Myanmar is one of the world’s poorest countries. As a whole nation people live on an average of $2.56/day. According to the UN, around one-third of Myanmar’s people survive on less than US$1 a day. Half of all children fail to complete primary school, and over 30% of the nations children suffer form malnutrition.  In addition to the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria claim hundreds of thousands of lives each year.

Calvary has had the amazing privilege of partnering with a group of orphanages to serve the poorest of the poor, and God is doing a marvelous work amidst the orphaned and abandoned children who live there. Our teams have seen children of all ages being fed, clothed, educated and loved.  The needs are vast and continue to mount.  What if we could serve 100 children, giving them food, clothing, medical care, an education, and a daily reminder that someone across the world loves them?  What if we could build a new dormitory for girls and help start a chicken farm that will produce eggs to feed children?

Today I ran across an amazing opportunity to make a difference – AMERICA’S GIVING CHALLENGE. The challenge is to get the most daily donations to our cause.  The challenge ends on November 6th with the top seven causes receiving between $10,000 – $50,000.  In addition there is a daily challenge, the top daily cause receives a $1000.  I can’t even begin to tell you how much hope $50,000 would give to 100 children in Myanmar.HERE IS HOW YOU CAN HELP:

1)  Every day that you donate at least $10 to the cause counts as one donation in the challenge.  If you donate twice in one day, it’s still just counts as one donor.  If you donate $25 it still just counts as one donor.  Every new day, you can be a new donor.

2)  The challenge ends on November 6.  If you donate $10 every day between now and November 6th you will have donated $220 and you will have given us 22 points/donations towards the challenge.

3)  Currently the leading cause has less than 700 points/donations.  If we will donate, and invite friends to join the cause and donate, we can catch this…and as we do it, we will hit some of those daily challenges as well.

To help us win the challenge, make a difference and give hope to little kids like Abraham…

Join our cause on Facebook and give by clicking Join Myanmar Cause

Or give without joining by clicking  Hope for Myanmar

I know.  That phrase has a variety of definitions.  You could be “hooking up” a computer.  Not talking about that one.  A decade or two ago, it meant connecting with a friend over coffee or a beer.  But today — especially in the college culture — it has a new meaning.  The meaning is still somewhat vague and many who use it like it that way.  But the most common definition is that “hooking up” refers to some sort of casual sexual encounter with no future commitment to maintaining a relationship.

So yesterday I blogged a bit about living together before marriage (see As Long As…) but I ended by sharing my conviction that sometimes it seems like that’s how we view our relationship with God.  So I just wanted to ponder that thought a bit more with the question…

“Is the church just trying to hook up with Jesus?”

In the New Testament book of Ephesians, Paul calls the church the “bride of Christ.”  But I wonder if sometimes we — the church — aren’t more interested in a casual relationship that meets our needs but has little future commitment to maintaining a relationship. For example…

1) I’m not against church shopping — to some extent.  My core conviction is that there is just one church in the region and if that’s the case then church shopping is more like trying to figure out what lifegroup you fit with best.  But on the other hand, I wonder if church hopping has an element of cohabitation to it?  I’ll hang out here as long as Jesus meets my needs while I’m here — or until you offend me and I’m tired of you saying you’re sorry — or until I see something better.

2) How about when it comes to activities like giving and serving?  If we are married to Jesus, committed for life…what does giving and serving look like, as opposed to if we are just taking a trial run?

3) Relationships are different when a commitment for life is made, right?  If we are not committed for life, my motivation for reconciliation is minimized, because frankly sometimes in the moment, it’s just easier to move on.

4) In my relationship with Lynn I’ve found that so much good has come from the endurance of hope, and growth over time.  We’ve been married 25 years.  My stomach aches to think of all I would’ve missed if at any point I or she had said, “I quit.”  I wonder if this is the way it is in our relationship with Jesus, the church’s relationship with Jesus, and yes our relationship with the church.  It requires the endurance of hope and growth over time to get to the real treasures.

