Church!!!!  I’m back on the first Sunday in August!!  I CANNOT WAIT!!  I’ve been spending this time in prayer, Bible study, and with my family, who makes UNBELIEVABLE sacrifices for me to be the lead pastor of commUNITY church… we LOVE YOU!!!

Get ready, church!!!  August kicks off our 5-month busy season!!  

We’re doing the Gaston Fair Community Church night on August 4!!  It’s free admission!!  You WANT to be there, and bring ALL your friends!!  It’s gonna be a BLAST!!

We’re doing a back-to-school movie night on August 15 in Gaston!!!  We want to serve popcorn and bottled water and allow the families to enjoy some time together watching a great movie!!

We’re hosting Another Berry Long Run at the church this year on September 12!!!  AND… we’re kicking it up a few notches!!  Get ready to have a blast in a dance-a-thon, a Pumpkin-Ball contest, Bounce Houses, and treats for everyone as we raise money for a WONDERFUL cause!!

We’re bringing back Trunk or Treat toward the end of October!  It’s one of our biggest events, and we can’t wait to go bigger and better each year with more fun for families in our community!!

We’re serving the YFD again this year by allowing them a time of rest and relaxation on the Sunday before Thanksgiving in November!!  We’ll NEED EVERYONE to help!!!

We’re having Breakfast with Santa again this year in early December!!  It was SO MUCH FUN last year, and we got to meet a LOT of people from the communities in which we live!!

GET READY, CHURCH!!!

Why do we do all of this?  We’re small.  We shouldn’t be doing all of this.

DON’T.  JUST DON’T.  DO NOT believe that lie!!!  

We’re doing it because we LOVE JESUS!!!  AND WE LOVE WHO JESUS LOVES!!!!  AND WE’RE GONNA SERVE WHO JESUS SERVES!!!!!

Our faith isn’t one that we just talk about on Sundays or think about every now and then… our faith is ACTIVE!!

GET READY, CHURCH!!!!!!!!

If you haven’t caught on yet from the previous two posts (you can find part one here, and part two here), I’ll fill you in on where these 9 characteristics are coming from.  They’re the 9 fruits of the Spirit that are outlined in Galatians 5.  For many of you, this isn’t a new idea or new information.  This is what some of you have been taught for years… and you’re still not getting it.  You see these as INFORMATIONAL, but not TRANSFORMATIONAL.  As Hamlet said, “aye… there’s the rub.”  The Christian life is ALL about TRANSFORMATION!!  Ever wonder why you’re not being “transformed?”  Here’s an EXCELLENT read… check it out.

You see, the Bible isn’t the ultimate “self-help book” - the Bible is the ultimate “GOD HELP ME BOOK!!”  We can’t and won’t fix ourselves.  God did that.  God does that.  God WILL DO that.  Are you ready for Him to begin or continue in your life??

Let’s finish up the 9…

7.  Faithfulness. - The word itself is kind of daunting because we can gather from a quick study of the word that our FAITH should be FULL.  And that scares us.  A lot.  Because some of us have a weak faith.  Some of us are more DOUBT-FILLED than FAITH-FILLED.  Guess what - being FAITH-FILLED doesn’t mean you don’t have doubt.  It means you have faith… confidence that as those doubts arise, God has placed His Word and His people in your life to squash the doubt and continue building your faith!!!  "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)  To say it another way, it’s how we handle what we don’t see.  I’ve never seen the wind, nor have I ever seen $1,000,000.  BUT, I have seen the effects of the wind, and the effects of a million dollars (though, not personally - hahaha).  AND, I’ve seen the effects of God.  I marvel at His creation.  I’m awe-struck at His grace and working in my heart, mind, and life.  As you really seek Him out, you’ll find Him… in a BIG way.  Be ready to be FAITH-FILLED.

