Maundy Thursday

Tonight is a climax of sorts for Holy Week. It is the night of the Last Supper. It is the night of Jesus praying in the garden. It is the night of the washing of the disciples' feet. It is the night of betrayal and arrest. Justin Taylor, a blogger at the Gospel Coalition, has put together an excellent scriptural account of the evening, using all the gospels. I encourage you to check it out!

Mash here:

Justin Taylor

The year to end all years?

2012...the year to end all years. The Mayan calendar says so! There is a great comic strip I saw recently where a Mayan stone worker is chiseling away on a wall, that represented the Mayan calendar. He yells up to his supervisior (who is drinking a cup of coffee) that he ran out of space on the wall. "What year did you get to?" 2012 was the answer. The supervisior turns to a co-worker next to him and shares a laugh: "That is really going to freak some people out in the future."

A couple of weeks ago, we talked a little about the future of our church (hopefully we didn't freak anyone out!). When we first started Valley, we set out some goals for the year 2020 (even despite the Mayan predictions). We tried to avoid some obvious measurables like attendance or budget or buildings. We instead focused on IMPACT for the Kingdom. Our goals targeted community impact, developing leaders, and spiritual growth. At the 2 1/2 year mark we have made some progress. I used the illustration a few weeks ago of building a house brick by brick. I believe we are still working on the foundation...maybe a few load-bearing walls are being framed out.

In other words, I am under the working assumption that 2012 isn't the end...but just the beginning! We have just started our new adult SS class. In the coming weeks, you will hear more about opportunities in the community that we are looking at. We still can't neglect other bricks already in place. Worship...small groups...children & youth ministries...even just the culture of acceptance and friendliness. We recognize none of them are close to where we want them to be. As we grow, please pray that we will not ignore building a solid administrative infrastructure (not exactly my strength).

All of these things I have mentioned are means to our ultimate end - to FOLLOW CHRIST TOGETHER. We want to create an environment in our church that no matter where you are on your spiritual journey, there is a place for you. A place to worship and fellowship and learn and and grow...and find people who care about you.

I am so excited to see where Valley is when 2013 rolls around...if we all make it there!

The Magnificat

Last week in our Advent sermon series, we worked our way to Luke 1:45. Mary has been told by Gabriel that she is carrying Jesus in her womb, despite being a virgin. It is a miracle of the Holy Spirit! Gabriel told her that her older cousin, Elizabeth, had a similar miracle in her old age. We left off with Mary and Elizabeth together, presumably through the end of Elizabeth's pregnancy.

This Sunday we are going to skip ahead to the birth of John the Baptist, but I don't want to ignore what happened in between (we will revisit this passage on Christmas morning). In Luke 1:46-55, we see Mary speak (or sing??) in response to Elizabeth's prophesy. It is such a cool scene! Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth and a priest, has been silenced by Gabriel. And therefore, the Holy Spirit chooses to speak through these two women. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit when her baby leaps in the womb at the presence of Christ in Mary.

In response to Elizabeth, we see the Magnificat, Mary's Psalm or prophesy. It is called the "Magnificat" because of the first line: My soul MAGNIFIES the Lord. It is a beautiful passage of Scripture. Mary, a 12 year old little girl...likely illiterate...poor and insignificant...from the no name place of Nazareth, has the privilege, not only of raising God's Son, but also to be the human voice of this passage of Scripture (God-breathed through her). It makes me pause to see how God can work through anyone...and usually does. So often God works through those we might consider too old or young or insignificant.

Mary's words are full of meaty theology! "For He has looked on the humble estate of His servant (she recognizes who she is in their society)...for behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me (having Jesus will not make her life easy!) and holy is His Name. And His mercy is for those who fear Him..."

During this season of anticipation, I encourage you to spend a few moments in the Magnificat, and consider how God has done a similar work in your heart as He did in Mary's.

