Flip Flops

We just wrapped up a message series called Flip Flops. The week leading up to the new series one of the ladies in our church who has a son serving in Afghanistan came in and mentioned that he and members of his platoon were in need of some personal items that the army doesn't provide. One of those items was Flip Flops to wear in the showers. We thought it great timing and did a promotion in the month of June for our church family to bring in Flip Flops and other personal items on their list. Our people really rallied around the cause and so far we've sent over 300 pairs of Flip Flops and over 400 pounds of other personal items such as flytrap sticky strips, baby wipes, bars of soap, lotion, multi-vitamins, sunflower seeds, protein bars and a host of other items the soldiers requested! Thanks Crossroads for coming through for these brave men and women protecting our interests abroad! Here's a shot of me and members of the Matson family boxing up the loot to send to Afghanistan.

The Yoke - Pt. 3

Another reason a farmer would harness an older, stronger, trained ox with a younger, inexperienced one was to help set the pace for the work day. If the younger ox didn't have the older one setting the pace for him, he would use all his energy early in the day and would then be unable to finish the work the farmer needed him to accomplish. This is what Jesus is referring to in Matthew 11:29 when He tells us to take His yoke upon us and learn from Him. He wants to set the pace for us.

So many of us fail to allow Him to do that. Consequently, we burn out quickly and we don't finish the work He's given us to do. Galatians 5:25 says, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." So often we are either running ahead of God or lagging behind, but Christ wants to set the pace for us so we can keep in step with the Spirit.

When my family and I go skiing, Chase and I enjoy skiing the more challenging blue runs together. The problem is, Chase and I have two completely different methods of skiing. I use my skis to dig into the snow and make 's' turns all the way down the slope so I don't pick up too much speed. Chase, on the other hand points his skis down the mountain and just takes off 90 to nothing! Sometimes, along the trail we're on, their are side trails that lead to other parts of the mountain. Some even lead to lifts that take you to higher elevations. I often get frustrated when I can't access those trails because by the time I get to them Chase is past them on his way on down the mountain at break-neck speed! There's a spiritual lesson here. If we don't let Christ set the pace for us through the yoke of the Holy Spirit, we will try and get ahead of God. We will miss the turns He wants us to take and there are parts of the 'mountain' we will never see. There are elevations we will never reach.

Today, let's step into the yoke and let Christ set the pace!

Michael

Michael Jackson died Thursday and although I can't explain it and I never would have expected it, I feel sad. I've had a long history with Mr. Jackson.

I became a Christian about the same time he rose to megastar status with the "Thriller" album. In the years that followed Michael personified the 'enemy' for me because as a youth pastor I was trying to keep young people from being 'secularized' by pop music and MTV. I remember when the controversy broke about the alleged child molestation case, my take on it was, "Are you surprised? He's been molesting the minds of our children for years!" Looking back on it now I probably made much more of a fuss than I should have. I still believe music with a fallen world view can be very unhealthy for us spiritually, but I'm not nearly as uptight about it as I once was.

For all the fuss, I must admit Mr. Jackson was an incredible talent. The artistic side of me yearns to see the church be as creative with our message as he was with his craft.

Then there's the humanitarian side of Jackson's career that provokes me to do more to make a difference. From "We Are the World" to "Man In The Mirror," Michael confronted things that those of us in America's pulpits often ignore.

I realize that Michael Jackson was a very controversial figure. So a post like this will probably be met with controversy. There will always be those who demonize him, as I did for years. Who knows if he was guilty of the things he was accused? God does.

According to reports, Jackson was a Jehovah's Witness early in his career. (One more bizarre aspect of the man's story.) I know the Jehovah's Witness organization is way off-base Biblically, but I raise the point to say that Michael obviously had a spiritual hunger. I can only hope that someone was able to get to him through all the paparazzi and personal entourage and share the truth of the gospel with him. I hope the king of pop somehow met the King of Kings. It would be fun to moonwalk with him on the streets of gold one day.

Daddy Shoes

For Father's Day this past weekend I performed a song I wrote back in 1993. Robin was about 18 months old and when I would come home in the evenings from work and slip off my shoes, she would put them on and walk around the living room saying, "Daddy shoes, daddy shoes." I would get a big kick out of it. One day while watching this it dawned on me that I had some really big shoes to fill. My dad was such a great father. This song came out of that moment and I decided to share it for Father's Day during our Flip Flop message series. (That explains the Island theme in our auditorium). I hope you enjoy it. It's the first time I've performed it with a band. I think the guys did a great job with the arrangement. Props to Coy Watson and Tony Goulas. Also thanks to Richard Gaspard, who heads up our media department for cranking this edit out so quick so I could get it posted. I've got great friends!