8.  Gentleness. - Lots of people struggle with this one.  Especially guys.  The testosterone, many argue, makes “gentleness” impossible… or nearly so.  I beg to differ.  I’ve seen unbelievably rough and tough guys melt when holding a newborn baby… especially their own.  When we say “gentleness,” we’re not just talking about a physical gentleness (as you need to be gentle when holding something delicate), but more of having a gentle heart… a gentle spirit.  An easy-going way about you that allows others to be comfortable around you and open up.  Is there time for rough and gruff? YES. The football field is one of those times… So is flipping over tables and using whips to drive out hypocrites and thieves and liars from God’s house and God’s people (John 2:15).  But when that time’s over, be approachable.  Allow people to know that what they tell you will  be safe with them.  Be gentle in your words and your actions… and that gentleness will stem from a gentle heart.  An understanding of your own brokenness and God’s gentleness with you as He rebuilds and remakes you.

9.  Self-Control. - Perhaps the most difficult of the 9, which is probably why it’s last.  Because lets face it… if you’re capturing the other 8 well, this one is doable. Am I right?  We ALL struggle with this - controlling our mouths, our minds, our appetites, our “needs” (which are really “wants”), our finances, our time and schedules, our devotion to Jesus… the list could go on for a LONG TIME.  We can SO EASILY be overwhelmed with not having self-control that we freak out, which causes us to be reminded that we need to be self-controlled.  See the vicious cycle?  THIS DOESN’T HAVE TO BE.  This MAY BE YOU NOW, but it doesn’t HAVE TO BE YOU.  God hasn’t given you a spirit of fear, but of POWER, and LOVE, and SELF-CONTROL (2 Tim. 1:7)!!  Don’t get lost in this… self control isn’t just NOT doing the things you’re NOT supposed to do, but it’s also WORKING to do the things you ARE supposed to do!!  The more we put away the old stuff we used to do, we need to fill it with NEW stuff that we should be doing!! Ephesians and Colossians talks about this - you can read it here.  

Don’t be discouraged if you’ve read all 9 and are beating yourself up.  Remember, it’s OK to not be OK.  But it’s NOT ok to stay not ok… By the grace of God and the power of His Spirit, He has placed you in a place that loves Jesus and honestly desires to encourage you and help you as you grow into the maturity God designed for you!!!

Ok, so there’s actually 9 pieces of 9, but some of you will get the reference to the Pirates of the Caribbean, so I couldn’t resist.

Last week, we began the list of things that we DO see (or SHOULD SEE) in the lives of those who follow Jesus through the power of the Spirit… if you didn’t catch that one, you can read it here.

Essentially, we see over and over again how easy it is for people to attempt to characterize the Christian faith by who or what we AREN’T, or what we DON’T believe instead of what we DO BELIEVE.  We’re going to continue our list below:

4.  Patience. - This is SO DIFFICULT TO LEARN!!!  I would venture to guess that 99% of the time, God places people and situations in our lives to TEACH US patience and grace instead of just zapping us with a lightning bolt and hereby declaring us formally “patient.”  Wouldn’t the lightning bolt be so much easier??  Yes.  And that’s the ironic point of learning patience.  Isaiah 40:31 tells us that those who WAIT ON THE LORD will renew their strength… an old song we sang at Christian summer camp was this verse put to music, and then it was a small prayer at the end that says, “teach me Lord, teach me Lord to wait.”  When we begin recognizing patience in our lives, we begin seeing how truly remarkable God’s grace and mercy and patience towards us really is.

5.  Kindness. - One of my natural (and most likely sinful) gifts is that of sarcasm.  And I don’t mean your typical run-of-the-mill sarcasm.  I can just be flat out mean… and HIGHLY sarcastic, and because of that, quite rude.  But I’ll admit - there were times where the sarcasm was funny.  At least for others.  Guess what I WASN’T showing through all my sarcasm?  Yep. Kindness.  I wasn’t overlooking faults and mistakes, I was calling them out for all to see and laugh at.  It was horrible.  It was sin.  It was in no way Christ-like.  One could define “being kind” as “showing grace” in that some people (perhaps a LOT of people) don’t deserve our kindness.  Show it to them anyway.  We didn’t deserve God’s kindness to us through Jesus.  He showed it to us anyway.  People are struggling.  Even though they put on a front, they’re broken inside.  Show them kindness.  They’re going to be different from you.  They’re going to be a different gender, race, ethnicity, political system, or sexual orientation, from you… show them kindness.  You don’t have to APPROVE of them, but being kind says you ACCEPT them right where they are.  Why? Because Jesus accepted me… right where I was.  

