Chick-Fil-A Implications: Yikes!

Like many of the folks who'd glance at this humble blog, my family and I thoroughly enjoyed some delicious Chick-Fil-A food yesterday.  This of course was in support of their founder's publically coming out FOR traditional family and biblical family values.  Thankfully, many people all around the Nation did this too, and even today (according to my wife) our local Chick-Fil-A was packed.  Well bless God! :)

But the whole thing caused an interesting question to arise in my mind, stirred by a tweet on Twitter from a pastor who apparently thought it was all much to do about nothing.  He also questioned whether we as Christians were going to start scrutinizing companies we deal with for their values?  (He of course asked the question sarcastically.)

But for me, the question hung there.  You see, I spend my life trying to "love what He loves and hate what He hates" and love others biblically.  The thought of fighting so hard in my pulpit, my personal life, and for my family only to voluntarily give my money (actually, God's money...a powerful tool) to people who use it to fight against God's Word is repugnant. 

So I did a quick "Google" search and ran across this article (warning: from a secular site):

Pro-Gay Companies

Yikes!  I must be honest....I don't yet know what to make of this....I use most of these companies.  I sat there at my computer (running Microsoft Windows) next to my Ipad...stunned.

Ok...now let me repeat: I don't know what to make of this just yet.  I know the enemies of Christ have no problem calling for boycotts, picketting, etc.  But us Christians?  We usually preach a little bit and go back to business as usual.  Plus, most of us are totally immersed here.  Lord, what do you require here?  Anything?

I'm sure this would be called a matter of "personal conscience" by most.  And that is probably right.  As Mike Huckabee said, " I buy the products not their politics."

But I don't know.  I truly don't.  I know this line of thinking can get interesting though...LOL.  It seems like the devil has us coming and going.  A weak, scared church afraid of the "hate" label; very little family discipelship in Christian homes; 85% of our children going to government schools; unbiblical evangelism that doesn't bring the knowledge of sin and call for repentance; and putting large sums of our money into organizations that support the darkness.

I'm probably way off here.  Shucks...I hope I am!  (A brutha loves his Ipad!)  But what if there are Kingdom implications?  I've drawn NO conclusions on this very difficult issue.  But my wife and I are talking!  (She refused to buy Cheerios today at the grocery store...LOL.)  And I am thinking this through principally...and even the implications of the thought brings my spirit down.  Am I that easy to trick?

In the search for principles, so far I'm come across:

• 2Ti 2:4 ESV No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.
  
• 1Jn 2:15-16 ESV Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world.
  
• Mar 4:18-19 ESV And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, (19) but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
  
• 1Co 10:23 ESV "All things are lawful," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up.
  
• Eph 5:11 ESV Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
   
• 1Co 10:25-26 ESV Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. (26) For "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof."
  

Although I'm just beginning to look at my personal stewardship from this angle, I can say I ordered two books today from Christianbook.com (I normally used Amazon) and I'm researching another email service (currently use Google).  (Why is it that all the tech world seems to be on the LGBT bandwagon?)  I also asked my wife to pick up a Shepherd's Guide the next time she's at the grocery store.

Like I wrote in the title...Yikes. :)

(NOTE: For those coming to this blog not to discuss giving up your Iphone (LOL...Noooooo!) but upset that God's Word declares homosexuality a sin, read here first...then here and here.  We still love you.) :)

Momentum Sunday Encouragement! We can do this!

This clip is from May 2011 when our church purchased our first property with cash!

I posted the below testimony four years ago on the Dave Ramsey forums.  I only share it now on my blog because we gotta kick this thing into high gear and I'm praying this encourages you to do just that!  Hope you enjoy!

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Our Total Money Makeover journey began in earnest during the Summer of 2003.  But before that, there is a story to tell. In the mid-nineties, my wife and I were both Naval Officers with no kids.  We lived in the same house we live in now and I didn't really care about how we spent money.  We made over $80k per year at least back then as Naval Officers and had nothing at all to show for it.  My wife (the original nerd of our family) gave me a copy of Financial Peace in the 1997 time frame.  I "skimmed" it to appease her, but the info didn't stick.  I continued to buy cars, motorcycles, motorcycle accessories, computer games, and just about anything else I wanted (on credit of course) at a rapid pace.  Although you wouldn't think someone this immature would be in ministry, I was (and am) a minister and began a church in 1997.  So I continued to preach, work in the Navy, and spend money like water like everything was all good: no savings, no retirement, no plan, and no clue.