So…Jesus wants to be our one and only.  He is not looking for a casual relationship.  He is looking for radical passion, courageous surrender, humble endurance, love over the long haul, and whole-hearted commitment.  Because sooner or later a half-way commitment gets really messy.

Ran into this video on Pastor Paul Grabill’s blog Beside the Point.  It’s a clip for Life Church.  Got me thinking about commitments, covenants and relationships.  Watch the video and then I have a couple of comments.

So here are a few thoughts:

1) Commitment is a yes or no question.  Sooner or later a halfway commitment gets messy.

2) Sex without marriage is a halfway commitment — at best.  Sooner or later a halfway commitment gets messy.

3) One study I ran across found that 8 of 10 couples who live together before marriage will break up before the wedding or end up in divorce.  Couples who live together and then get married are 50% more likely to divorce than those who do not begin their relationship cohabiting and only 12% of those who are cohabiting will end up married to each other past 10 years.  In other words, cohabitation is not a trial for marriage it is a training ground for divorce.  Sooner or later a halfway commitment gets messy.

4) Guys who want sex before marriage are selfish.  Seriously.  I’m not trying to heap on guilt for past junk, God forgives.  But I am saying, “Guys man-up, the lady you are dating is someone’s treasure.  If she is your’s you can wait.  If she isn’t…don’t be selfish.

Last thought: but most intense and convicting for me.

How many of us are trying to cohabit with God?  Aiming for pleasure without commitment.  Intimacy without the work.  Momentary relationship without the hassle of sacrifice.  I’ll follow you for as long as it makes sense and my needs are met Jesus.  Because I love you almost as much as I love myself.

But God wants to be our one and only, our radical passion.  I know at first glance that seems kind of narrow.  If God is my one and only how will I have love left over for my wife, my kids, my job etc.  But here is the deal, surprisingly, when I give God my whole heart — love multiplies.

So go for it.  Sooner or later halfway commitments get messy.

I think we all would agree, names are important. In fact one of the partnership tasks that God gave Adam and Eve was the naming of the animals. Sometimes people end up with unusual names like, Humperdink and Fanny Fangboner of Sandusky, Ohio. Then there was John Senior, Jr. of New York City; Justin Tune, a member of the Westminister Choir; and Mary Louse Pantzaroff — you have to wonder how she ever made it through elementary school.

Last week I ran across a series of blog posts by Neil Cole about the process of naming churches.  Some churches have unusual names.  Like

Runs Baptist Church in the Aiken SC area, all kinds of comments I could make there but won’t.  Holy Three-In-One Lutheran Church of Houston, TX.  Sounds like a place for Batman and Robin.   If you like really long names you could attend the Greater Evangelistic Cathedral Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Incorporated Vineland, NJ; as opposed to the one that was incorporated in New York?  And for country music lovers there is always the Glen Campbell United Methodist Church in PA.  Always wondered if he was a Christian.

Neil Cole points out some others like..

* First Church of the Last Chance World on Fire Revival and Military Academy (in Dade City FL).  I don’t think I would ever go to a church that puts last chance, fire and military in the same sentence let alone their name!

* Seekers who are just not sure about this whole commitment thing might be interested in Halfway Baptist Church. On the other hand, you have to jump in with both feet to go to Hell Hole Swamp Baptist Church in South Carolina. “Halfway Baptists” not welcome there.

* Little Hope Baptist Church sounds bad until you run into No Hope United Methodist Church.  Wow.  What do you suppose the tag line is for that church?  “Come Experience the Joy of No Hope.” Another church that makes me wonder about tag lines is Hell For Certain, a church in Kentucky.  Perhaps something like “Bring the whole family to Hell for Certain, Sundays at 10.”

* One final one that is a personal favorite, the First United Separated Baptist Church.  All I can say is it wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last time that a Baptist Church separated and called it unity.  But this church really needs to focus on one or the other!

