GlocalNet

I’ve just had an awesome personal worship time with God this morning.  A few weeks ago God brought me to Luke 5 and I camped out there.  As I’m reading through the Bible this year, I’m reading Luke first instead of Matthew for my New Testament reading.  I read 2 chapters in the Old Testament everyday, starting with Genesis, then 1 chapter of wisdom literature - those are the books of Job- Song of Solomon, then a chapter in the New Testament. 

As I was in Genesis 11 - I read of the tower of Babel.  I’ve always loved that story.  It was a common language, the world being made into one, and with technology God says “nothing they set their minds to do will be impossible for them.”  That little verse speaks volumes.  It describes our world today.  We are now connected (sounds like my book about to come out!) and anyone can do anything anywhere in the world.  Desire, technology, communication all came together for that tower.  I wrote a prayer in my Bible about us as Jesus followers being wise in the world we are in today and using all the tools for the glory of God. 

Then I read Luke 5 - WOW - it’s as if those two chapters were born to go together.  Here Jesus is calling his disciples.  It’s in the morning; he’s borrowing Peter’s fishing boat to push out from shore so he could see everyone he was speaking to.  He finishes and then comes in and the carpenter tells the fisherman to fish again.  Peter’s response was we’ve fished all night - but, if you say so.  To have caught a fish or 2, or a partial net full would have been nice - but no way - so many fish the nets began to break and others had to come and help - other boats.  The next story in the chapter is Jesus healing a man who hadn’t sinned but was just sick.  The next story in the chapter is of a man who was paralyzed and people wanting him healed but couldn’t get him in the room in the house where Jesus was speaking so they tore a hole in the roof and lowered the man in!  In that instance - Jesus forgave the man - his sickness seems to have been due to his sin.  Next …

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You can go to Northwoodchurch.org and listen to my message yesterday about the State of the Church - where we’ve come from, where we’re headed - it was a blast yesterday.  Last night I met with the Leadership of Northwood and we talked about why churches grow - and know there are a lot more reasons than this but these are the ones we talked about:
 
1.  They have a story.
2.  They are on a mission.
3.  There are sticky places for people to grab on.
4.  Excellence - people go above and beyond.
5.  Teamwork
6.  Authenticity
7.  Relevant
8.  Leadership
9.  Go against the grain.
10.Expect more of their members than most.

Last night we celebrated with a few hundred leaders all they have done.  Churches do not grow without people behind the scenes driving it all and working.  We had many of them share their stories and then we celebrated.  We just tried to communicate that THEY MATTER so much.  Northwood - YOU MATTER - you are an above and beyond kind of church.  Powerful worship yesterday, fun celebration and exciting times we are in the middle of - keep it up!!!! Here’s what I shared with them:

1.  It’s more about obeying big than dreaming big that God responds to.

2.  It’s more about God’s glory than “my” story.

3.  It’s more about pleasing God than public recognition.

4.  It’s more about consistency than big talk.

5.  It’s more about others than me.

This morning I got up - and I’m reading through Luke - large portions at a time - something I’ve been doing with several books over the past few months - it’s a very powerful thing.  The last prayer I wrote in my wide margin Bible for 2009 was from Luke 11:28 - “Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”  More than anything that is my desire for my life, my family, my church, my country - and the whole wide world.

When I look back over 2009 it was both an exciting year and a tough year.  Exciting in the people who found Jesus, the ministries that flourished, the doors and opportunities that continue to open, the families that were healed, kids that matured and developed into adults - I could go on and on and on.  Tough - in the economy, tough as growth always means change and having to get out of your comfort zone - tough as in having to learn to say “No” to a lot of really “great” opportunities and things so you can say “Yes” to things that are “blessed” and “directed” by God.  I could go on about all the tough stuff - it’s just a part of life. 

Nikki and Jill and I came to Hanoi for Ti’s wedding and to meet with the staff here.  We wound up meeting with lots of business and government leaders.  The fruit of what NorthWood has done here is exceptional and it just continues to grow.  We’ve already had pledges and offerings that amount to over half of what we need in our glocal budget this year - incredible!  Church planters continue to call in record numbers, Haltom City is exploding with NorthWood members doing things - as well as Mexico.  We’ve also been looking anew at how we engage at a far deeper level right in Keller. 