6.  Goodness. - how does one define goodness?  A couple of synonyms are decency, and integrity, and honesty.  That’s why the prayer in Psalm 23 is that "...surely GOODNESS and MERCY will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.”  This is after David was anointed (“set apart”) by God, and what overwhelmed by God’s loving-kindness.  Because we’re recognizing God’s goodness to us, we begin spilling out onto others around us, and pointing them back to what God has done for us - that’s the honesty and integrity coming into play!!  Love others by pointing them to the God from Whom ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!

Matthew 25:35-40 sums these three characteristics of the Christian faith up quite well…  Check it out.

Do you wonder if you’re being patient or showing kindness or goodness to others?  Check your Facebook feed.  Check your Instagram feed.  Check your Twitter feed.  When you’re hiding behind the cloak of the internet and a computer screen, your boldness changes… so does your stupidity.  They both go up, and when mixed together, it doesn’t bode well for learning patience, and showing kindness and goodness to others.

…to be continued…

I read a lot.  Like… A LOT.  I love reading, but don’t get to read nearly as much as I’d like.  I read the Bible.  I read on organizational leadership.  I read on church leadership.  I read about church trends. I read about ministry trends.  I read about women’s issues, men’s issues, teen issues, children’s issues, family issues, marriage issues, relationship issues, addictions, and a Biblical response for each and all.  Lots of blogs.  Lots of vlogs (video blogs).  I listen to sermons when I go on walks.  I’m always trying to learn.  I also read Tolkien when I get a chance (which isn’t very often anymore).  I’m a geek.

It seems lately that I’m reading a lot about who Jesus ISN’T.  About what the Bible ISN’T.  About what Christianity ISN’T.

It’s frustrating… and I’m a pastor in a church.  I can’t imagine how frustrating it is for those seeking to learn more about Christianity.

Why am I frustrated?  I’m frustrated because people keep saying HERE’S WHAT WE’RE NOT…

SO WHAT???  Why do we want to be known for who or what we AREN’T???

I’m tired of the negativity!!  I want to be known and make Jesus known, and make His Church known for WHO WE ARE!!!!

We should be characterized by SO MANY POSITIVE THINGS!!!  Stop focusing on who we aren’t or what we don’t do or what we don’t believe - start focusing on the POSITIVE SIDE of that coin!!

So, here’s the beginning of a list of 9 things that should characterize those who walk in the faith and by the Spirit through the grace of God:

1.  Love. - Jesus, while in a discussion with an attorney and being asked about what’s SO DIFFERENT about what Jesus was teaching (and we all know how attorneys can be), Jesus’ first answer was LOVE.  LOVE GOD with all you’ve got, and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR as you LOVE yourself.  It starts with love!  Love is the FOUNDATION of our FAITH!!  So, how are you loving God?

2.  Joy. - We’re talking about a deep-seeded delight in knowing that your heart, soul, life, family, and eternity are safe in the hands of Jesus Christ.  It’s a silent, wonderful, overwhelming confidence that we don’t have to earn God’s favor, and even though we don’t deserve God’s favor, God BLESSES US with His favor and grace and mercy!!!

3.  Peace. - We’re taking that Joy to a deeper level.  We’re taking it to a lack of concern and anxiety over the cares of this life.  Knowing that we’re going to be concerned about how the bills are paid and when the bills are paid, but KNOWING THAT GOD’S PROVISION WILL CARRY US THROUGH!! We’ve all heard stories, and many of us HAVE stories of His provision in our lives… Encourage others with those!

… To Be Continued…