In the midst of this UNchristian teaching series, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how people think about us — Calvary Baptist Church.  That’s our name, but does it really tell our story?  Does it give people any sense of what we value?  Does it lift Jesus up?  Does our name put up walls that keep people from seeing Jesus?

Names matter — but I will say this — ultimately when it comes to the church the only name that really matters is Jesus.  And for something as important as that, letters on a sign matter less than how we live our lives.  We should live our lives in such a way that every name we have becomes little more than a nickname — some good, some unusual, some ridiculous — that pales in comparison to THE name.  Jesus.

What is your name?

Calvary’s Pastors spent 2 days at Catalyst last week, it’s a conference in Atlanta that attracts pastors primarily under the age of 35.  Chuck Swindoll was one of the speakers.  Swindoll has been a pastor for close to 50 years.  He’s written around 70 books — I think through the years I’ve read most of them!  A few years ago Christianity Today named him one of the most influential pastors of the last 50 years.  The reason I say all of this is to simply let you know that Swindoll has staying power.  He has had integrity and influence over the long haul.  The heart of his message to the pastors at Catalyst was The Ten Lessons I Learned in 50 years of Ministry so that You Can Thrive in Ministry for the Next 50 Years. Here they are…

I absolutely loved Chuck Swindoll. Pure wisdom! He shared ten life and leadership lessons.

1. It’s lonely to lead
2. It’s dangerous to succeed
3. It’s hardest at home
4. It’s essential to be real
5. It’s painful to obey
6. Brokenness and failure are necessary
7. My attitude is more important than my actions
8. Integrity eclipse image
9. God’s way is always better than my way
10. Christlikeness begins and ends with humility

I could write a blog on each one…but perhaps I’ll just let you ponder them.  If you want to respond, let me know which one has been most important for you and why.

This weekend at Calvary we hit week #2 of our new teaching series, UNchristian: Confessions of a Recovering Church. This week our Jesus-story was his encounter with a woman at a well, and our apology was for the times when we (Christians) don’t care about people who don’t want to join our religion. If you didn’t have a chance to listen this weekend — click

The last two weeks I have had so many e-mails from people who have been hurt in the past, by people who claim to follow Jesus.  My heart breaks.  At the same time I have seen people at Calvary who have aimed their lives in Jesus’ direction — and when many people do that, even church can become a “well” where people can encounter Jesus.  But don’t wait for the weekend… go find a well.  Find a place where you can rub shoulders with people.  Seek out conversations with people who need hope and let them see Jesus on your face.

Today I received this video — it’s a great reminder of our story this weekend.  (Thanks Joyce!)

So… if you attend Calvary you know that my hair is getting long.  Few weekends go by that someone doesn’t mention it — her name is Lynn.  :)  So just for fun I thought I would blog about my hair.  So some of you might be wondering…

– Is he having a mid-life crisis?  Nope probably won’t live till I’m 94 — think I’m past mid-life.  Besides if it was a mid-life crisis, long hair is definitely cheaper than a convertible sports car, right?  :)

– Is he trying to appeal to the younger crowd at Calvary?  Wrong again.  I just spent 3 days at Catalyst a conference for next generation pastors.  12,000 attended about 10,000 were under the age of 30.  And about 11,000 had short hair and square glasses — different variations of the theme you see.  In fact I wonder if I’ve ever seen so many guys under the age of 30 with shaved heads.  I think there were three of us there with hair down past our collars and two of them were lead singers leading worship.

– So I’m trying to be a rock star?  Nope.  Though I have to say, my singing has been known to make girls scream.  That’s all I’ll say there.

– Does Lynn like it?  She and my daughters all agree.  They feel exactly the same way about it.

– So why are you doing it? Hhmmn.  I could give a number of potential reasons from Nazarite vow (see Samson) to saving money on haircuts, but not everything has a reason.  Maybe I just like being a little weird.