My response to it all?  Gratitude - for who God is, for what he’s done for us personally, for what he’s done for us as the body of Christ.  Last night I had supper with some young business leaders in Hanoi and we were talking about God and different religions as they were asking me about my faith.  I mentioned that, at the core of all we believe, it comes down to a grateful response for all that God …

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I woke up this morning and read Luke 4 - for me it’s the Day after Christmas - so I continue to think about next year.  How Jesus starts his ministry is good for all of us.

1.  He was full of the Holy Spirit and so was led by the Spirit in the wilderness where he faced the temptations - then in v14 he returns in the Spirit.

2.  He wasn’t distracted by the opposition - the first came from Satan - the other would come from men in Nazareth who didn’t believe he was who he said.

3.  Wouldn’t allow anything to rob God of his glory - be it his needs, power, or the spectacular.

4.  Made clear his intentions: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach the Gospel to the poor, heal brokenhearted, preach deliverance to captives, recover sight of blind, set at liberty . . “

5.  His ministry began with a fast.

6.  He was about preaching the Kingdom of God v.43

If we just did those few things this next year - wow what would happen in all our lives and for his kingdom?

I always wondered what Christmas would be like here - and now I know!  We arrived late last night in Hanoi - got up this morning and got organized somewhat after having ran around lake Hoan Kiem.  I surprised Nikki and Jill at 5:30pm with an old car picking us up that’s been restored.  We rode around the lake taking in the lights, then we ate at the Opera Restaurant - incredible food - and bill as well!  We then came back to our hotel and in the lobby there is a choir called “The Immanuel Choir” from the Catholic Church in Hanoi - they were awesome - singing about Jesus, the Star - the Star part really got me - as they sang Noel they sang beneath a huge tree with a star on it - all I could think about was these young people singing for Jesus about Jesus here in Hanoi. 

There are many people meeting at churches, house churches, celebration events - no one should dare assume the story of Jesus isn’t going out here - it is - and in a powerful way.  I’ve seen Vietnam change a lot in the 15 years I’ve been coming here - it all came home tonight.  Thanks God for letting us get to see what you’re doing here.

I have been reading some stuff about immigrants, how they think and how they act when they go and settle in another country.  Because America has had so many come here to live, often we fail to realize that as Americans we act the same way when we go to other places in the world to live.  We live in packs.  We build our own restaurants.  We move as a small group.  Petty national differences go away as we are alone in other places.  There’s a lot more, but won’t write on that here . . . .

The more I began to read and reflect - the more something else began to come clear to me.  To a large degree, the rest of the world has been globalizing - America as well.  But to America it’s been the exportation of our economics and “stuff.”  There is much more to globalization than economics - cultures, tribes, you name it.  The rest of the world gets that part - we don’t.  It’s like we’re a rich person who has come to live in the global neighborhood and we have the “goods” so to speak but we are incredibly isolated from everyone else. 

Our children however, are very different.  Because they’ve grown up on the internet, traveled all over - movies - etc., they see the world radically different. 

I saw this illustrated a couple of weeks ago at our church.  I’ve tried to help people understand how the world is changed and our way of relating to other religions has to change.  People saw it as a global issue that didn’t affect them that much - until the shootings at Fort Hood.  As a result - they saw it in their back yard, and it made them incredibly interested. 

Issues are present whether we recognize them or not - the question is: What does it take to make us recognize them? And then, how do we respond?  What do we export? And, how do we impact the world with our form of faith (see my previous blog)? 

