Ira Yates and his wife, Ann, purchased land in West Texas in the 1920’s. For years, they struggled to make a living as ranchers and even feared foreclosure. At one point, the family survived on government subsidies and assistance. That all changed when a representative from the Transcontinental Oil Company asked permission to explore Yates’ land for oil. At 1,000 feet below the ground, the drill struck a rich zone, producing a “gusher.” By 1929, the Yates Oil Field was producing over one million barrels of oil a year; since then, it has produced over one billion barrels of oil. Ira Yates had owned it the entire time and never knew it. Here was a potential millionaire living in poverty, receiving government handouts. Just like Ira Yates, many Christ-followers live in spiritual poverty and don’t even know it. The Bible teaches us that God has put “his Spirit in our…
Read More
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. -- Romans 12:3 In discussing the right manner in which to view oneself, Paul uses a word that is commonly associated with intoxication -- sober. Robert Mounce, reflecting on this passage, coined an interesting phrase: egoholics. An egoholic is someone who is addicted to ... themselves. They think more highly of themselves than they ought to. This is a natural inclination. Ever since birth, the world has revolved around self. We see the world through our own eyes. We process life through the lens of our own experiences. Our way of processing things must be the way everyone processes things. "Sober judgment" is discernment that isn't colored…
Read More
Disclaimer: I am a pastor and most pastors practice the "preacher's count" on a regular basis. That is to say, we round the worship attendance up to the nearest two hundred. That being said, gospel math is fairly simple. It's a matter of addition and subtraction, with the possibility of multiplication thrown in, and trying your best to avoid division. When a person goes from non-believer to believer, they experience the joy of addition. The triune God gets added to their life, purpose and joy and peace get added as well. They get added to the Body, which is the church. Their name gets added to the Lamb's Book of Life. Addition is a wonderful thing. Preachers preach about the benefits that can be added to a person's life. But gospel math also requires that we learn to practice subtraction. God's sanctifying work in our life challenges us to replace…
Read More
At Mountainview, we have worship services on Saturday night and again on Sunday morning. For those of us who teach or preside in some way, that gives us the opportunity to go home and totally rewrite our sermon or communion meditation (not that I've ever totally rewritten a sermon; after folding it up and throwing it away, I usually feel better). Mark Scott and I compared notes last night after the service was over. Mark was preaching and I was giving the communion talk. For my part, I had told what I thought was a humorous story for communion -- and didn't get more than the "I'd better laugh because no one else will" laughs. Mark felt his opening movie clip hadn't connected in the way he had hoped for. So, we decided to revise. I scrapped my story and just shared a few words about my personal "expertise" in…
Read More
When I went through church planting boot camp* with Stadia, I was given a plaque with my name on one side and these words inscribed on the back: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23). It was a reminder to those of us who were about to start a new church that perhaps the most difficult thing we would do would not be finding launch team members or a facility. It would be to guard our heart. To not become overly inflated or unduly depressed. To not become prideful or pitiful. That verse came back to me this morning in my devotional time. It wasn't written just for church planters or even pastors. It was written to everybody who wants to live a life that honors God and pleases him. Simply put, it's good medicine. For when a person doesn't guard their…
Read More