Hello blogosphere!  It’s hard to believe that it’s been a month since I last posted.  Time sure flies!  I’ve just come back from a week of vacation with my family on the sunny beaches of Florida, and I must confess that I feel quite refreshed and reinvigorated.  However, I must also confess to you that part of me felt guilty for being on vacation, particularly at a time when so many of my fellow Louisianans were hurting and trying to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives as a result of the catastrophic flooding that hit south Louisiana just a few weeks ago.  As I watched the waves from the Gulf of Mexico slowly roll in, I could not help but think of the thousands of people that helplessly watched the water slowly roll into their homes, forever altering the course of their lives.  I, like you, know many people that have been impacted by this tragedy.  As I thought about this event and all the people affected, I also thought of the opportunities for service and ultimately, for the spread of the gospel, that would come out of this. 

But I also wondered what to say to those who were and still hurting.  “I’m sorry” seems to be so insufficient, so miniscule in the grand scheme of what they are facing.  As I began to really ponder on this subject, I was reminded that we sometimes worry so much about trying to say just the right thing to those that are hurting that we end up putting undue pressure on ourselves and ultimately say exactly what we were trying so hard to avoid saying in the first place.  Perhaps you have been in this type of situation.  If so, then maybe these words can be of some help. 

This is a list that a friend of mine shared with me.  It is not my list, but was written by Katie in a blog called “Red Stick Moms Blog”, and I found it to be an extremely helpful reminder to speak with sensitivity and compassion, as well as be prepared to back up my speech with a call to action.  Remember that our ultimate goal is to show the love of Jesus Christ, so let’s make sure that both our words and actions draw people closer to Him as opposed to pushing them away.

Here are 10 common sayings that flood victims don’t want to hear…

Let’s just say anything that starts with “at least” should ALWAYS be off limits in times of crisis and trauma.  Silver lining, comparing, or judging in your words is never productive and only disconnects you from the victim when we should be connecting. These people are hurting and they have every right to be. Louisiana’s flood victims are vulnerable right now, and their emotions are running high. They need to feel our love and support in their time of need.

This is just food for thought, and I hope this list helps you to remember to be sensitive to the feelings as well as the immediate needs of others.  I thank Katie for writing it.  To all those who might be wondering, UBC is currently in the process of adopting a church that has been directly impacted by the flooding, so stay tuned for how we can be the hands and feet of Christ in a very real way.  In the meantime, keep praying, keep donating your time, your money, your items, and keep being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  I am confident Louisiana’s best days remain in front of her and not behind her. 

Louisiana Strong.

I Love You,

J.P.

I am going to confess something to you right now.  The past two months have been, without question, the most difficult in my ministry to date.  I’m not complaining but rather simply stating fact.  There has been loss, conflict, and drama seemingly everywhere I’ve turned.  I admit that there were times when I wondered what God was up to and why He had me here.  Surely there was someone more fit to handle all of this than me!  There were times where I was ready to throw in the towel.  Just when I was at my lowest point, that is when God finally spoke to me with such clarity as to what He was up to.  He revealed to me that He was ready to sift UBC.  Before you get all weirded out and think that I’m talking just a bunch of nonsense, let me give you some perspective to what I’m talking about. 

For months now, I’ve had this unrelenting feeling that the Lord was about to do something truly special with UBC, that He was about to blow the lid off this place, so to speak.  But there was always something holding us back.  Every time I’d think we would get to a place as a corporate body where we were truly ready, something would happen, and the movement would seem to be stifled.  After months of praying and going through trial after trial and heartache after heartache, the Lord revealed to me that He was finally ready to move like He wanted to move in our midst and that He was preparing and stirring the hearts of His people, essentially sifting us to get us to the place where He can best use us.  Through a variety of prayer warriors, the Lord led me to the Biblical account of the sifting of Peter and the apostles in order to show me what He is currently doing.  In Luke 22:31-22, Jesus says this:

Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.  And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers (NIV).

