Reorientation

Well we're back! We will plan on a presentation of our trip tonight for those who come to prayer and devotion time. Then the Wednesday before we kick off Discipleship Training for the fall, we hope to have a Wednesday night when you can hear how your church reached others with the presence and power of Christ all summer through mission trips and camps for all ages. We hope to have a great DVD to link to the front page of the website. Our trip was successful in several veins: 1. Prayer. We prayed and were prayed over. Prayer was a deep part of the experience in this trip! Thank you for your prayers! 2. Witness. We witnessed to the theme of God helping us with our sense of identity. In God we become OK with who we are, where we are and what we are. We then tied those to the fruit of the Spirit (Love, joy and peace -- who we are; patience, kindness and charity -- being OK with where we are; and finally faithfulness, gentleness and self-control = being OK with what we are). The message caught on overall and several people are deeping their faith or coming to faith for the first time. 3. Refreshment. We worked hard and experienced great images of God through the people, Westray Baptist Church, CE Camp and their leaders, and through the beauty of the landscape in the Orkney Islands. We were refreshed by this experience of God's mighty power! In any trip there is time for orientation: what to expect and plan for before going. Then there is disorientation when you run at a breakneck pace to catch planes, taxis and ferry's in order to reach your destination. After arriving in a strange and different place and tempo... and experiencing disorientation, there comes the return home and the requirement for reorientation. We need to reorient ourselves into our common homeplace but with new insights learned from our trip. We're working on the latter part of this experience. Thanks to all who made this trip and make this sister church relationship possible with the wonderful congregation of Westray Baptist Kirk! God bless, Steve

Kirkwall again!

We traveled to Kirkwall today and had a marvelous day, topped off by Andy Murray beating Tsonga to get to the Wimbledon finals on Sunday! It would be great to be in London on Sunday when Murray wins being the first person from UK to win since 1937! We're now off to a concert of Gospel music started off by our own Michael Harcus! Daynette Orr will sing back up for him when he is in New Bern the first weekend of November! We couldn't be having a more blessed trip than we have and are! God is so good!

We had our camp conclusion tonight with a full house of parents, kids and visitors from Westray! It was a huge success! Our team bonded well with the children and that meant the most to me. All the leadership of the camp felt that our Bible teaching and relationship with the kids was blessed by God! Praise God! I personally could not be prouder of the team than I am right now! Every one of them, Steve and Kimsey, Daynette, Helen and Mary all contributed uniquely to the overall witness of Gods love in Jesus Christ! Tomorrow, if the weather is agreeable, we will go out on a church members boat (John Drever). I am praying for great weather. We will motor over to Papa Westray and around the islands. It should afford some great pictures, close up encounters with the seals and maybe a view of an Orca in the water, if we're lucky! This has been a worthy investment in God's kingdom work by our church. I look forward to aging our team share with you on a Wednesday night after returning! God bless, Steve

Today is the final day of our work with the CE Camp children. It has gone well and, as expected, we have bonded well with the children and it will break our hearts to leave them! Most of them are very quiet, shy and reserved (an Orkney Island trait we are told), but once they get to know you they open up and are incredibly loving! I have found that I cannot upload pictures onto the blog from my IPad, so I will use Daynettes computer to load soe pictures of the CE Camp events and the children, leaders and the Kirk (church). We have been blessed with good weather and have done almost all of the things we wanted to do around the island during good weather (never warmer than upper 50's). We have slept well even though it's only fairly dark for about three hours! More to come and again, if you want to see pic's, visit my Facebook page! Cheerio!

What a great start to our time with the children. Mr "Steve" has touched the hearts of the children and our Bible theme of helping the kids know who, where and what they are in God's eyes is going well! The music being led by Daynette is awesome! You need to request me as your Facebook friend to see great videos and pictures! We took a wonderful walk today along the western side of Westray!

Last night we met at the island schoolhouse for a community event and fundraiser for the lifeboats (lifeboats are completely funded by donation only). Teenagers played Celtic and original Scottish music! I will upload a sample onto my Facebook page when possible! This was a high moment in all of my travels to Scotland, Ireland and England! Today we gathered for worship together at the Kirk at 11:30 a.m. The pastor, Gavin Hunter, speaks lovingly and authentically straight from the heart. Michael and Teenie Harcus allowed Daynette to assist in all of the worship music and then Daynette sang a solo, He Knows My Name, just before I preached. The worship today included the other church on Westray, The Church of Scotland. Attendance was spectacular and there was great fellowship afterwards! We now go to meet with the director of CE (Christian Endeavor) and plan out the kickoff for this weeks thematic Bible focus!

6/30/12:  we all slept in different homes last night and everyone was tired! We ate a fantastic meal with Linda and Kirsty Hagan at their home on Skail! I stayed with Michael and Teenie Harcus and we went and viewed the completely refurbished Kirk (church). Then we went for a sunset walk at 10:30 on a beautiful night! I slept from 11p.m. Until 8:00 am like a baby!  Had a wonderful breakfast with Michael, Teenie and Peter (a cousin who is sailing down from Shetland to Aberdeen but enjoying a stay here waiting for right weather).  Then we saw Steve Wynn and Kimsey Welch walking past the house and I went and collected them. After some chat at the house we went up to the lighthouse and walked along the cliffs, saw many seals, birds, but no puffins (they were out feeding). At table for lunch after buying seafood at local market!

