On Greatness

Senator Ted Kennedy died sometime between yesterday and today.  It seems that the past five days or so have been filled with it…death I mean.

Though I’ve never been one to agree with many of Senator Kennedy’s political views, I have to give credit where it is due.  As a Senator, he has made quite an impact upon our nation.

Thinking of the Kennedy’s made me think of our “national families.”  You know, those families that have made public service their livelihood. The families like the Kennedies and the Bushes.  Perhaps some would even call these “Great American Families.”

In the midst of the deluge of media coverage of Senator Kennedy’s death, one of the man video tidbits of him caught my attention.  It is one where he is saying that he won’t run for President, even though it may mean that he never would run for the office.  He said that his life was given over to Public Service, which he was involved in with the Senate.

His life was given over to Public Service…  His life was given over to something greater than the individual… His life was given over…

I know nothing personal of the man, no more than anyone else watching the news that is.  But, that phrase caught my attention.  It made me think about what truly makes a man great.

Matthew 11:7-11 says:

⁷As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? ⁸If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. ⁹Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰This is the one about whom it is written:
” ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’ ¹¹I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

John the Baptist was a great man, as defined by Jesus.  Please, don’t rush over the first half of verse 11 just because you think the latter half is speaking about you.  There is much in that first 11a section and preceding.

He was great.  He had given himself over to something greater than himself.  He had given himself over to his God.  Completely, wholly, without compartmentalization.  We might say he was a zealot.  Jesus called him great.

He was given over to a mission, a task per se.  He was the messenger, preparing the way for Jesus.  His greatness wasn’t found in his possessions, likability, or fame.  It was in pursuing his God given mission.  He was great because he was obedient.

The last thing that I see is that he was utterly human.  I didn’t post the text, but the previous passages show a man in deep doubt, possibly even despair.  He was in prison, very close to death’s door as we later learn, and he sends some followers to ask Jesus if he was the “one.”

I’m not saying that he was great because he was so fallible.  Not at all.  However, I can’t use my own humanity to keep me from being obedient to God.  The latter half of verse 11 says that those considered the “least in the Kingdom of heaven” will be considered greater than John.  I’m sure that will be based upon our prioritization of God in our lives, and those same lives being lived in obedience to him.

Tim

Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger…

One of the best things about the OWH is that it is so transparent.  They always make it easy for you to see exactly where your money goes.  People see where their money is going, and the type of impact it is likely to have.  No wonder that the OWH is up %39 over last year to date!

Here is one of their promotional videos.  Please, take a look and consider giving:

To help, contactJoyce Gilbreath at the Baptist Building, 333 North Washington, Dallas, TX 75246.You can call Joyce at 214-828-5172 or by email at joyce.gilbreath@bgct.org.

Thank you,

Tim Dahl

Just Some Thoughts… Good Words by Vestal.

Even though I’m not officially part of a CBF church, my family has been financially supporting the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship for well over seven years.  One of the things I like to peruse is “CBF Fellowship!”  It isn’t exactly a magazine, and it isn’t quite a newspaper either.  Its to big to be a newsletter, in my opinion; and I enjoy reading it.

…well… Most of it.

No offense to Bro. Vestal; but I don’t usually read your intro piece very often, but I found myself doing it in the November/December 2008 issue (Vol. 18, No.7).

These first two sentences really caught my attention:

Communities of Christian discipleship are the very salt and light that can transform culture.  Churches, as communities of missional practice, are empowered by the Spirit to engage the world so as to transform the world.”

Brother, you speak my language.  Christian Discipleship and Missional Practice.  Now, if we could all just agree to what that means.

Here is another tidbit that kept me reading:

When Christ followers live in authentic community and demonstrate in their shared life a humility, passion and holiness like their Lord’s, nothing is quite so transformative.

That is the kind of Christian I desire to be.  That is the kind of church I so greatly desire for us to be.  “Christ followers that live in authentic community,” sounds almost to good to be true.  “Demonstrating in a shared life,” seems impossible in our age of isolation.  “Humility, passion and holiness;” seem to be anathema in the culture I live in.  Yes, we may banter the words around, but it isn’t anything that we are practicing.

It shows the desperate need of Discipleship that we need, that I need.  The core of Discipleship isn’t learning the Roman Road, or the Four Laws.  It is learning to be like Jesus.  It is doing the things that place us in his presence to be changed by him.

Just some thoughts.

Tim

Texas Baptist Convention? No Thank You.

I’m not endorsing the name change.

First off, I’ve gotten to know other Texas Baptists, that aren’t part of the BGCT.  There is a wide and diverse people known as Baptists that live in Texas.  For us to continue to claim that we are the “Texas Baptists” is rightly called arrogance.