Then it happened. She cried.

Sometime in the late nineties, my wife and I were on one of those timeshare tour things.  I think they must have promised us free stuff to lure us in.  Anyway, I declined the timeshare because I thought we couldn't afford it.  My wife wanted it...but I...the one "in charge" declined (which of course suggests her vote didn't count...and back then...I'm sad to say it didn't).  So not much later and after spending lots of time thinking about our lack of financial discipline and stewardship, my wife just broke down and cried.  She looked at me and said, "Not only can we not afford to vacation; we make all this money and we don't have anything to give to those in need." (She no longer thinks timeshares are smart, but you get the idea.)

Wow.

Like most men who are totally in love with their wives, her tears were simply torture for me.  And like most men, I never really "heard" how important this money stuff was to her heart.  Her tears were enough to begin the process of shaking me out of my little boy mindset and the beginning of me learning how to MAN-UP for my family.  To give some of you wives a bit of hope, it still took me another 3-4 years of making slow progress before the Gazelle Light clicked on, but the light DID come on.  LOL!  I was now at least cognizant of personal finance and its impact, and the guidance the Bible offered on the subject was no longer "theory".  I was beginning to pay attention, but I was still a slave to my big-ticket item impulses.  During the next 3-4 years, I still made HUGE HUGE HUGE little boy mistakes...like buying an Acura MDX for $40k in 2001 KNOWING I had to soon leave the military to be a full-time pastor and take a big pay cut.  The payment was over $800!!!  DUMB!  I did wise up though and sold that beautiful 2001 black on black mint condition wonderfully leathery smelling truck with a sweeeeet navigation system after about a year and shortly before leaving the Navy.  But I'm over it.  Really.  (Sniff, sniff.)  I also bought at least three motorcycles during this same timeframe.  Yes I said THREE: trading up all the time to have the newest and fastest.  They loved me at the motorcycle dealership! :)

The light came all the way on in 2003.  What happened?  The Total Money Makeover book came out.  Although my eyes were beginning to come open, my painfully slow progress was still frustrating my wife.  We saw the book and I remembered: "Hey, the Financial Peace guy!"  So I bought it (probably on a credit card :)) and read it.  That was it.  Something changed in me.  I finally saw debt as an enemy, not a friend.  I saw my wife as someone I was called by God to actually provide for.  You'd think a pastor would know this right?  LOL.  And I did in fact "know" it.  But "knowing" and "doing" are two different things. I went from a goober to a gazelle in the time it takes to read one book.  I WAS DONE WITH DEBT!!!!!

My wife was soon convinced that I had really changed.  During the summer of 2003, we had about $200,000 in debt: credit cards, two motorcycles, a $25k car, and  $150,000 left on our mortgage.  I sold both bikes (it about killed me), rolled the car and the remaining cards into a mortgage refinance (I know, dumb.  But hey, I was still a TMMO newbie!) on a 10-yr note at 4.75%, declared war on debt, and haven't looked back.  By January 2004, all we had left was a $180k mortgage.  From Jan 2004, WE JUST DID THE PLAN.  No credit cards or borrowing of any sort, doing a budget each and every month on paper on purpose, using the envelope system, getting the right kinds of insurance, fully funding an emergency fund, investing in retirement, cash flowing home repairs, cash flowing three adoptions, working TOGETHER, and staying intense.

With the birth of my first child in 2005, we got really intense.  It's on now!!!!   In Jan 2006, we kicked it up a notch on the mortgage and started going all out. No vacations.  Wife working nights.  I took extra work.  Friends, I'm talkin bout yelling at a red "NO MORTGAGE" circle with a line through it on the fridge.  Seriously!  I'm talking about total attack mode.  And it worked.  On Independence Day 2008...we were done.  On that day we made the last mortgage payment.  We are on Baby Step 7.  Praise the Lord!

