Almighty God of Love

Sunday, we sang the lyrics "We welcome you with praise! We welcome you with praise! Almighty God of Love, be welcomed in this place!"

Almighty God of Love. What a perfectly astounding name for our God. He is All Mighty. He can do or be anything He desires. And His deepest desire is love.  The God who is Almighty chooses love.

Almighty God of Love, help me daily to choose to devote my limited might to the same purpose you have chosen for your all might. Help me love.
-mo

being the church

Check this out:

I have been carrying this newsletter around in my school bag for over a month waiting to post it to this blog.
Do you see what I see here?
Four Thank-Yous on just ONE page: for working together to clean the church building, for being a top contributor to a children's home, for prayers and acts of kindness toward local teachers, and for feeding a high school football team.
This is not trivial! I have kept this with me and planned to post it because it is such an incredible testimony of the power of God to work through His church to encourage a community.
And, see the announcement in the bottom left corner? Last week, I was there for that fall festival with my mom and my niece. And I saw for myself that what is represented in those thank-yous is really real. Their little church parking lot was packed out with faces young and old, MOST of which I had never seen before. This is my home church. If anybody is a regular attender, I have seen his or her face. There were HUNDREDS of faces from small Sandersville (population 6000-7000) that I had never before seen at this church. Hundreds of faces from a community encouraged by a church living its calling. And you know what really impressed me? It was FREE! This church opened itself up, gave out smiles, laughs, hugs, candy, and a full meal FOR FREE!
It has been a long time since I have seen such a small church so selflessly give of itself to pour into its community.
I am so proud of my home church for being the church in their community.
Thankful for you, Sisters Baptist Church.
Refreshed,
mo

"Your love has given me great joy and encouragement,because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people." (Philemon 7)

Buckhead Singles Series

Amazing night of worship.

end of an era

Choose Life

Tomorrow is my last day as a youth minister at Avondale Estates First Baptist Church. As I prayed tonight about what should be my final words to my students, I turned on my phone's recorder and just started talking. The words the Holy Spirit shared with me are worth sharing with you.
-mo
P.S. The Old Testament quote is from Deuteronomy 30.

spiritual war

I am convinced that this church is in the midst of a spiritual war. Regardless of our intentions, the longer we continue to bend and sway with the ebbs and flows of our offering plates, the closer we come to allowing evil to defeat good within these walls.

The Bible, in Ephesians 6, gives us a recipe for victory as we struggle against "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." This recipe calls us not to scramble for shelter when financial winds blow but to "STAND FIRM!" And we are to stand firm fully suited in a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, battle shoes crafted from the gospel of peace,  a shield of faith, a helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.

Donning this equipment may cost more than the soldier has, but he would never even consider walking into battle without it. Instead, he trusts his commander to provide for his protection as he stands firmly where the commander has placed him.

And get this! Verse 18 of chapter 6 really is the kicker: the faithful soldier stands with the FULL support of his commander and not only can but should continually make all kinds of requests of the commander.

As God's soldiers at Avondale Estates First Baptist Church, should we cut back on ministry opportunities or the fundraisers that make them possible? By no means! If, instead, we will trust Him enough to follow His command, standing firm in ministry with Him, He gives us the right to make all kinds of requests. Let us, then, stand with Jesus, holding forth our shields of faith to block the blows of financial woes with our trust in a God who is able to provide above our wildest imaginations.

Prayerfully and Faithfully Standing,
-mo

ministry

11th grader S has been a part of our youth group for several months. He accepted Jesus as his Savior in November and joined our church the following week excited about serving as a full-fledged member of aefbc and the larger body of Christ. Before he has even been baptized (which is scheduled for a couple of weeks from now), he has been looked down upon, chastised, and just plain insulted by adults who have a problem with the fact that he wears shorts and a hat to church. I could not be more disappointed, hurt, angry that they have so attacked MY student with their petty lists of dos and don'ts. And I could not be more proud of S for continuing to live out his faith in the face of such contention from within his own church.

What does the Bible say about worship attire? Well, when it comes to shorts, nothing. And on the issue of hats, men are told to uncover their heads whenever they prophesy or pray. (for the record, S has never prophesied, and he does remove his hat whenever we pray.) BUT, the overwelming message of scripture is that God's focus is on the heart. I can almost guarantee those adults could learn a lot about respect and reverence from S if they'd just pay attention to his heart.

This kind of picky, prejudicial criticism from church members is completely inappropriate and intolerable. Our students are young and otherwise unchurched. Teaching them appropriate respect and reverence is an ongoing process that requires that we first earn their respect and then lovingly introduce them to our Savior, which will, in time, itself lead to a natural awe of and reverence for who He is. But to criticize them with legalistic lies about how worship is "supposed" to look or feel is unbiblical and inexcusable and does nothing to point them to Jesus.

The call of the Church is NOT discipline; rather, the call of the Church is discipleship.
-mo

greatness awaits us now in eternity

thankful for Mr. Tom's legacy of Christian service and stewardship. Thankful for his heart of love for aefbcYOUTH. Thankful for this great member of the GREATEST generation.

the theology of cardiology

The photo above is an image of a vein. Veins are designed to carry blood toward the heart. Blood is designed to go to the heart, from where it is pumped out again to take life to the rest of the body. Notice that in this picture, though, that blood flow is restricted by two dark clots. The amount of blood reaching the heart - and the rest of the body - is less than ideal.

Consider that the Church is the heart of the kingdom of God. Blood cells are individuals brought to the church through the vein of God's choosing. There, at the heart, they are given a purpose, a mission to carry life into the rest of the world - a body dead without those little Christians coursing through the arteries of its limbs, generating new cells to be carried back into the heart to begin the cycle afresh.