Secondly, I do know history…especially the significance of the “G” in the “BGCT.”

Remember, we are the Baptist “General” Convention of Texas.

Here is a quick primer on what being a “General Baptist” means.

You see, I believe in General Atonement.  I believe that Jesus died for everyone, and that God holds out salvation to all that will receive him.  I reject the notion that Jesus only died for a few, select individuals.  I am not a proponent of Limited Atonement.

Yes, there are Baptists in Texas that agree with Limited Atonement; I just happen to believe they are wrong. Huzzah!

I equate changing our name to loosing something of great importance about our identity.  Perhaps the FFC are correct, and people don’t remember.  Well, that is our fault in not teaching them.  Perhaps if we do, we’ll have fewer problems.

Wouldn’t it be great if we remembered that is a strong line of Baptists in our history, other than the Calvinists that the Baptist Identity crowd is rewriting history about?  Wouldn’t it be great to know that there is a strong line in our history of Female Ministers (Thank you Sandy Creek!)?  Wouldn’t it be great to remember our place in getting Separation of Church and State on the books?  For as long as we forget who we are, the right wing extremist will continue to rewrite history, and form us into their image.

Now, for the record, I happen to believe that the FFC is staffed with good people.  Andy Pittman is a stand-up guy, with a real heart towards Jesus.  I happen to believe that David Lowrie is a stand-up guy, with a heart towards Jesus as well.  Pittman is a co-chair of the FFC, and I believe that Lowrie is a member of it.

Guys, please…bring something else to the convention.  Give me a reason to show up that is positive, not negative.  Give me a reason to step out of the exhibit hall; because right now I’m just not feeling it.

For me, being a part of the Baptist General Convention of Texas has special significance.  Therefor, I do not endorse the name change.

Tim Dahl

For Love of the Institution…

The demise of the Institutional Church has been written about many times over.  The statistics are there for people to see.  4000 churches closing their doors each year.  Barely a 10-12% retention rate among young people.  The only generation still half-way decently tithing is passing from the scene.  I know, it doesn’t look good.

But…  What if you love the Institution?  Sure, we can talk about the Institutional Church in the general sense.  We like to apply it to all of those “other” churches out there.  However, “My” church is a different story.  My church has many things about it that “I” would like to retain.  “My” church isn’t an “Institution,” its a family!

Well… Yes, it is a family.  And yes, it is an institution as well.

I love my church, institution and all!  I don’t want to see it pass from the scene.  I don’t believe that it’s season finale has finally come.  So, what do I do?

First, I keep on loving it, and stay connected to it.  I learned this in the hospital chaplaincy.  When people think that someone is going to die, fairly soon, they start to detatch themselves from their loved one.  They start to talk about them to others, while they are in the same room with them.  They are emotionally getting ready for the eventual separation.

If you want something to die, then detatch from it.  If you want to give it a chance to survive, then stay connected with it.

Secondly, and I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, the church family has to live beyond itself.  We are the only institution that isn’t made for it’s membership.  We are made for the non-members.  We don’t serve ourselves, but in Christ-likeness, we serve others that are not “of” us.

This will be a terribly hard shift for any congregation to make.  It isn’t easy.  It hasn’t been easy for my church, and we’ve still a long way to go on it.

Finally, an ultimately, we have to focuse on obedience.  We have to specifically focus on individual and corporate obedience to Christ in the day-to-day.  That doesn’t mean that following a particular set of rules is synonomous with following Christ.  It means that we all seek his will, and endeavor to follow it…in the day-to-day.

For to long we’ve been nice to each other, saying we’re following the “golden rule,” as if that is real obedience.  Many non-Christians are nice to each other, treat others like they would want to be treated.  As far as I can tell, they aren’t intentionally trying to follow Christ in obedience.  No, there needs to be more of an intentionality about it.  It has less to do with “being good,” and more to do with, “Jesus, talk to me now.  I’m listening.”

Tim

Understand My Muslim People…

“Understand My Muslim People,” is a book written by Dr. Abraham Sarker.

I’m currently going back through it as one of my sources for a comparison study of Christianity and Islam.  If I understand the book correctly, Dr. Sarker hopes for us to love Muslims more as we come to understand what they are really going through.  That has definitely happened to me.

There are many differences between Christianity and Islam.  The one difference that breaks my heart the most is the different understanding about who God really is.  As I understand it, God to a Muslim is very similar to the idea a Christian has…except for one important notion.  Our God (Christians), is a god of love.  Actually, one biblical writer states it this way, “God is love.”