A Confession for my Celebration

What a week it has been! We have (and continue to) struggle with the reality of devastation that surrounds us here in Alabama. I will write on the tornadoes later. To me, our reaction to a natural disaster is much more difficult to wrestle with than our reaction to what happened on Sunday. How should we react to the death of Osama bin Laden? It is a complicated question, especially if you are a follower of Christ. I must confess right now that MY reaction was sinful. I celebrated! It is probably a good thing that many of my church members were still in the dark on Sunday night so they probably didn't read my Facebook posts when the news hit. I was in Destin...near the beach...with power (something I WON'T apologize for!). In the last couple of days, I have read numerous thoughts on how Christians should react to the news. None of it has been satisfying to me. In other words, I wasn't sure my reaction was right, but I also wasn't sure it was wrong.

I have even seen multiple uses of Scripture, some in support of my type of reaction and some against it. That doesn't mean Scripture is being contradictory. It means that the subject is complicated...and that each passage quoted has a context...and that some of them may have been taken out of context. I always worry when we grab a verse here or there and make simple conclusions to complicated issues. Jesus said: Love your enemies. God also ordered Saul to utterly eliminate a whole people group. We are to love justice...and mercy. Those are just a few samples of hundreds of verses that might be applicable to the bin Laden death. In fact, my initial question above is only ONE question of many we could ask: How should we react to our President ordering his death? What about collateral damage? What about sending our troops into harm's way? Should we release pictures? Invading another country? The list of questions is endless...

I have another confession...I have prayed for bin Laden over the years. I have prayed for his soul. I have prayed for him to come to faith in Christ. You might ask why. WHY NOT? No one is beyond God's grace! Look, Paul was the Osama bin Laden of his day. Paul was a terrorist to the early Christians. Paul's testimony rings throughout the centuries that God can change ANY heart. I also prayed for justice...and the safety of our troops...and for victory...and for mercy. Another question: Can I pray for the soul of an evil man to change, then rejoice in his death? Yes, I have been pouncing that one around in my head quite a bit!

I must credit a pastor friend who posted an article written by Andrew Zirschky to give me some direction. I highly recommend it to you. I will give you a couple of highlights, but if you read this, it won't be complete without reading Zirschky. He builds his thoughts around Dietrich Bonhoeffer. For those of you who don't know who Bonhoeffer is, he is one of my heroes...and should be one of yours! Bonhoeffer was a German pastor in Germany during World War II. He lived under the Nazis. He was a brilliant theologian. He was a pacifist (which many Christians that have come out of Germany are, even today. The effects of WWII and its horror is hard to erase from their memories). But the fact that he was a pacifist didn't keep him out of trouble. He spoke against Hitler from the beginning. In 1943 he was arrested. The reasons are complicated, but it is apparent that Bonhoeffer was involved, at some level, in the July 20 assassination attempt of Hitler (most recently put to film by Tom Cruise in Valkyrie).

Over time, nearly 7,000 were arrested in connection with the plot (which was actually more than one attempt, and was more like a coup attempt), with over 4,000 executed, including Bonhoeffer. The camp doctor who witnessed the execution wrote: “I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer ... kneeling on the floor praying fervently to God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer and then climbed the few steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued after a few seconds. In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God." Bonhoeffer was executed less than a month before Germany surrendered.

The connection point from Hitler to bin Laden is obvious. Although we must put it in perspective. bin Laden can be connected to tens of thousands of deaths, maybe more. Hitler can be connected to tens of millions. 60 million died in World War II. Bonhoeffer was writing a book when he was arrested. It was never finished. Ethics provides great insight for us. Zirschky points out that Bonhoeffer did not rejoice at the prospect of killing, rather he mourned, admitted the sinfulness of the undertaking, and reserved all judgment of such actions for God. Bonhoeffer took the interesting stand of proclaiming actions such as those he agreed to participate in against Hitler as unrighteous but responsible, sinful and yet without better option. In other words, he didn't see it as a choice between right and wrong or good vs. evil. He saw all of it as evil...and he didn't presuppose that his personal ethic as better or right. He felt compelled to act, but in utter humility, accepting (and confessing) his guilt, and praying for grace in his sin.

