Fiercely Loyal

At the end of our conversation, he looked at me dead in the eye and said, “One last thing that you must always remember…be fiercely loyal.”

Of everything spoken, shared and experienced during C3 2012, those last three words resonated the most within my soul. It was like God put this former army officer and current senior pastor in my path to remind me of what it means to be called to serve at Fellowship Church. It wasn't like I didn't already believe it or work to be it. It was just good to hear my call put so succinctly from another senior leader.

Be fiercely loyal.

For all of us who are called to serve here, that is what we must be. The reality, as we learned this week at C3, is that our senior leaders, Ed and Lisa Young, have a heavy mantle to carry. They carry it willingly. They carry it boldly. But we must not allow them to carry it individually.

What does it mean to be fiercely loyal? Being fiercely demands action. Being fiercely loyal requires a willingness to do anything, everything or nothing. You want a picture of that? Read 2 Samuel 23:13-17. David’s men were willing to go anywhere and do anything.

As we take off on this amazing trajectory from C3 and look to advance the kingdom of God in the coming year, ask yourself a powerful question: How far am I willing to go?

If you were to walk up to a United States Marine and ask him what he is trained to do, the first answer you will get is, “I’m trained to kill.” It doesn’t matter if he’s a tank operator, radioman, cook, or sniper; a Marine is trained first to kill. Everything else is secondary.

If someone walks up to you and asks you what you do at Fellowship Church, your first answer should be, “I support and defend the vision of this church and my Pastors.” Everything else is secondary. Because they carry the vision. And without them; without that vision, the people (and the church) will perish.

I’m not saying that our Pastors are God. But they are placed here by God. And so are you. Your job is to be fiercely loyal to that.

That means when you have a chance to speak up and defend them, speak up and defend them. If you have a chance to contribute to the cause, contribute to the cause. If you have a chance to build up the church, build up the church. If you are called to go the extra mile, go the extra mile.

We are an army (well…we’re more like the Marine Corps). We stand side by side and defend what God has given us and advance to take what God has ahead for us. Never forget that. Never grow apathetic towards that, because what God is doing here is not normal. It's supernatural. And because of that, you must never allow yourself to be anything but fiercely loyal.

The Death of a Hamster and the Birth of a Savior

Alvin was Parker’s Christmas present 2 years ago. A hamster was the one thing he wanted more than anything else. And Alvin came with the whole setup, too –a two-tiered cage, a spinning wheel, chew toys, a plastic roaming ball (with stand). Alvin was hooked up. And he couldn’t have asked for a better kid. But it was more than a pet/owner thing. Alvin was Parker’s roommate. Parker would create mazes, play with Alvin as much as he could, and show him off to all his friends. Parker absolutely loved Alvin.

A few weeks ago, though, Alvin started to look, well, not so good. Our hope was that he would at least make it through Christmas. Thankfully, Parker hadn’t really noticed too much. Sure, he knew that Alvin had to get cleaned off a little more than usual (we jokingly referred to them as “Alvin’s butt showers”).

But last night, Carissa came to me and said, “Alvin’s not going to make it through the night.” This morning, Alvin was dead.

As a father, the most difficult thing I can deal with is seeing my kids get hurt. And I knew this one was going to hurt Parker. As I prepared to tell my son that his pet had died (thankfully he hadn’t discovered it yet), I knew the reaction that was coming. I knew he would break down. I knew he would cry. And I knew he would have tough questions that I’m not fully equipped to answer.

But if you know Parker, you know that you never know what’s coming next. He’ll ask questions that only God can answer. He’ll point out perspectives you never expected. He’ll think, create, joke and love in ways you never thought possible. Parker loves deeply, fully and passionately. And I was about to deliver news that would break his little heart. That wasn’t the toughest part. The toughest part was that I couldn’t take the pain away. It was something he was going to have to face.

As I prepared, I was begging God for an answer. “What can I possibly do to help him in this?!” The answer came back loud and clear. “Simply be there for him. Walk with him through it. Parker will surprise you in how he handles this.”

This morning, as Parker broke down in my arms and cried into my chest, all I could do is tell him that I love him and that I’m here for him. It was the reaction I had expected. Then, before we buried Alvin in the yard, Parker (in true Parker form) said the one thing that brought perspective to the whole situation.

