Some of you have heard that several years ago I lost my precious Aggie Ring. Every time I share this in public, I receive gasps and looks of disapproval, as if a person who would misplace such an important item can barely be classified as human. I know it's shameful, but I really did not lose it on purpose; it just vanished one weekend while I was on a retreat.
Yesterday I got a call that somebody had found it! Somehow it made its way to the parking lot of a restaurant many miles away from where I lost. A man picked it up three years ago (!) and had not been able to track me down until yesterday. I received a call from his daughter, and she is going to get it back to me.
What was interesting to me was the rush of joy that I experienced upon receiving back an item that I had given up for lost. I actually envisioned myself placing it back on my finger in a sort of triumphal ceremony of recovery. I spread the word among my colleagues. My lost ring is found! I know it sounds strange, but it would be hard to describe my joy.
It gave me a little taste of what Jesus was expressing in Luke 15:
"What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!' In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
Have you ever thought about God's joy when you and I trusted in Christ and were saved? Have you ever imagined how precious you and I are to Him, and how overwhelmed with joy He was when we were saved from eternal death through Jesus?
The God of heaven and earth gave His Son so we could have life despite our sin. So that the lost could be found. Let's rejoice that He loves us that much, a million times more than I could love any little ring of gold. Let's move out into our world, filled with those who are lost, and be a part of God's plan to recover those who are lost, so that men and women from every tribe and tongue and people and nation will one day bow before Him.
Our God delights in finding those who are lost. Do we rejoice with Him?
Lost and Found
Raising Up Leaders
When I graduated college, I had a sense that I wanted to enter vocational ministry, but I had little direction with regard to where or in what role. Shortly before graduation, my college pastor bought me lunch and asked me to stay at Grace Bible Church for a year or two as an intern with the college ministry.
For the next two years I had unbelievable opportunities to serve, teach, lead, and learn. By the time I finished my internship I had a much clearer sense of the Lord's calling on my life and what the next steps were in pursuing that calling.
Since I finished my internship, the program has expanded to include eight to ten people each year, all of whom are interested in vocational ministry. Over the past 13 years we have had the privilege of seeing about forty young men and women enter vocational ministry in some capacity. Some are pastors, others are missionaries, one is a Bible college professor, and many are pursuing seminary training.
Leading our internship program is one of the greatest joys of my job here at Grace. It is where much of the greatest potential for impact occurs in this ministry.
In order to fund the internship program, each intern raises support for his or her salary. In addition, the church raises support to cover other expenses related to the internship.
If you are interested in partnering with us to raise up these leaders, please contact me at mattmorton@grace-bible.org. You can also give on the Grace website at http://http//www.grace-bible.org/Giving.aspx.
Would you be willing to consider such a partnership for the sake of raising up leaders to bring the message of Christ around the world?
True Community in a Virtual World
When I began college, email was a relatively new concept. I actually remember sitting down and writing letters to friends with pen and paper! My personal computer had no access to the internet, so sending and receiving email required waiting in a long line at the computer lab.
By the time I graduated college, we used email for nearly every correspondence! I stopped writing letters on paper, and my emails became shorter and shorter because of the number I was required to read and answer.
Now people do not even read their email anymore! Texting and Twitter are quickly replacing email as the preferred mode of communication. Why use a whole paragraph when you can say everything in 140 characters or less?
For that matter, why have dinner with old friends when I catch up with everybody on Facebook (or MySpace or LinkedIn or Classmates....or....or....?)
So here's my question for readers of this blog: How does all this technological efficiency affect the process of discipleship?
Clearly, the Christian walk requires community with one another (Hebrews 10:23-25). How can we have true community in a world that values quick exchanges of information and "virtual" friendships over real ones?
On the whole, do you feel like technological advances in communication (texting, Twitter, Facebook, email) are GOOD for Christian community or HARMFUL? Why? What will be the legacy of so much virtual community?
Do you think true depth of relationship and community can be accomplished in today's cultural climate? If so, how?
I would be very curious to hear your thoughts, especially if you are a college student.
Blessings,
Matt Morton
College Pastor
Thriller Theology
I confess that the death of Michael Jackson last week left me feeling a bit nostalgic and philosophical. For many of this blog's readers, Jackson was primarily known as a bizarre and ghoulish figure who inhabited the tabloids more than he did the pop charts.