As I watched Sunday night, Geraldo Rivera was ecstatic, even giddy, over the news. Some said he was "over the top". But 9/11 was personal to him. He lost several friends. All of us were impacted by that day, but some much more than us. Was Geraldo right to celebrate? Was I? What about the NYC firefighters? The Flight 93 families? As a follower of Christ, I am still wrestling, but Bonhoeffer's words are ringing in my ears. It takes us to think deeper about this world we live in...this fallen world. Where sin is ever present, and righteousness rare. May God have mercy on us all.

Article link: http://www.ymtoday.com/articles/3819/bonhoeffer-and-bin-laden

Finding Heaven on Earth

So...Monday is THE day. The day I have been waiting for. I will be in Augusta, GA. For those of you who know anything about golf, then you know why I can't wait to get there. Augusta is the home of the Augusta National Golf Course, probably the second most famous golf course in the world (just behind St. Andrews in Scotland). And since it is April, then you would also know that the most prestigious golf tournament in the world is set to begin: The Masters. Every year, the beauty of spring and the pressure of high stakes golf come together at the beginning of April. The beauty is breathtaking. Legends in golf are made in Augusta. Jack Nicklaus won 6 Masters. Arnie and Tiger have won 4. Faldo and Player and Michelson have 3. There may be no greater place for a golf fan to be than in Augusta in April. Some call the grounds there "heaven on earth."

So I am going! I will be there on Monday, which is the first day of practice (the tournament starts Thursday). It will be my second trip. The last time I was there was April 1998. There is a place on the course, down in a valley, called "Amen Corner." It includes the 11th green that is one of the tougher holes on the course...par is good there. The 12th is the most famous par 3 in the world. It is a short hole (I could hit a 9 iron to the green), but amazingly difficult. The wind swirls, so the flag on 11 may be blowing toward 12, while the flag on 12 may be blowing toward 11! Suddenly, they will both be blowing to the left, then one will shift and blow away from you and the other towards you! Some pros will get a birdie and other triple bogey, just depending on how well they judge the wind. It is BEAUTIFUL, also. The tee on 13 is also in Amen Corner. It is a par 5 that you have to attack. You can easily birdie (or eagle) 13...or you might hit it in the creek. Oh, the creek! Rae's creek runs in front of 12 and along 13. Many Masters have been lost in Rae's Creek.

In 1998, my brother and I met up with Bobby Clampett, a CBS commentator and former pro. He is a Christian and a friend of my brothers. The Sunday round fell on Easter. So he invited us to a worship service, 9am Easter morning, in Amen Corner. Imagine the scene. The most beautiful spot on the most beautiful course on its most important, championship day...Easter...worshipping God. The temperature was either 71 or 72...maybe 73 without a cloud in the sky. HEAVEN...ON...EARTH!

Looking forward to Monday has kept that memory in my mind a lot in the last few weeks. Sometimes we have these "perfect" moments, but life isn't perfect. Looking back 13 years, that perfect moment wouldn't even crack the top 10 best moments I have experienced since then. Of course, there have been many difficult days as well. The reality is that we cannot find "heaven on earth" in its truest sense. God sometimes gives us glimpses of what is to come. And it makes living through the tough times all the more worth it, knowing that Augusta cannot even compare to what heaven is truly like. Following Christ is often a tough path. But the destination is blows Amen Corner away!

2020 Vision

This is an important week for our church as we step away from the regular schedule to do something a little different. Basically, this week we are going to daydream! Yes! You remember sitting in school when you were young and looking out the window. Your mind drifts to other places...somewhere exciting.

This Sunday, we are going to do some dreaming about Valley. Before we ever held a worship service, a core group of folks, most of whom are still with us, would get together and dream about a church that would make an impact for God's kingdom. We didn't know how long it would take or even how we would get there, but we put some of these dreams on paper. WE CALLED IT OUR 2o20 VISION. We asked the question: WHAT DOES GOD WANT THIS CHURCH TO LOOK LIKE IN THE YEAR 2020?

You can only imagine some of the ideas and thoughts that floated around. I want to share with you the document produced below, and some of my thoughts behind them. Consider this an opportunity to be reminded of our dreams (or for many of you, be exposed to this for the first time). By sharing this with you now, you will already have a solid context for what we will talk about this Sunday.

