Most students said goodbye to their summer breaks and returned to school this week!  Wow, two months have passed by entirely too quickly (most students would undoubtedly agree with that assessment as well J).  As I’ve been praying for the students over the course of the past week, I can’t help but feel a certain amount of trepidation for them.  Our children are attending school in a totally different environment than what we had to deal with.  They will also face challenging situations that we never before experienced.  Let’s face it.  It’s a very uncertain, often scary world in which we live, and some of us are sending our children out there…alone.  You understand the feeling.  So my prayer for them over the past week or so is that they simply remember that they are not walking alone and that they don’t lose sight of who it is that is walking with them.  I pray that they would learn new lessons and that they would learn them well.  I have also prayed that they would keep their eyes open to new things that the Lord Himself wants to teach them throughout the new school year.  Finally, I pray for a sense of boldness and passion and commitment to sharing their faith with their peers, and I pray that the Lord would lead them to intentional opportunities to share His love with others.

 

That got me thinking.  Am I doing what it is I am praying for the students to do?  Am I living out my faith in my setting CONSISTENTLY?  Am I looking INTENTIONALLY for opportunities to share Christ with others?  Am I still TEACHABLE?  I’d like to think that I am doing all these things, but alas, the reality of the situation is that I’m not.  The apostle John talks about this in 2 John:

 

“(4) It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.  (5) And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning.  I ask that we love one another.  (6) And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands.  As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

 

(9) Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.”-2 John 4-6, 9

 

It occurred to me that the students aren’t the only ones who have things to learn.  Sometimes, we as Christians have this mindset that we know all we need to know about the things of God.  As a result, we almost live our lives on auto pilot, doing our daily routines with little to no direction from the Lord.  If our desire is for our children to walk in the truth, then what are doing to point them to that truth?  John is saying in this passage that the formula is not rocket science.  This is nothing new.  Rather, our most important lesson to learn is one that the Lord gave us when we first came to saving faith in Him.  That lesson is to simply live lives of love that point people to eternal truth.  If we live those lives consistently and intentionally, and remain teachable as John instructs us to do in verse 9, then we will be pointing people to someone who can and will change their lives.  Lesson received.

 

I never expected that the Lord would take me “back to school”, so to speak, but here I am.  I’m thankful that He is still teaching me things after nearly 30 years of walking with Him, even if we have to go back to basics sometimes.  What about you?  What is the Lord teaching you?  Are you pointing your children to the truth through the way you live your life?  If not, then maybe it’s time to go back to school and spend some time with the Lord and see what He is trying to teach you.  Class is back in session.  Are you prepared?

 

Until Next Time,

 

Pastor JP   

If you are anything like me, you cannot believe that summer is already practically over!  In just about one week (or even less for some), kids will be headed back to school!  As for here at the church, we are closing the books on our busy summer and are looking ahead to the fall and if you can believe it, even 2016!  That’s right, our budget and committee processes are in full swing, all in an effort to get us prepared for things on the horizon in the coming year.  It is an unquestionably exciting time, and I am profoundly grateful for the faithful men and women here at UBC that are stepping up and putting our Great Commission Strategy in high gear.  But….

 

Not a big but, but a but nonetheless.  Allow me to be transparent and confess something only to you….I feel like I’m barely holding on.  I’ve no more caught my breath from the frantic pace of the summer only to jump right back in as we look ahead.  Please don’t take this as complaining, because I’m not.  I absolutely love what I do, and there is absolutely no other group I’d rather do it with than all of you.  I think the Lord is just reminding me of the inevitability of change, so I figured I would just share the lesson with all of you as well, just in case you might need it too.

 

Change can be a frightening thing, can’t it?  I know that the vast majority of folks don’t really like change.  I mean, really, think about it.  We have the same routine every day.  We get up at the same time, go to the same job, you get the idea.  It can sometimes be the same thing in our spiritual lives.  We sit in the same spot in church.  We wear the same clothes to church, talk to the same people at church, and eat at the same place after church.  Now am I right or am I right?  The thing is that sometimes something will pull us from that all-important routine, then it becomes a frightening scenario to us, almost like going down Niagara Falls in a barrel!

 

The fact of the matter is that change is a constant in our lives.  It’s going to come, whether we want it to or not.  But here’s the silver lining, friends.  For the Christian believer, there is another constant, and that constant is found in the person of Jesus Christ.  The writer of Hebrews said it best when he said:

 

            “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8, NIV)

 

I just love it when the Lord points me to Scripture that serves as a simple reminder of what I’ve known all along, but perhaps just needed a little reinforcement.  Despite all the change going on in my life, whether it’s family schedules or hectic church life, Jesus Christ is the one true constant in my life.  He is unchanging…and unmoving.  That means that I can rest on Him and let Him lead me as opposed to trying to fight the current of change.  I don’t have to be afraid because I know who it is that is leading me. 