For many in my generation, though, he was our first major exposure to pop culture, a larger-than-life persona who shaped our musical consciousness. My parents had Elvis and the Beatles; my peers and I had Michael Jackson and U2.
The enormity of his success only served to make his subsequent deterioration all the sadder. The strange changes in his appearance, the diminishing of his musical talent, and the accusations of child abuse drove home to me the perilous nature of worldly success, and the foolishness holding other humans on a pedestal.
At any rate, here are some theological musings on the life and death of Michael Jackson:
We have a God-given desire to imitate somebody. As silly as it sounds, I remember practicing the moonwalk -- unsuccessfully, by the way -- in my kitchen as a kid (that was a dance move, for those who might not know). It wasn't just me; everybody wanted to breakdance after Jackson made it popular. We all want a hero, somebody to model our lives after.
The Scripture affirms this desire, and gives us a particular object to imitate: Jesus Christ. Peter writes that Christ is "an example for you to follow in His steps" (1 Peter 2:21). Paul tells us to "be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ" (1 Cor 11:1). Imitation can be a good thing, IF we imitate the right person.
We are made in God's image yet sadly broken by sin. The news coverage on Jackson presents him as two different people -- the brilliant musician gifted by God and the tragic celebrity haunted by his demons. Which is the "real" Michael Jackson? Or did the "real" Michael vanish at some point, to be replaced by the imposter?
The truth is that both were the "real" Michael. You and I are all presented in Scripture as divided people, made in the image of God and capable of great glory (Gen 1:26; Ps 8:5), but also deeply marred and twisted by sin (Rom 3:10-18). Only through redemption in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit can my malady be healed. As it is, I am still waiting for the destruction of the sin that lives in me. Meanwhile we "groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of the body" (Rom 8:23).
We are more tragic than we would like to believe, but for those who trust in Christ we will be more glorious than we dare to hope.
Significance is only found in Jesus Christ. The saddest part of Michael Jackson's story is that he always seemed to be searching for a purpose and meaning that he never found. He never found it in fame, music, or even the childhood religion that he professed. Even at the pinnacle of human success, he was unhappy and self-destructive.
Paul writes, "I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ."
After seeking significance in himself, Paul found it in Christ. Where do you and I find it? Are we trying to find significance in worldly pursuits, or only in the One who died and rose again to give us True Life?
If nothing else, one person's death reminds us that one day we all face death unless Jesus comes first. Let's pray that when we lie in the ground, we will NOT be remembered our popularity or talent or wealth or accomplishments. If we are remembered at all, let it be because we simply reflect and imitate our Savior.
Matt Morton, College Pastor
Your Role is Critical!
This past weekend was the annual Pancake Breakfast fundraiser for Youth Impact, our urban ministry to Bryan kids, to help send them to Kids Across America camp. It was amazing to see the significant roles each person played in making this fundraiser possible. We had stellar leaders who helped set up on Friday afternoon, worked all morning, and then helped clean up after the event. The kids served with amazing attitudes, being attentive to the needs of the guests, willing to do whatever job we asked with excitement and joy. The families, friends and church body who came were a pleasure to serve and to give a glimpse of what our ministry is all about. At one point I took a moment and stepped back to watch as the crowded room buzzed with talking and laughter and I enjoyed the beauty God has created within the body of Christ. I was in awe and reminded by God that He designs each of us with unique gifts to be able to serve one another.
When looking at the church I see so many different individuals who attend and it amazes to me to see how God has pieced all of these people together to make one functioning body. No matter what your gifting is there is a place for each person to serve! We have Sunday school teachers who have been teaching for seventeen years, we have members who have been contributing faithfully for decades and we have college students leading for the first time. God uses each one in an intricate way to glorify Himself.
We are commanded to serve one another by using the spiritual gifts God has given each one of us. If you don’t know what your spiritual gifts are I would strongly encourage you to find out so you can learn to use them! Your gifting is unique and as important as any other. So whether you are serving behind the scenes, teaching in a classroom, helping prepare a meal for a family, bringing non-believers to church, praying for missionaries, leading a home church, or volunteering for a special event you play a vital role in the body! If you are not sure where to serve or need help finding your place please feel free to ask any of the staff here at Grace; we would love to help you find out!