What is the biggest difference in first and second generation immigrants?  First, generation – it’s about me, mine and preserving my story, my stuff and where I came from.  Second generation, it’s about us and what is our common narrative.  What a fantastic future with phenomenal ideas this next generation …

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/17/AR2009121703673.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
Faith, folly and Uganda’s anti-homosexuality bill
By Michael Gerson
Friday, December 18, 2009; A33

It is sad when someone you care about threatens to do a foolish and destructive thing.
In this case, it is not a relative or a friend but a country. Uganda has endured the rule of a psychotic—dictator and cannibal Idi Amin—and a pandemic that decimated a generation. Its people responded with courage and faith, and the two are related. When I think of cheerful compassion in the midst of suffering, my examples are Ugandans.
But now the Ugandan parliament is considering legislation, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009, that would impose new and harsher penalties on homosexuality, including life imprisonment and capital punishment. It also would force pastors and others to report homosexuals to the authorities. Ugandan Christian leaders are key supporters of the bill. They misunderstand an important commitment of their own faith.
Pluralism and tolerance have advanced in countries with a Christian cultural background, not in spite of religious belief but largely because of it. It is a teaching of faith that human beings are ultimately responsible for their souls to God alone. The Protestant principle—“Here I stand, I can do no other”—implied a limit on both religious and political authority. No one can ultimately coerce the conscience, and no one should try.
It took long centuries for this radical idea of religious and moral autonomy to work itself out in the political realm. But it found expression in the American founding. We refused to be a “Christian nation” precisely because the founders held a broadly Christian view of human beings, who are subject to God and their conscience, not to the state. Pluralism is not a temporary or tragic compromise; it is the proper way to treat men and women created free and autonomous in God’s image.
This principle does not require a complete libertarianism. Some individual choices are legally prohibited as inherently exploitative (statutory rape or using child pornography) or destructive to the very idea of freedom and autonomy (drug use or voluntary slavery). A single worker drunk on gin is generally a matter of indifference to the state. A large portion of the British working class drunk on gin in the 18th century—catching their arms and legs in looms—required regulations on the sale of spirits.
But it is not sufficient …

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One of the greatest men I’ve ever known is BA Carlin, a pastor who went home to be with the Lord.  The one word I would use to describe him?  Kind!  He was kind, gentle, thoughtful - a very, very classy man.  I will miss him.  My Dad did the funeral, thought I’d post this story and picture.  He concludes the way we all should.

REFLECTIONS FROM THE LIFE OF ONE OF GOD’S SERVANTS:  REV. B. A. CARLIN, BUNA, TEXAS, JUNE 23, 1922 - DECEMBER 7, 2009

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE LIFE OF REV. B. A. CARLIN

During the past few years I have been concerned about sharing with my friends something of the lives of people who have deeply influenced my life.  One of the men that influenced my life the earliest was a man by the name of Rev. Burl Adam Carlin, better known by AB. A., who went to be with the Lord on December 7, 2009 from his home in Buna, Texas.@ I had the honor of bringing the message at his memorial service that was conducted at the First Baptist Church of Buna, where he served as pastor for twenty two years. Joining me in participating in the service was, Chaplain David Cross of the Baptist Hospital in Beaumont, Texas; Rev.Jerry Redkey, Director of Missions for the Sabine Neches Baptist Area and Jerry Clark, Lay minister and CEO of the Sabine River Authority.

Bro. B. A. Carlin was born June 23, 1922 in Jenerette, Louisiana. During the early years of his life he lived with his family on a houseboat on the Jenerette Canal. His grandfather immigrated to America from Nova Scotia, and his grandmother from France. His grandfather was a fisherman, and had begun a fishing business shipping fish from Louisiana back to New York. So,  Bro. Carlin lived on the river in the boat house helping his father who worked with his grandfather in the fishing business.

Bro. Carlin’s father had wanted him to go to a Baptist church, but at that time there was not a Baptist Church in Jenerette. However, there was a Methodist Church that he attended, where there was a Baptist lady who taught Sunday School in the Methodist church, because there was no Baptist Church in town for her to affiliate with. Therefore, Bro. Carlin’s first identification with the …

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Todd is a good friend, he worked in the Senate for a decade followed by working with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as the point person for policy on the Middle-East specifically Palestinian Isreali issues.  He loves God and is an awesome man - enjoy

Todd Deathridge from Glocalnetblog on Vimeo.

Sunday Carl spoke to our church and did an incredible job. Here’s the interview in the worship service, you can go to www.northwoodchurch.org website to hear the one-and-a-half hour conversation with him.

Carl Madaeris from Glocalnetblog on Vimeo.

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