 

I remember as a young boy swimming in a lake at a camp I was attending.  Like most young boys, I wanted to impress the girls there with how good of a swimmer I was.  However, unlike most young boys, I wasn’t a good swimmer.  As I swam about halfway out, I quickly realized the mistake I made.  My arms and legs began to tire, and I felt myself going under quickly.  The more I tried to flap around and cry out, the more fatigued I became.  Just as my head went under the surface of the water, I felt the strong arms of a teenage girl (totally embarrassing) pull me back up and began to swim me back to shore.  As I continued to fight to keep myself up, I vividly remember her telling me “Stop fighting.  Just be still.  Your fighting is bringing you down.”

Wow.  My own efforts to fight were actually my downfall.  I wonder if it’s not the same thing in our spiritual lives.  We fight so hard to resist the change and try to do everything on our own instead of resting in the Lord’s arms and letting Him take us where we need to get to.

 

So consider this your friendly reminder as you do back to school shopping or as you get ready for the last few months of 2015.  In some aspect of your life, change is either already here or it’s coming fast.  But if you know Christ in an intimate and personal way, you don’t have to be afraid of it.  Instead of going down Niagara Falls in a barrel, it can be more like tubing down the Bogue Chitto (if you’ve never done that, I highly recommend it J).  Is your fighting bringing you down?  If it is, remember the constant in your life.  I am praying for you on your journey down the river.

 

Until Next Week,

 

Pastor JP

 

I’m back!!!!!  What an absolutely crazy three weeks it’s been!!!!  I know several of you have been wondering where the blog has been.  No excuses, but simply put, it has been quite a challenge to keep my head above water.  There has been something going on almost every day for the past three weeks.  Some good, some bad, most unexpected.  Have you ever had your days completely planned out to where you knew exactly what you were going to accomplish on that particular day only to get thrown a major curveball that manages to radically shift the trajectory of the remainder of not only your day but your week as well?  Well that is exactly what I feel like right now, but that’s life, so I digress….

 

I will tell you that among the craziness and hectic nature of the past few weeks, I have also felt an undeniable sense of energy and excitement.  You have likely felt it as well.  Our attendance in worship services on Sunday mornings and evenings as well as on Wednesday evenings have been up significantly since the beginning of the summer, new people are desiring membership in our fellowship, and most importantly, people are coming to faith in Jesus Christ and seeking to make that decision public through baptism.  In short, we are growing!  There is no question that it’s an exciting time to be a part of what the Lord is doing here at University Baptist Church! 

 

However, in the midst of all of the excitement, let me issue a word of caution.  Let’s not get caught up in all of the emotions and excitement and good feelings.  It’s kind of like a surfer who senses that “the big one” is coming.  He knows that this is the wave that he has been waiting for, so he makes sure to get his posture ready so that he is ready to ride the wave as opposed to wiping out.  It is a similar concept regarding our church.  We need to make sure that our posture is ready.  The apostle Paul makes it very clear what we need to be doing in his letter to the church in Ephesus:

 

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being likeminded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

-Ephesians 2:1-5 (NIV)

 

Paul is simply saying that if we really have a sense of joy and excitement, then let’s see it through to completion by not getting caught up in it but rather continuing to moving forward as one body.  One mind, one heart, one purpose, united in love.  We need all the pistons firing together, and we do that by not focusing on ourselves but by continuing to focus on the mission.  It would be very easy to get caught up in all of the excitement that is happening right now, and I am not saying not to enjoy it.  I am simply saying that as a church body, we are not going to let it overwhelm us.  We will not look to the right or to the left.  Instead, we are going to continue to look to the Lord for guidance direction, and wisdom.  Let us never for one minute think that everything that is happening is a result of something that we have done.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Everything that is happening is a result of God’s people being of one accord and submitting to His direction.  Well, as the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We are going to continue to stay grounded and humble, because if we don’t, we will surely wipeout.

 

So, here’s the thing.  We’re going to ride this wave with everything we’ve got.  But we’re going to make sure that our posture is right so that we glorify the Lord in the midst of the excitement.  So, jump on board, stay humble, and ride the wave that is the incredible work of God in the life of University Baptist Church.  I for one can’t wait to see what He does next!!!

 

Until Next Week,

 

Pastor JP

 

 

This story, along with the story of Bruce Jenner, has really gotten me thinking.  How should a Christian respond to this?  If a transgender individual or one who is struggling with racial identity walked into one of our churches, what would we do?  What would we say?  I dare say our response would not necessarily be what we would define as welcoming.  It seems to me that sometimes we are inexplicably unsure of what to say without spewing out vitriol and hate.  Well, here’s the thing, friends.  This issue is not going away.  It is just the beginning.  The fact of the matter is that there are many people with struggles just like those of Rachel Dolezal and Bruce Jenner.  If you haven’t already, sooner or later you are going to come face to face with someone who is struggling with some aspect of their identity, and it’s important that we get the response right.