– Will you ever cut it?  Well sure.  It would be a little weird if I never cut it.   Oops.

– When?  So you know I have this old jeep, soft top.  I love it, one of my favorite vehicles ever, and I have this vision in my mind of driving through the PA mountains and valleys, fall colors full palate, soft-top down, wind blowing through my hair.

So Lynn is praying for a warm weather Monday (my day off).  You can join her, if you like.   :) :) :)

I am hanging out with Calvary’s gathering pastors and Jorn Junod (a local church planter) this week at a conference called Catalyst.   First thought is what a great group of guys!  Calvary is blessed to have them and the city is blessed to have Jorn.

Yesterday Andy Stanley kicked the day off with a look at one of Joshua’s (of Old Testament fame) defining moments, maybe the defining moment of his life.  It was just before Joshua was to lead his army (think team, church, workgroup) into the promised land.  They were just outside of Jericho.  Joshua goes off by himself just before the big battle and he sees a soldier approaching with sword drawn.  Joshua yells out, “Are you for us or are you for our enemies?”

We ask that question with some regularity don’t we?  We want to figure out who is on our side?  Who agrees with us?  Who will help me and who will obstruct me?  In fact I think sometimes we find ourselves asking that question of God.  God are you for me or for my enemies?  (God are you going to help the Vikings win or the Packers. :)

“Are you for us or for our enemies?”  The soldier with sword drawn answers, “NO.  But as the commander of the Lord’s armies I have come.”

In other words, God is saying to Joshua.  It’s not your team.  I’m not on your side.  It’s my team and the question is, “Will you be on my side?”  God is saying will you be for me.  We all want to make our mark on the world but it’s not about our mark, it’s about God’s mark.  It is not about who is for us or against us, it’s about who we are for…

So Joshua went down on his face and asked, “What does God want to say to me?”  He surrendered.  Maybe it’s time in our lives to get face down and remember whose team it is?

The outcome had already been determined.  Waverly 42 — McDermott 0.  Time for one more play; a simple hand-off from the McDermott quarterback to a no-name running back that resulted in a game ending touchdown.  In the simple context of wins and losses, it was a meaningless touchdown.  In the context of life, a touchdown that brought a community to it’s feet and according to a mother… changed her son’s life.

It was the final game of Jake’s final season at McDermott.  It was also the first football game where he actually played.  Jake Porter had a disorder called “Chromosomal Fragile X,” which meant that Jake
was mentally and developmentally challenged.  But he loved football.  For three years, all the way through high school, he practiced with his team.  He dressed for all the games, knowing he would never get to play… not ever.

But in the last game of Jake’s senior year, his coach, Dave Franz, wanted Jake to get in the game.  Before the game started, he talked to the opposing coach,  “If the score is lop-sided in this game, would it be OK if I put Jake in the game for just one down? We’ve practiced the play. He would take a knee immediately, so there is no risk that anyone would hurt him. Would it be all right?”  Coach Dewit from Waverly had met Jake before the game, and  the kid’s attitude and personality had made him smile.  Sure, he said, absolutely ok.

Put yourself in the stands that evening.  With seconds left in the game, Jake’s team was losing 42-0.  So McDermott calls a timeout and the coaches meet at midfield.  “I’m gonna put Jake in now.”  “Ok, no problem.”  The coaches head back to their sidelines and Jake heads into the game.  But the opposing coach stops, wheels around and calls for a 2nd time out.  He starts across the field to meet Jake’s coach. At midfield he says,  “Touching the ball isn’t good enough.  He has to score.”

You don’t have to do that, Jake’s coach says, you have a shut-out.  We’ve only practiced the kneeling play.  We haven’t practiced a scoring play.  The other coach shakes his head, Just give him the ball, we’ll all make sure he scores.  Jake’s coach goes back to the huddle, points to Jake and says, “Big Boy. You’re gonna score.”  Jake starts jumping up and down.  The teams line up.  The ball is snapped.  On the video you see Jake’s initial confusion.  He’s looking for a safe place to kneel.  That’s what he practiced.  His teammates are yelling, “Don’t go down.”