Over the last few years, we brought FPU to my church several times and a few years ago took it up a notch with Dave's MOMENTUM program.  We put 80% of the church through FPU at one time.  It was awesome.  The whole culture of the church has changed.  So many families are getting in position to bless others and change their family trees forever.

Thanks to everyone here at TMMO.  I didn't post much, but I read the boards every week.  I drew a lot of strength from some of the die hard straight-talkers on the board; you know who you are.  LOL. Thanks for the kick in the pants when I was tired.  And speaking of being tired, 5 years is a long time to stay focused, and maybe some of you are facing a long stretch to complete BS2 or BS6.  But like I tell my church...the time is going to pass either way so you might as well be in a position of strength when you get there!

My unsolicited advice to any who want to get to Step 7?  Just follow the plan with as much INTENSITY as you can muster.  Seriously.  Try not to play around with it.  Try not to rationalize why you are different.  Read The Total Money Makeover and do what it says.  It flat works.  It has been a long 5 years, but now we have NO PAYMENTS. Time to build some serious wealth, have some fun, and give like crazy!!!

:)
 

A CRCC Perspective: Church Government

Bottom line: our take on church government is "a plurality of elders by precept, one who leads by principle and pattern." 

A Plurality of Elders (Acts 14:23, 20:28; 1 Tim 1:5, 5:17)

• We believe every church should be primarily lead by a plurality of elders.
• Each New Testament church had more than one elder.
• At CRCC, few major decisions can be made without the agreement of the Eldership.
• For practical purposes, we have elders who teach (we call them pastors) and elders who focus more on strategic issues (we call them governmental elders).  Both groups though are principally elders.
• We believe every group of elders and the church they lead should be practically and legally autonomous but relationally submitted to an outside authority.
• We also affirm the office of deacon.

One Who Leads (James: Acts 12:17, 15:13-22, 21:18; 1 Cor 15:7; Timothy over elders: 1 Tim 5:17-22: Titus over elders: Titus 1:5)

• By biblical principle and pattern, we also have a “senior elder or pastor” within our plurality.
• We see the principle of “inside headship” in the New Testament where someone is the leader. Timothy and Titus and well as James’ role within the Apostles are illustrative here.
• All groups of elders in the New Testament were also submitted to an outside authority.  In other words, they “answered” to someone…in their case, the Apostles and men like Timothy and Titus who were sent by an Apostle.  We believe this is a biblical principle, and a very useful one at that, and so did the next generation after the apostles (Ignatius/Polycarp/Irenaeus) and all churches for the first 1500 years of church history.
• Most churches who deny these principles nevertheless have a more prominent elder who does most of the preaching, writes the books, and is the “face and voice” of that particular church.  And many of these churches have “denominational or fellowship presidents” or “regional directors/supervisors/superintendents.” 
• Again, we see this “headship among ontological equals” issue as a biblical principle, also illustrated within the Trinity of God Himself, within marriage, and in the Old Testament.  We believe it is wise to have one who sets a general direction and functions as the head of the organization and that it's also wise to have outside accountability.
• With respect to the senior elder/pastor, this man’s authority must be limited in scope that there might be a true New Testament plurality.  Therefore at CRCC, as the senior elder/pastor, I set the doctrinal and ministry direction with the backing and accountability of the eldership.  I cannot determine my own compensation and cannot autonomously spend large amounts of church resources or initiate capital campaigns.

The Sufficiency of Scripture (2 Tim 3:16-17)

• CRCC is very much committed to this doctrine.  We believe the Holy Spirit breathes life into His church by empowering us for service and through the Word of God!
• We recognize our polity differs slightly from other brothers and sisters who vigorously hold to the same doctrine.
• However, it is our fervent prayer that at a minimum, it can be seen that we are trying our best to follow the precepts, principles, and patterns of Scripture concerning church government with elders leading the church, and within that presbytery, a directing (but submitted) leader.
• We believe the same values bless fellowships of churches with each church retaining their autonomy, but because of the apostolic pattern, experiencing the blessings and counsel of being relationally and voluntarily submitted to an outside team of elders/overseers/bishops.
   