So, in WHITE is our document...the RED is my comments!

Our Values & Purpose Statement:

We exist because we have encountered the Gospel and have been exposed to our Savior, who has called us not only into His kingdom but also into His Mission, which is to be taken up only for His glory.

The first question you need to ask is WHY DO WE EXIST? Why start a church? Valley exists because we have all been exposed to the GOSPEL, to Christ. That means we are called into His kingdom, but ALSO to His mission to make disciples. The Bible outlines clearly in the New Testament that the BEST way to share the GOSPEL is through the church, and when a need for a new one arises, then we should plant one.

I would also point out that I am a man enslaved by alliteration...that is why you will see a lot of words that start with E. Sorry! I just took what everyone said and used words that would be easy to remember!

Therefore, the Gospel compels us to express our love for God through worship and following Christ.

This is a simple, but important statement...basically, the Gospel calls us to action in two ways. One way is our regular Sunday worship, but ALSO a daily, personal walk with Christ. The point is that we are a church gathered on Sundays, yes, but ALSO, we are still a church scattered the rest of the week. Both are vital components.

The Gospel also compels us to love one another and others beyond our doors, our community, strategically engaging them with the Gospel through personal relationships, opportunities of mercy, community partnerships, missions, and church planting.

This is the "mission" part. We don't exist just to hide in a holy huddle but to engage the world around us in the hopes to expand Christ's kingdom, both through relationships and strategic engagement. This is giving ourselves away to the community and world.

The Gospel compels us to structure our philosophy around the idea of creating environments in and around our church so that all we encounter are also exposed to Christ.

THIS IS THE "HOW". We do not want to be driven by programs but by relationships. We cannot guarantee that someone we encounter will meet Jesus or even follow Him. Frankly, that is God's business, not ours. But, we can be faithful to the "mission" by creating environments where these things can happen. This can be everything from a welcome feeling to new people at worship to small groups, mercy opportunities...even the Block Parties or just going to dinner or a movie. We want everyone to feel like they have room to spend time with one another and build relationships.

This next section is vision-specific...

2020 Vision

Resource Church

• Not _____ but _______

Not SIZE but IMPACT...we spent a lot of time talking about how BIG we wanted to be. We realized that was the wrong approach. We might be 1,000 people one day and not make as big an impact as we might make as a 300 member church that has planted 2 other churches. We decided to not care about size but care about impact.

Leader-Making Church

• 4x4x2020

– 4 _________ & 4 _____________

• 222 Leader Development

We think a huge way to make an impact is to raise up leaders. We want to send FOUR members into full-time ministry during the next 9 years. We also want to train FOUR new pastors (staff additions) and send them off to lead new or other churches. We have to be willing to send people away. The 222 leader development class will be offered every year to train all our people into being better leaders in their home, church, workplace, and community.

Disciple-Making Church

• ____% are involved in discipleship at some levels

Our goal is that 70-75% of our people are "FOLLOWING CHRIST TOGETHER". You will hear more on this one this Sunday.

Community-Oriented Church

• Everything we do is geared towards engaging and serving the people in and around the community of Madison…the __________ does not exist for ______ but the ______ exists for the ____________.

This is another one we will spend some time on this Sunday. The idea is that the COMMUNITY does not exist for the CHURCH, but our church is here to serve the community. We have something incredible to give them.

Well, I hope this helps the discussion a little for you this Sunday. I encourage you to be a DAYDREAM BELIEVER!

In order to accomplish many things, we must focus on one thing…

FOLLOWING CHRIST TOGETHER

The Bible's Music Catalogue

Last week I turned on my computer, jumped on the Internet, and the first thing I see are four men. These four men were famous, but there is always something odd to me about seeing these four particular men together. First of all, two of them are dead. Second, the last time they were "together" was 40 years ago. But even today, when these four men come together, magic happens.

So who are they? John, Paul, George, and Ringo. The Beatles! If you aren't in tune with i-Tunes, then you may not know that the Beatles catalogue has just been released on i-Tunes. Last week there was a major advertising push online, and my Apple homepage was pushing it it daily. It worked! Even after 40 years, the Beatles were last week's #1 seller in digital downloads. Their music has endured for two generations. Very impressive.