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
Renee Nelson, college intern
Easter All the Time
As I went to the Easter service yesterday morning, I walked in to the sanctuary focusing on my strong hope of eternal life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we began to worship together, singing songs that celebrated Christ’s victory over death and offering praises to God for His accomplishment on the Cross, the significance of Easter was at the forefront of my mind. My expectation for this Easter Sunday morning was a sermon on the topic of this special day: the physical resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ which ushered in a new hope and the security of physical resurrection and promise of eternal life for those who have believed in Him. But as I opened the bulletin, I found a continuation of the current sermon series on one of Paul’s epistles. I was confused. I thought Easter Sunday was to be the pinnacle of the celebration of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Did I miss something?
The Lord quietly reminded but also boldly convicted me that the resurrection of Christ is not something only to be celebrated on one special day of the year. The power of the resurrection is such that it is the reason we can and should celebrate on the other 364 days of the year! As the sermon was preached, it was made apparent that the resurrection is the hinge of all Christian life because it reflects God’s power and faithfulness, and provides hope to those who believe. So whether we are talking about God’s grace, living the Christian life, or endurance in the faith, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ—the complete message—are the foundation upon which these other truths stand.
As I continued to think about this after the service, the Lord brought some questions to my mind to evaluate my own life. Am I worshipping and praising the Lord for the resurrection and how it affects my life on a consistent basis, not just at Easter? Am I walking in the reality that Christ conquered death? Do my words, actions, and thoughts reflect the power of this truth?
In the aftermath of Easter, I am praying that the Lord would bring these questions to my mind often and that I would not lose sight of the fullness of His accomplishments year-round. In other words, that in my heart and in my life it would be Easter all the time!
Holly Brown, college intern
Finding Truth in the Theatre
One thing that you will learn about me if you are around me for long is that I love art. I like to think of myself as having an appreciation for the finer things in life. Although I have not initiated a “Finer Things Club” in my workplace, I feel very certain that I would be privy to that inner circle in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
One of my favorite “finer things” is the theatre. I had the privilege of going to see the musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic, Les Miserables, in Houston yesterday afternoon. Art which has the ability to be not only beautiful and inspiring but also to point indirectly to theological themes always impresses me. I can think of no other musical that does this as well as Les Mis.
The central character of the story is Jean Valjean, who has been in prison for nineteen years for stealing bread for his starving family. After his release, he quickly returns to his former ways—bitter, unchanged, and still ravaged by his devastated life. Soon Valjean is caught in the act of robbing a local bishop, and the police bring him before the bishop. It is a stunning visual contrast to observe the bishop, dressed all in white, standing before a humble and ragged Jean Valjean. The bishop reports to the police that what they had assumed Valjean had stolen was actually a gift and that Valjean left before he was able to give him more. One act of grace and a life is transformed. Because the bishop gave Valjean what he did not deserve, Valjean is saved—not only from the punishment of prison but he is given the opportunity to begin a new life, one revolutionized by the grace freely lavished on by another. From this moment on, he knows that he has a soul, and now he can never be the same. He describes his transformation by asking: “What spirit came to move my life? I stare into the void, to the whirlpool of my sin…Jean Valjean is nothing now, another story must begin!”
Throughout the rest of the story, Valjean commits his life to granting mercy to those in need. In the midst of his reformed life, he is constantly being hunted by the police inspector Javert. Javert was the prison guard in which Valjean was held captive and later becomes a police inspector, hungry to indict Valjean for past wrongs in the name of justice and righteousness. Javert serves as a foil for Valjean. Javert is ensnared in the bondage of legalism, whereas Valjean’s life is dramatically altered by the freedom of grace.
Grace, redemption, and forgiveness are not the only religious themes woven throughout the story. Love overrides the whole play. The characters are constantly sacrificing for one another out of a “heart full of love.” One young girl, Eponine, exhibits great depths of love for Marius, for she knew that her sacrificial death was the only way to be near to him.
It is easy to recognize messages of truth in this play, but I urge you to seek out truth in modern-day art. Look for mediums that express and communicate scriptural certainties—man’s depravity, the presence of evil in the world, hopelessness apart from Christ, and other spiritual themes. Even in the absence of truth, we can still show ourselves to be approved by bringing light to the darkness, pointing to the ultimate redemption that is only found in Jesus Christ.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 3:23-24
Amanda Brundrett, College Intern