For us, Love is the premier characteristic of who God is.  Lest we misunderstand what we mean by Love, lets clarify.  Love is only properly understood through the action God took that exemplified it.  “For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son…”  Sound familiar?  Love is not an emotion one feels when their “loved one” approaches.  It is sacrificial, regardless of whatever emotion or circumstance we might be going through at the moment.  God is Love, and he loves us unconditionally.  He loves his followers, and the unbelievers.  He loves the good guys and the bad.  God sent his son for all of us, regardless of race, economic status, etc.  God is Love.  God is steadfast in his love…

However, God is not portrayed that way in the Muslim’s scripture.  God is Supreme!  God is All Powerful!  God is All Knowing!  God loves his followers, but hates the sinner.  To some extent God is capricious.  God may change his mind on what is right, thus needed for Muslim salvation, and what is wrong.  God doesn’t unconditionally love anyone.

My heart breaks for the Muslims in our world.  It is a life without hope, without anchor, without assurance.  Just a fear that on judgment day, the scale may not tip in their favor.  They don’t have a God of Love.

That is what we have to offer them.  This is what we have to offer the world.

It is great to be a Christian!

Tim

Albertine…

This is worth it.

“Albertine” by Brooke Fraser.

Once you know…

Faith without works is…

“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” James 4:17

Tim

Open Letter from Young (?) CBF Leaders to Dr. Sherman

Below is a letter from some self-acclaimed “young leaders” of the CBF to Dr. Cecil Sherman.

I’m not sure how I feel about it yet.  There are some things I agree with, but I also see arrogance in these (not-so) young leaders.  I’ll give my reply later.  But for now, here is the letter.  I initially read this letter from Aaron Weaver’s blogsite: Big Daddy Weave

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Open Letter to Dr. Cecil Sherman

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Dear Dr. Sherman,

For your work and ministry, we are sincerely grateful. You helped harness the energy of those who chose to leave the Southern Baptist Convention when certain leaders were ousted through manipulative and unethical means. You helped to create a new family of faith, a new movement now known as the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. We are grateful for your risk-taking and your leadership.

After receiving recognition for your recently published book last Thursday at the CBF General Assembly in Memphis, Tennessee, you juxtaposed our relatively small amount of pain – where no one was injured or killed – to the six million killed in the Holocaust. In our opinion and the opinions of many others, your analogy was misguided. These words are old rhetoric that we will no longer accept in our midst. The SBC has chosen one path and the CBF another. We no longer have energy to focus on this separation, but rather turn our attention to a suffering world.

Though the wounds of the fundamentalist takeover of the SBC are nothing in comparison to the Holocaust, we recognize those wounds are real. They are also wounds that need healing, and for some the grieving process is not over yet. We respect that and want to allow a place for conversations about our past. Of course remembering what happened will help us avoid repeating mistakes. But we will no longer wish for this conversation to have center stage – nor be the focus of who we are and what we do.

Young Baptist leaders are ready to embrace new opportunities for ministry and discipleship. Remembering the past but not dwelling on it, many Baptist are excited and enthusiastic about ministering with the most neglected people around the world. Some of these most neglected include descendants of those people-groups who were targeted for extermination in the Holocaust.

So with deep respect for your work and sacrifice for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, we invite you to lay down the pain of the past and join us as we focus on a future, bright with possibility.

Respectfully submitted,

David Burroughs, President, Passport, Inc.

Rev. R. Scott Ford, Associate Coordinator for Missions, CBF of Georgia

Rev. Nikki Hardeman, Associate Coordinator for Congregational Life, CBF of Georgia

Jeremy Lewis, Together for Hope Manager, CBF

Rev. Brent McDougal, Coordinator of Alabama CBF

Rev. Christina Whitehouse-Suggs, Associate Coordinator for Congregational Life, CBF South Carolina

Mike Young, Associate Coordinator for Missions, Tennessee CBF

VBS 2008 Pictures…

If you follow this link: VBS 2008 Slide Show

It should take you to a Photobucket Slideshow of some pictures of our VBS thus far.

Enjoy!

Tim Dahl

VBS Update!

Thank you, to whomever is praying for out VBS!

We had 10 children come down and accept Jesus last night!  To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect.  There wasn’t anyone dragging their friends.  Part of it was a culmination of some of their asking their parents/teachers about Jesus for a few weeks now.  About 5 of them have relatives in our church, so we are hoping for good things on the follow up.  Discipleship will be key, in my opinion.

Here’s a picture from VBS…

Just a little bit of recreational fun…with water!

Tim Dahl