He stops, takes a few steps, looks around.  There’s 21 other players on the field and every single one of them are pointing to the end zone and yelling, “Run, Run!”  Even the referees are pointing.  He starts to run.  The Waverly defense parts like the Red Sea.  And Jake is off to the Promised Land.  At the 35 yardline he slows and  looks back over his shoulder only to see players from both teams following behind him.

He never looks back again and when he crosses the line, the crowd rises and roars.  Players are jumping up and down… women are crying and men are pounding each other on the back (which is how

men cry at a football game).  and Jake is surrounded with young men whose hearts are so full, it feels like they are going to explode.  Wouldn’t it have been great to have been a part of that?  To be one of the coaches… or one of the players… or even someone cheering Jake from the stands…

If life is like a game of football, how do we get more Jake-touchdowns? Well here’s my thoughts…

1) It helps if the final score has already been determined.  Isn’t that what we have as Christians?  We know who wins.  Jesus wins.  It’s okay to let everyone play, in fact it’s what the coach wants.  This game is not just for the stars, it’s for everyone.  And we can give the ball to anyone because we already know who wins.

2) It requires humility.  Wow does it ever require humility.  It requires the kind of humility that says, it’s not all about me.

3) It’s requires a belief that the people in the game, matter more than the rules of the game.  No, of course there was nothing illegal about Jake’s touchdown, but the rule of the game is that if you are on defense you do everything you can to keep the offense out of the endzone.  In this case, breaking the rules gave the opportunity to love a person.

Watch the video, put yourself there, think of the Jakes in your life and ask God for an opportunity to cheer them on.

It took a few years, but a church in Sacramento apologized for messing up.  The Rev. Rick Cole stepped onto the podium on a Sunday last month, and stepped into the Sacramento church’s troubled past.  In front of a packed and stunned congregation, the senior pastor of Capital Christian Center apologized to anyone who had been hurt by the church, acknowledging the pain that church leaders had caused individuals and the community.

The pastor then mentioned two people “whose stories attracted national media attention and caused a lot of pain.”  Both were in the audience of 2,400 people.

One was Christina Silvas. In 2001, church officials asked Silvas to withdraw her daughter from the church-run school because Silvas was working as a stripper. On Sunday, Silvas sat with her daughters during the worship service.  Another was Ben Sharpe; Ben had been banned from his eighth-grade graduation in 1995 after getting a buzz cut.  School officials had prohibited Sharpe, an African American and a star student, from participating in the ceremony because his haircut violated school policy.

That decision in 1995 set off a media firestorm, with many accusing church leaders of racism.  Fourteen years later, Cole was making an emotional plea to Sharpe.  “On behalf of leaders who did not intend to betray Ben Sharpe and his family, but by our actions much pain was caused, I want to publicly ask forgiveness,” said Cole, struggling to control his emotions. “I also want to apologize to our community for the seeds sown of racial division.”  Cole left the podium, walked over to Sharpe and embraced him and his mother, Faye. The congregation rose in a standing ovation, many people reaching for tissues.

I am so — not — a church basher.  I love the church.  I have given my life to serve the church.  I believe the church as Jesus envisioned, not as an institution but as a movement of Jesus-followers — I believe that church is the hope of the world.  And when we walk in humility we will become that church.

It takes humility to apologize.  It takes humility to admit failure or sin.  It takes humility to receive grace.  But when humility is present, the lift comes from God.  That makes an apology a win-win.  If you think about it, it should almost make you want to invent things for which to apologize.  But don’t worry, if you look you can find something real.

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, so humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up.  (James 4).  God go to battle against the pride in my life, because I so want more grace.