What happens when we allow darkness to enter the Church?

1 John 1.5-7
 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

1 John cuts straight to the core, and without apology, John asserts that darkness has NO place in the Church. When we walk in darkness, we become clots in the veins of God's kingdom. Many of those cells that would otherwise be pumped into the heart, repurposed, and sent back into the world to bring more into the kingdom will never enter a heart clotted with darkness.

Today's Church is in desperate need of a cardiac catheterization. We must flush out the darkness (or bypass stubborn clots) to allow God to bring a fresh flow of life into the chambers of our churches and out into the far appendages of the world.
-mo

maybe

Maybe... it's the one word i wrote down during last week's sermon. the subject was the return of Christ. i feel like we don't talk about this subject nearly as much as we did when i was a kid. on the other hand, our culture seems to be consumed with questions and fantasies about the end of the world. a ton of new books, tv shows, movies, etc. are set in a post-apocalyptic world. and, of course, everyone wants to know whether or not the world will survive the end of the Mayan calendar.

the Bible teaches that not even Jesus knows when Jesus will return. so, when i have been asked what i think about the mayan calendar thing, my answer has usually been something indicating that i don't put any stock in those types of predictions and that i don't believe anyone knows when the end will come.

those things are true, but perhaps a more appropriate answer to the question of whether the world will end before this year is maybe. it's the same answer but with emphasis on the importance of our readiness. what if the mayans were right? are we ready?
-mo

my first 5k

This happened yesterday! Amanda and I ran with some of our students from aefbcYOUTH.

Band of Interns

The Interns: Amanda (soprano), Melissa (alto), Kalen (guitar), Chris (drums). With special guest Mark Green (piano and vocals).

maundy communion

my first plate of unleavened bread to be used in church.

Pinch me.

The older I have gotten, the more I have wondered if I will ever be done with school and free to start "real life." I am soooooo tired of being a student and just about to the point that I don't want to learn anything else. ever.

But, Sunday, as I sat in church thinking back over my Sunday school lesson, I realized I am living my dream! We had talked about Paul's exclamation in Philippians 1 that "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." I can pretty honestly say I am at a place in life where this is true for me. Even when the specifics of life are annoying or boring, the whole of life is an exciting pursuit of Christ in me, the hope of glory!

As a child, I looked up to adults who somehow managed to maintain a genuine faith and zeal for the Christ-life. There weren't many of them, but I dreamt of becoming one of the few. Now, I am an adult. Although I'm still in school, still not living "real life," still don't have a "real job," I am living my dream. I am living for Jesus, and He is living for me. I couldn't dream of anything more.

-mo

Jesus vs. religion

heard about this video on NPR today on my way home from school. I like it. I think saying Jesus hates religion might be a little far, but I hear the point, and overall, I agree. what do you think? drop a comment.

-mo

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David & Brady at AEFBC

so, i'm not young anymore

for the fourth year in a row, my car and i signed up to participate in my church's Trunk or Treat. on halloween, we park our cars in a circle, trunks facing in, and we decorate our trunks and receive "trunk-or-treaters" from the community. tons of children and families show up, and it is always a great time of fun with our church and our community.

this year, i had a brilliant idea for my trunk's decor. i wrapped a couple of flattened cardboard boxes in blue wrapping paper and added some waves and fish. i set up the boards to form a barrier to my trunk, and i gave each trunk-or-treater a fishing pole with a clothes pin on the end. he/she would fish for candy. i even thought ahead enough to buy individually wrapped Swedish Fish candies from Amazon to fit my theme.

when the event started, i climbed into my trunk and went to work attaching fish to each lowered line and giving the line a tug to let the fisher know he/she had a bite. 1.5 hours of fun.

the next day, the fun bit me in the back. i could barely move. apparently, i am too old to work curled up in a trunk for 1.5 hours. my back and neck were so sore i stayed in bed all day popping naproxen sodium. i missed both my classes but decided i needed to be up at 8pm for my online office hours for the class i teach. i got up slowly and took bengay and a heating pad with me to the living room to set up for office hours. as soon as my hour was up, i returned to lying flat in my bed.

wow. who knew one could get so old so fast? who knew old people shouldn't get in trunks? now i know.
-mo

the ministry of baseball

now that I live alone, i control my own remote. so, i watch baseball. i have seen almost every braves game since august 1, when i moved into my apartment. this one, simple addition to my life has improved my ability to relate to the senior adults at my church. tonight, i sat down with some of my older friends and talked braves baseball until Bible study started. i love how God uses little things like baseball to build relationships. from now on, i will watch the braves, motivated not only by my love for baseball but also by my love for aefbc seniors.
cool.
-mo

looking forward...

...to Wednesdays and Sundays is my secret to surviving the rest of the week.

rainbows

i've just seen my second rainbow in two weeks. what an awesome reminder of how awesome and awesomely faithful my God is.

life is crazy. in two weeks, i've taken a comprehensive exam; spent a week at camp with three boys; spent a week driving a bus and ringing a bell for vbs; started studying for a second comprehensive exam; started looking for a new place to live; and house/pet sat for two women in my church who have 3 cats, 2 dogs, 1 bird. also, i have seen two rainbows, two reminders of God's constant faithfulness in the midst of life's craziness.

camp really was fantastic. michael and i spent the week at north greenville university with three of our boys. we shared a ton of laughs and made so many memories. i am so grateful that God called me to work with these guys for this time. i love the youth i serve. youth ministry probably is not my lifelong calling, but God has been so faithful (rainbow) to rain down so many blessings as i have followed his lead. what an awesome LORD!

God, grant me the wisdom, the courage to follow you always. with each rainbow, remind me not only of your faithfulness but also of the debt of obedience i owe you.
-mo