you really even know what it is that you hope for?

Psalm 119:166 (NASB) says “I hope for Your salvation, O Lord , And do Your commandments.”  If we hope for salvation, then what are we hoping for?  Titus 3:7 tells us: “so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”  Our hope is eternal life.  It’s escaping the grave to live forever with Jesus our Savior and God our father.  That’s what we hope for.

So it sounds pretty basic right?  Where am I going you’re wondering? (partially because you’re curious and partially because I have a hard time getting to the point sometimes….anyway)  I think whether we want to admit it or not that sometimes we might assume someone’s measure of hope, or even the ability TO hope, by where they work, live, play or even by how much money they do or do not have.  I’m guilty.  Sometimes I think because someone lives in a shack that automatically means that they have no hope.  Maybe because a man is homeless we assume that he is hopeless.  Maybe because a widow never remarried we assume that she is hopeless.

You know what?  We might be right.  But then again, we might be wrong.

Seeing “hope restored to our community” doesn’t necessarily mean that we need to seek to change the economic environment or the workforce.  Bringing hope to the hopeless is not just bringing food and clothes to the needy.  Yes, these are examples of things that can show love and inspire some hope but the truth is that hope comes from the sharing and accepting of the Gospel.  We, through our deeds, cannot save anybody.  Therefor, we cannot meet their basic need to hope because we cannot assure them that they will live even one more moment.

All of the pledge drives and giving campaigns cannot save anybody.  All of the food drives in the world can’t save a soul and if we think that in order to win people to God’s kingdom we have to all of these things, then we are only partially right.  Yes, we must show grace and mercy, just as God has shown His mercy to us, but it’s not our grace that can save a single soul.  Don’t get me wrong.  I do believe that feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and meeting the needs of the poor are the work of the church.  I also believe that all of them are for nothing if in the midst of a filling meal we don’t seek to see people also filled with the Holy Spirit.

We have a problem in our world.  We have a problem in our town.  You have a problem in your town, in your family and maybe even in yourself.  Let’s attack the problem at its source and bring medicine to the dying soul.  When you share your resources, share HIS as well.  Be a channel for God to give the gift of the Gospel, which is eternal life to the hopeless around you!

If you have received Christ then you have received hope.  You have hope.  Hope lives, and it lives in you!

“We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;3 constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,4 knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;”  1 Thessalonians 1:2-4

5

Five, count ‘em, five years since I pulled off one of the biggest upsets ever and took one hot little carolina girl off the market for good. It’s been an interesting five years, too. Good times and bad have come and gone, and more will come and go just as often as the seasons change.

…And that’s OK by me

Because I have my best friend standing with me through it all!

I love you Kim! Happy Anniversary!