With tears in his eyes, he looked up at me and said, “Dad, I wish Adam and Eve had never eaten that stupid apple! But I’m glad Jesus was born to fix it all.”

Sure, Alvin was just a hamster. And we can debate the whole “do pets go to heaven” thing. But the kid gets God’s plan in a way that I think most of us can learn from.

I know I can.

Happy 60th Birthday, Dad!

Dad, I have about a million memories of you, and will undoubtedly gain a million more over the years. But on your 60^th birthday, here are just 60 things that that stand out to me—things you had, things you taught me, things we did.

Though none of these is earth-shattering, they work together to form my lifetime. I thought you would want to know some of what sticks out in my mind when I think of you.

You are an amazing father, and now grandfather. You have pushed me over my 35 years to become a man of integrity and responsibility. And while it wasn’t always easy to learn, the truth is that you have shaped me into who I am. I only hope that my sons will look back on their lives with me and have as many things to smile on as I do with you.

With that said, here are some humorous, meaningful, trivial, curious, and in a few cases, revelatory memories I have about you (in no particular order)…

 
1.       Your 80s mustache (For that matter, your 80s hair and glasses, too—thankfully that was only in the 80s!)
2.       Your Volkswagen Bug
3.       Tubin’ on the Guadalupe
4.       Your hardtop Jeep (that top made a perfect fort when you took it off)
5.       My 1^st dove hunt (someone winged a duck and you had to decapitate it!)
6.       Going around in the rowboat on the pond outside Grandpa’s house in Middletown
7.       Your motorcycle (I always secretly wanted a ride on that thing…)
8.       You showing me a $100 bill (I never knew anyone actually had those!)
9.       You waking us up to see Haley’s comet when we lived in San Angelo (3:30am seems worth it now.)
10.   You hanging up the basketball goal on Danley Ct.
11.   Our first propane grill and the first time you let me light it (I still emulate you on the grill)
12.   You putting up that HUGE canvas tent in the backyard in Kerrville for my birthday
13.   Boy Scout camping/meetings/fundraisers
14.   Having you as my youth soccer coach
15.   Watching you play racquetball (What was that first one about the 80s look?!)
16.   You teaching me the rope swing over the river at the Sorrells’
17.   The Turkey Trot – every year now
18.   The phone call when I told you that you were having a grandson – best, hardest phone call of my life!
19.   You teaching me to drive (Best life lesson I’ve ever had, “Don’t let the car behind you drive you.”)
20.   The paddle
21.   “Borrowing” your Ford truck to drive to school while you were in Japan—I was 15. (Sorry you’re just now learning about this one!)
22.   When you and Steve set fire to the field in Flower Mound on the 4^th of July
23.   Golfing in the Father/Son tournament with you when I was 9 or 10 (We won!)
24.   Deep sea fishing with you in Florida during Christmas
25.   Visiting you at Mooney (Coolest office ever is where you can look out and see planes!)
26.   Driving into Flower Mound for the 1^st time – you laughed when I said LHS looked like a prison
27.   Spinning out on the highway on the way home from San Antonio one winter (in the Jeep)
28.   My 1^st deer hunt (Yes, you were right, that deer was WAY too small. Glad you didn’t pull the trigger.)
29.   Spending Spring Break of my senior year with you in Galveston
30.   The time you got our Kerrville neighbors to play Santa while we were out for a night (I think I was 8 – that reignited my belief in Santa for a few more years!)
31.   You building the porch cover at the house in Kerrville
32.   Having to tell you that I had just gotten a speeding ticket (I was so afraid, but your reaction was PERFECT – grace and a second chance is what I learned there)
33.   You going to court with me to deal with said ticket
34.   Going to a Miami University homecoming game
35.   Walking through a Middletown cemetery with you, hearing about the history of our family
36.   Visiting Grandpa for that last time with you
37.   The San Angelo arts festival
38.   Laughing with you about certain relatives (I’ll just leave that one a bit generic here.)
39.   The 1^st time you let me mow the grass alone
40.   Watching you play on a company softball team
41.   Your Texas flag running shorts (not sure why I remember those)
42.   Going through some of Grandpa’s WWII stuff with you in the attic in Middletown
43.   Golfing with you in the Auggie Memorial
44.   You taking Carissa and me out after we got married for a PHENOMENAL dinner!
45.   Going to Comfort to help build Tim’s house
46.   The 1^st time you actually let me watch MTV (I hate to admit, but it wasn’t the first time I’d actually watched MTV!)
47.   Going to the Mason’s Lodge with you
48.   Riverhill Country Club – swimming, golfing, eating
49.   4^th of July at Lois Hayes Park in Kerrville
50.   Seeing you at my soccer games in high school
51.   Seeing you catch a bat that had gotten into the house on Daley Ct.
52.   Watching you meet  Jackson for the 1^st time (and Parker, and Matthew)
53.   Seeing pics from your Alaska and Canada trips (although it just makes me jealous!)
54.   Driving in the Jeep at Almosta Ranch…my 1^st 4-wheeling experience (I should have buckled my seatbelt)
55.   Drive-in movies in the station wagon in Kerrville
56.   Christmas in San Angelo when you gave us the electric train set
57.   Your hat collection (And stopping to pick up “road kills” to build your collection.)
58.   Your deer rifle
59.   Your generosity
60.   The single most important memory I have: the conversation with you a few years back at Buffalo Wild Wings about your faith in Jesus (because now I know we will develop more memories for eternity!)