When it comes to writing music, King David was the Beatles and Elvis all wrapped into one! He was a prolific songwriter. In total, we believe he wrote at least 73 Psalms. Who knows how much more music he wrote never made it into the Bible. Some of you reading may be wondering about the Psalms...aren't the Psalms only poetry? Yes, but they are so much more! The book of Psalms are a collection of music. Israel's music. Worship music. David was a great warrior. He was also a skilled leader and shepherd. And yes, he was chosen by God to be king over Israel. But to me, his most interesting and enlightening gift was his songwriting. When David's heart spoke, it came out as music. If he lived today, his best friends might be Clapton or Taylor Swift. He would hang out with Springsteen or U2. He might collaborate with Usher or Coldplay. At his deepest core, I think David would call himself a musician before anything else.

So, during Advent, we are studying a few of David's musical works. And we will continue to look at them as we continue studying David's life after Christmas. I want to share a few points about the Psalms to help you navigate as we proceed. Maybe the first thing to say is that the Psalms were written in Hebrew. They are beautiful and poetic in our English translations, but they are masterpieces of literature in the Hebrew. The writers use complex patterns and rhymes. They create acrostics and parallelism and word plays. Many of these are virtually impossible to see in our English translations.

There are several categories of Psalms...anywhere from 3 to 10 or more "types" of Psalms. To me, it is best to see 3 main categories and a lot of sub-categories. Understanding the "type" of Psalm you are reading helps you understand it better. One type is simply a PRAISE or THANKSGIVING Psalm. "Shout for joy to the Lord" - Psalm 1oo. "Praise the Lord, O my soul..." - Psalm 103. Psalms that START with praise are usually in this category. Another type is a Psalm of INSTRUCTION. These can also be labeled as Psalms of wisdom. Psalm 1 is an example. Finally, the most common type...LAMENTS. Or, as I have labeled them in our sermons so far: BLUES. "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" - Psalm 22. Anytime a Psalm starts with help me, forgive me, preserve me, HEAR me, O GOD, etc., those are Laments or Blues.

There are many sub-categories of Psalms. You may hear of the Songs of Ascent (120-134) or Historical Psalms (78). Penitential Psalms are a sub-category of Laments (15, 32, 51). There are Liturgical and Royal and Messianic. They key thing to know is that most Psalms overlap categories and types. Most Laments end with Praise and many Psalms of Instruction deal with issues found in other categories. Maybe the best way to tell is to pay attention to where the Psalm STARTS. What is the context? Why is the author writing this? What was going on to inspire this song? The blessing God gives us in the fact that David wrote so many is that we can answer many of these questions by studying his life. God gives us a great gift with David! We know his heart better than any other person in Scripture, because he poured it out in his songwriting. David's heart is an open book!

It is no coincidence that the Psalms are the most quoted Old Testament source in the New Testament. God LOVES music and poetry and art! Being a Christian involves understanding the TRUTH about this world and about God Himself. But, we must never forget that there is much more to this life than knowledge and truth. The Psalms point us to experience in light of the truth. The Psalms are devotional. They are sad and mad. They are reactions to life. They are emotional. And God ordained it all! I said this Sunday and it bears repeating. It tells us a lot about God in that He not only allows His people to question and criticize Him, but makes sure those find a place in His Scripture. God wants us to be honest with Him...and the Psalms are our guide in how to do that.

We don't have the original music that David wrote. But it probably doesn't fit into our culture today anyway (although I would love to go to a concert with David performing! Imagine him stopping and telling the story behind the song...that would be amazing!). Even though we don't have the music, we should still sing the songs! And we should write new songs! The Psalms shouldn't limit us in our expression...they encourage more! Two weeks ago, I encouraged you to hear the song "40"...based on Psalm 40. It is still on our Facebook page, in two versions:

I waited patiently for the Lord;

He inclined and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the pit, out of the miry clay.

He set my feet upon a rock, and He made my footsteps firm...

He put a NEW song in my mouth...a hymn of praise to our God.

May it never be that only old songs come out of our mouths!