Understand that this sifting process that Jesus is referring to in this passage describes the process of testing by which the genuine is separated from the false, the good from the bad.  The word “you” in verse 31 is plural in the original Greek, referring to all of the apostles, for the loyalty of all of them will be put to the test by the events that were to come that very night, a night which would see Jesus arrested, tried, beaten, and eventually murdered.  In other words, Jesus was testing His apostles, the twelve that were closer to Him than anyone else, to see if they were genuine believers or if they were counterfeits.  As I prayed through this passage, I realized that the Lord is testing UBC, separating the genuine from the counterfeit.   

winnowing – traditionally done by repeatedly tossing the grain up into a light wind which gradually blows the lighter chaff away. This method typically utilizes a broad, plate-shaped basket or similar receptacle to hold and collect the winnowed grain as it falls back down.  This is often a difficult, labor-intensive process, but the end result is that you get the very best grain.  As I thought about this, everything began to make sense.  The trials, the loss, the heartache, the seemingly endless supply of tears, the exhaustion, even the frustration.  God was and still is allowing us to go through this difficult and intensive process so that He ends up with the very best UBC possible.  Then and only then will He use us to accomplish His kingdom purposes.  What a revelation!  What initially dismayed and discouraged me suddenly strengthened and buoyed me for what was to come.  What God initially told me was about to come to fruition.  He is about to use UBC to accomplish something amazing.  What that is, I don’t exactly know, but I am convinced that He is prepping us for it!

Look what Jesus goes on to say.  He says that Satan asked for Jesus’ permission to sift Peter.  That tells me that the Lord is still in complete and total control.  Whenever we look at what is going on in the world around us, it is difficult not to get discouraged, but don’t lose heart, because this passage reminds us that any authority that Satan has is authority that has been given to Him and in the very same way that it has been given to him, it will one day be taken away.  The Lord is still sovereign and in complete control.  Even though He might permit Satan to send us trials in order to discourage us, God can use those same trials to strengthen us.  How?  It says how in the same passage!  Because He prays for us, just in the very same way that He prayed for Simon.  He prays for us now that we, in faith, would rise above the trials and come through them with a faith that has been refined like gold.  And look how He concludes the passage.  He tells Peter, “when you have turned back”.  In other words, when you come back, not if you come back.  That is how we know the genuine from the counterfeits.  The genuine will return.  And when they return from their sifting, we are to use our experiences to strengthen our brothers and sisters in the faith.  That is the process.  Our suffering is not in vain!  It has a purpose, and that purpose is to create exactly the church that the Lord can use to accomplish His kingdom purposes in Thibodaux and wherever else He might take us!

So, people of University Baptist Church, read my words closely.  We have all been suffering in various ways over the last few months.  Know that it has not been in vain.  Be encouraged and challenged that the Lord is sifting us in order to be able to use us exactly the way He sees fit.  That is painful, and we might well lose some folks along the way, but the reality of the situation is that God is going to be glorified through the people that He chooses.  Go through the process.  Cling to your faith.  Be strengthened in the fact that the Lord is actively praying for you.  We will soon see the wheat separated from the chaff, and when the Lord has completed the process, and I have no idea when that will be, He will have the UBC that He wants, not that we want.  Remember, it is always about Him, not about us.  The real question is this.  Are we wheat or are we chaff?  Time will tell.

I Love You,

JP

Hello blogosphere, I’m back!  Happy Fourth of July weekend to all of you!  Actually, that’s a topic on which I wanted to share with you today.  Most of you know me well enough by now to know that I never seek to be intentionally controversial (yet it often happens inadvertentlyJ), but I fear that this week’s topic might generate some controversy.  While I am not seeking controversy and certainly not dissension, if it generates some healthy Christ-centered conversations, then I think that is ultimately a very good thing.  I realize that many Christians will head to church this weekend, churches which are decorated with flags, banners, and a wide variety of things red, white, and blue.  Their worship leaders and worship bands will likely lead their respective congregations in such patriotic classics as “America the Beautiful”, “My Country Tis of Thee”, and maybe even “God Bless America”.  Afterwards, many pastors will likely ask their worshippers to open 2 Chronicles 7:14, where they will likely break down this passage:

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land (NIV)

On Monday, July 4, our church family will gather together and watch the fireworks.  We’ll have a great time together with people that we love in a country that we love.  But on Sunday, the people of University Baptist Church will worship Jesus Christ alone as the Bride of Christ.  We won’t be singing “patriotic” songs, but we sure will be worshipping.  It doesn’t mean that we don’t love America.  It simply means that we love Jesus more.  It is my prayer that God’s people would all love Jesus more and that we would all keep the main thing the main thing.

I Love You,

JP