I love you Dad! Happy Birthday!

It's Time to Give

If you’ve ever been to church, you know that time of the weekend experience. “It’s time to receive our tithes and our offerings.”
This is a time in the service when everyone falls into one of three groups (funny how many times the church crowd can be divided into three groups…)

1.       Let’s see what this is all about.

2.       Oh, great. I knew it. The church just wants my money.

3.       YES! This is when I get to team up with God!

For the first and second groups, the only things that can change their perspective are God and time. God will move. The question is, will they stay around long enough to see it? If so, they’ll eventually move to the third group. Or they won’t. But this time in the service isn’t about those first two groups. That is, I should say, it isn't for those groups...not for them to feel bad or guilty or manipulated into giving. This is a time for the third group.

For those of us who have been rescued by the grace of God, this is the time of a worship experience that we can step up and tangibly partner with God. But I think so often we do it with misdirected reasons. See, I think we hear so often that when we give we’ll be blessed (which is true, by the way), that we focus on the wrong side of that equation. We focused on the “we’ll BE blessed.” But that’s not why we should give. The truth is that we give because we ARE blessed.

In 2 Corinthians 8-9, the apostle Paul is commending the church of Corinth for their generosity, and he’s encouraging them to essentially step up their game. And he gives them a promise:

“Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:13-15

The reality is, when we give, great things will happen. But the bigger reality is, great things have already happened. THAT’S why we should give.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he GAVE…” Then in Romans we read that it wasn’t because of anything we had done. In fact, just the opposite is true. It says that “while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

We’ve already been given the greatest gift that could ever be given. Ever! For us to think that now we give so that we’ll be blessed is wrong. We give, because we HAVE ALREADY BEEN GIVEN TO! It’s so great a gift, Paul tells us, that it is indescribable.

Now, I know it’s not easy. Full disclosure: I’ve failed many, many times at this. I’ve looked at my situation and thought, “There’s no way I can give right now! Look at the economy. What about the bills. Blah, blah, blah.” That’s why I am taking up God’s challenge to step up my own game in this area.

But this isn't just a test about money. God wants to see where our hearts are.

In 2 Chronicles we read the account of God telling Solomon to ask for anything in the world that he wanted. Solomon was taking over as king of the country and God said, essentially, “Ask for anything and it’s yours.”

That’s our dream, isn’t it? For God to ask us what we want? Well, most Christians are familiar with the idea that Solomon asked for wisdom. But in reality, he asked for two things: wisdom AND knowledge. Solomon knew that without one, the other isn’t really as useful. He knew that wisdom is the ability to accurately discern AND apply knowledge.

God has given us all the knowledge of Christ. If you’re reading this, you’ve been exposed to that knowledge. The question now is: Do we have the wisdom to do with that knowledge what we know we should? Do we have the wisdom to take the greatest gift there is and then turn around and give it—tangibly through resources and intangibly through relationships, time, talents, etc.—to those around us in the world who desperately need it?

Because when we do, men will praise God. Not because we are so generous. But because they recognize the reality that we are all loved by a generous God.