My Visit to the NCFIC

Donna and I got back yesterday from a visit with Scott Brown, the director of the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches.  What an encouraging time we had!!  I felt Scott and I connected right away.  I just could not thank him enough for teaching me so much and impacting the Nation like he is by the grace of the Lord.

 
Scott Brown (far right), his assistant Tony (far left), and Tony's and my family.

And I guess that is what struck me the most.  There we were, in Wake Forest, North Carolina, in a wonderful small town, in a small store front building that many people probably walk right by and totally miss the fact that they are there...and from that unassuming, rustic and very warm town, God is literally changing America's churches.  Literally.

 
Wake Forest

Humble but powerful!

Through men like Scott Brown and Voddie Baucham, the primary message of the NCFIC, the Sufficiency of Scripture, is getting out.  Many people think the primary message is about youth ministry or family discipleship, but that is not actually true.  The real passion of Scott's heart is that the precepts, principles, and patterns of God's word are sufficient and should be applied to every area of life and ministry.  And it is the truth of that sufficiency that caused CRCC to change and reform.  The fruit of it at our church and around the country is amazing to behold.  This map is three years old!

 
Changing the Nation to the Glory of Christ!

I did learn while we were there that CRCC is one of only a few NCFIC-connected prodominantly African-American family-integrated churches IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY.  In fact, I say "one of only a few" to hedge my bets, as the NCFIC team could not think of another!  Even Dr. Baucham's church is over 90% Caucasian and Hispanic.  It is still CRCC's fervent desire to see more of a blend of all races in our congregation, and we are trusting God to cause that to happen, but given our current reality, I guess CRCC weirdness can no longer be denied huh? :)

Anyway, what a great time we had.  Donna and I left encouraged, strengthened, joyful, and focused on our life mission to bring Christ glory through the vision He has given us.  I pray we were able to encourage them too! 

May the NCFIC team be encouraged despite the plentiful and passionate attacks that come their way.  May they trust God for the strength to keep lovingly advocating that which will turn the world upside down.  May they all be filled with the Spirit of God each and every day.  May they know that there are pastors like me who have been mentored from afar by their love and passion for Christ and His holy Word.  May God bless my new friend and comrade in Kingdom arms, Scott Brown, and his entire family.  Thank you sir, for allowing the Holy Spirit to use you to change our church.

Enemy Pressure

2 Corinthians 2:10-11 (ESV) - Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, (11) so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
 

I've quoted this verse for years.  "We aren't ignorant of the Devil's devices" I would say.  But I do have a fresher understanding of how our Enemy attacks.  The more one strives for faithfulness to Scripture, for holiness, for God's glory in all areas of life (money, relationships, children, ministry, etc.), the more the enemy pressures your tender areas.  Let me say that again.  He puts pressure on your soft spots.  As one sister said to me just this morning, "It isn't an attack if it means nothing to you."  So true...

I've learned that this verse is true: "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted..." (2Ti 3:12 ESV).  But the verses following are also true!!!!
 

"...while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.  But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."  (2Ti 3:13-17 ESV)

SO..."as for" me, I'm going to "continue in what" I "have learned and have firmly believed," knowing that "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness!"  When pressured in my sensitive areas, I now recognize that is to be expected, and the more we advocate and push the precepts, principles, and patterns of the Word and not secular, worldy, pragmatic solutions, the more this pressure will come.

I now see with more clarity that the more Christ and His commands are placed first in life and ministry, the more the Enemy will attempt to squeeze the zeal and loving obedience out of us.  If YOU are being squeezed because you are trying your best to uphold God's honor in areas of your life, I declare to you today: "Situation Normal!" :)

Here are a few verses to encourage you....

And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. "Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
(Luk 6:19-23 ESV)

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
(Rom 12:9-21 ESV)

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
(Col 2:6-15 ESV)

Charlie Brown Praise Break!!!!!!

 Just in case you need a good belly laugh today.....LOLOL!!!

The Truth About Men & Church

I just could not resist posting this article.  It's a long read, but below is an excerpt, emphasis mine.  The article was written by a minister in the Church of England.  The results below are from a study done in Switzerland.

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Father’s Influence

In short, if a father does not go to church, no matter how faithful his wife’s devotions, only one child in 50 will become a regular worshipper.  If a father does go regularly, regardless of the practice of the mother, between two-thirds and three-quarters of their children will become churchgoers (regular and irregular). If a father goes but irregularly to church, regardless of his wife’s devotion, between a half and two-thirds of their offspring will find themselves coming to church regularly or occasionally.

A non-practicing mother with a regular father will see a minimum of two-thirds of her children ending up at church.  In contrast, a non-practicing father with a regular mother will see two-thirds of his children never darken the church door.  If his wife is similarly negligent that figure rises to 80 percent!

The results are shocking, but they should not be surprising.  They are about as politically incorrect as it is possible to be; but they simply confirm what psychologists, criminologists, educationalists, and traditional Christians know.  You cannot buck the biology of the created order.  Father’s influence, from the determination of a child’s sex by the implantation of his seed to the funerary rites surrounding his passing, is out of all proportion to his allotted, and severely diminished role, in Western liberal society.

A mother’s role will always remain primary in terms of intimacy, care, and nurture.  (The toughest man may well sport a tattoo dedicated to the love of his mother, without the slightest embarrassment or sentimentality).  No father can replace that relationship.  But it is equally true that when a child begins to move into that period of differentiation from home and engagement with the world "out there," he (and she) looks increasingly to the father for his role model.  Where the father is indifferent, inadequate, or just plain absent, that task of differentiation and engagement is much harder.  When children see that church is a "women and children" thing, they will respond accordingly—by not going to church, or going much less.

Curiously, both adult women as well as men will conclude subconsciously that Dad’s absence indicates that going to church is not really a "grown-up" activity.  In terms of commitment, a mother’s role may be to encourage and confirm, but it is not primary to her adult offspring’s decision.  Mothers’ choices have dramatically less effect upon children than their fathers’, and without him she has little effect on the primary lifestyle choices her offspring make in their religious observances.

Her major influence is not on regular attendance at all but on keeping her irregular children from lapsing altogether.  This is, needless to say, a vital work, but even then, without the input of the father (regular or irregular), the proportion of regulars to lapsed goes from 60/40 to 40/60.
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Here is the whole article; interesting stuff: http://www.fisheaters.com/menandchurch.html.  I love this quote:

"One does not need to go very far through the procedures by which the Church of England selects its clergy or through its theological training to realize that it offers little place for genuine masculinity.  The constant pressure for "flexibility," "sensitivity," "inclusivity," and "collaborative ministry" is telling.  There is nothing wrong with these concepts in themselves, but as they are taught and insisted upon, they bear no relation to what a man (the un-neutered man) understands them to mean.

Men are perfectly capable of being all these things without being wet, spineless, feeble-minded, or compromised, which is how these terms translate in the teaching.  They will not produce men of faith or fathers of the faith communities.  They will certainly not produce icons of Christ and charismatic apostles. They are very successful at producing malleable creatures of the institution, unburdened by authenticity or conviction and incapable of leading and challenging. Men, in short, who would not stand up in a draft." 

Love that! :)