A Personal View of Loyalty

Every once and awhile, God gives us an insight to help us understand a bit better who He has made us and why we are the way we are. Just such a thing happened to me late last year.

It's no secret to those who know me that one of the hardest things I deal with is people leaving my church.  I know that part of it is an insecurity I have, and that I continue to pray about.  And I know part of it is an intense love for the people that connect with us and join us...maybe TOO intense.  (LOL)  But the Lord helped me see a third reason...

He showed me for the first time something I never really realized: I've never just left a church in my life.  That's right. I'm 42 years old and in my entire life, I've never walked into my pastor's office and told him what I've decided to do or just faded away.  Never.  (I've been fortunate I've not had to deal with any spiritually abusive situations.)

In fact, I've only been a member of 3 churches in my adult life: Gethsemane Baptist Church in Maryland, Abundant Life International here in Virginia, and Calvary Alliance/CRCC.

I left home for the Navy when I was 17 in 1987.  Until shortly after I got married in 1992, even though we lived in Virginia we tithed to my church in Maryland, where I was given my first minister license.  Finally, with my pastor's counsel and encouragement, we joined Abundant Life since it didn't look like I was ever going back to Maryland to live and my family needed a local church close to us.  Donna (my wife) and I just had dinner with my pastor from Maryland recently, and he was at CRCC to preach a few years ago.  Our relationship remains strong.  I love him so much for all he did for my family when I was growing up.

Then after serving Abundant Life faithfully and being further trained in ministry, my pastor sent me to plant a church in 1997.  When I began to feel like maybe God had called me to be with my current pastor and Calvary Alliance (2000-2001), I submitted that thought to my pastor with the understanding that he had the final call.  I wasn't going anywhere if he didn't agree...and would have happily stayed until there was agreement...which in my mind would have been a clue to whether God was really leading me and if I was in God's timing.  But he sent me quickly and with his blessing.  In fact, he and I spoke about this just recently.  He remarked that it was a hard decision on his part.  I thanked him again.  I preached at his church in 2010.  Our relationship remains strong ten years later.

And then there is my current pastor whom I love with all my heart and to whom I'm committed until I meet Christ.  These words probably sound crazy to some, but not to me: Faithful to Christ and His Word first, faithful to Donna and my children, faithful to my family, and faithful to my pastor and the people I lead.  Without this mental and spiritual construct, my computer crashes. LOL!

So what is the point?  God showed me that He wired me a certain way.  NOT BETTER than anyone else...just different than some.  The way people leave marriages, churches, friends...it just doesn't compute in my software.  I try to process how people you've served with for years act like they don't know you and I get error messages.  I try to imagine being disrespectul and dishonorable to my leaders and my screen goes dark.  The thought of ever being without Donna and my children totally crashes my hard drive!  LOL!

Now, having the privledge to serve other pastors has shown me that even pastors struggle with this!  I'm amazed that we expect commitment from our congregations but sometimes don't seem to know how to demonstrate it.  Amazing! :)

The Lord showed me that I struggle with this behavior in part because I'm not wired to do it to anyone else.  Barring apostasy, blatant, unrepentant sin, or the systematic teaching of false doctrine, I'm just going to be there for my leader.  The new things I learn I see as opportunities to bless those who lead me, and I'll wait patiently until I can. Disagreements are opportunities to grow closer in God's truth and learn together as long as integrity is intact and repentant hearts are present.  To my programming, the relationship is more important than another pastor's program, building, gee whiz teaching, or laser light show. :)

Again, in our individual and consumer culture, this may all sound funny; but it's who I am.  And I thank Christ for showing me because it has really helped me not only see myself better, but also to examine how this character trait could create undue pressure on people not wired like me.  (For any who have felt that pressure, I was wrong and I repent!)

This post isn't about anyone, written against anyone, written to anyone, written to hurt anyone, and certainly isn't meant to press this into a doctrine or something.  It's just about me.  Feel free to disagree; it's really ok and we're still friends! 

But as for me, I say to all the people I love....I ain't goin nowhere. :)