Scotland Mission Trip 6/29/12: flight from RDU to Heathrow was on a small 767. There were no seat-back DVD screens and I sat apart from group since Daynette Orr's name change messed up seat assignments. My seat mate was Mike Gerber and he was going to meet his family in Paris (a fine Christian man origannly from Illinois and now a manager in a construction type insurance company)!  The real ordeal came at Heathrow! The que to get through customs and collect baggage had literally hundreds of people and an estimated two hour time. I asked an airport worker what we should do since we were to fly out of Gatwick at 11:20 and he just said to forget it... "it's a two hour drive to the other side of London and even if we had our luggage we couldn't make it!" a few minutes later I asked the same question of a lady in charge of " the fast track" lane. After a few minutes she let our group through, we walked FOREVER tp the Central Bus and Train station, I bought 6 tickets for 150 pounds, and we were told that we had 4 minutes to catch bus #15 to Gatwick and we should make it to Gatwick by 10 a.m. We hustled to find bus #15 and when we did the driver didn't want to let us on? Another driver argued with him and then he took us! We made the connection from Gatwick to Edinburg... But then upon arrival realized that we had no boarding passes through to Kirkwall... So the kind lady with British Air shot us directly to our departure gate for Kirkwall where two agents hand wrote boarding passes for us. Kimsey and I were moved to the two front seats to "balance the plane" and enjoyed the company of Rachel, the flight attendant from Glasgow. Upon arrival in Kirkwall we were told that we only had 10 minutes to get to the Westray Ferry.... Made that and are on route now at 5:22 p.m. (their time) to Westray with Kirsty Hagan! Whew!!!!!

Well, I went to bed early and was going to sleep in, but can't do it! Up at 6:30 and going to meet my daughter, Katy-Mac for daddy time and breakfast before I leave at noon! Steve Wynn has to be at work this morning by 7 a.m. I think that the rest of the crew will be packing to meet at the church around 11:45 am! Day 1 of journey, here we go!

Our Scotland Mission Team is getting excited as we head out Thursday at noon from RDU directly to Heathrow. However, once arriving at Heathrow, we must change airports and transfer to Gatwick where we will depart to Edinburg and then to Kirkwall where we will collect our luggage and then ferry to Westray! It is an adventure getting to Westray in the Orkney Islands. We are due to arrive in Westray by Friday night around 7 p.m. Please pray for us and I'll blog the experience along the way, where and when possible! The theme of our Bible focus with the 50 - 60 eight to eleven year old children that we will working with is that God knows our name and has us inscribed in the palm of his hand (from Isa. 43, 49 and John 10).

New burial site reveals first century belief in resurrection

New find revives 'Jesus Tomb' flap
By Alan Boyle
April 6, 2012, 7:20 am MSN.com


One of the designs etched on a bone box found within a 1st-century Jerusalem tomb suggests the biblical story of Jonah and the fish, which held significant symbolism for early Christians.






Using a remote-controlled camera on the end of a robotic arm, investigators have found what could be the earliest evidence of a Christian iconography in Jerusalem, engraved on a set of "bone boxes" inside a nearly intact 1st-century tomb.

One of the limestone boxes, known more formally as an ossuary, carries a Greek inscription calling on God to "rise up" or "raise up" someone. Another box appears to show the carved image of a fish, perhaps with the prophet Jonah in its mouth. Allusions to fish and the "sign of Jonah" came to be widely used among early Christians, but not among Jerusalem's Jews.

Update: Doubts raised about the 'Jesus Discovery'

Those discoveries alone would be enough to get biblical scholars excited. But the investigators in this case are the same people who claimed five years ago that ossuaries from a nearby tomb were engraved with the names of the biblical Jesus and his family. They're putting forth this new find as supporting evidence for their earlier claims, and resurrecting the topic in a newly published book ("The Jesus Discovery") as well as a Discovery Channel documentary that's due to air this spring.

"This does reopen the whole question about the 'Jesus Tomb,'" James Tabor, a scriptural scholar at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, told me.

That almost guarantees that the link to Jesus will take center stage once again in the discussion of the discovery, with most archaeologists discounting the connection. There's even a chance that the renewed controversy would push this most recent find out of the spotlight. That would be a terrible shame, said John Dominic Crossan, an expert on 1st-century Christianity and former Catholic priest who is a professor emeritus at DePaul University.

"It's a stunning discovery," he said. "It's a stunning piece of technology. As a scholar, I really don't want to get lost in saying, 'Oh, come on, it's off the wall.' Yeah, it's off the wall. But look at the wall!"

James Tabor / UNCC

Engineer Walter Klassen and filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici hold the camera-equipped robotic arm in its folded-up configuration.

Or in this case, look at the box.

How the boxes were found
Tabor and documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici located both of the 1st-century tombs — the so-called Jesus Family Tomb as well as the one with the newly revealed inscriptions — in a Jerusalem neighborhood known as Talpiot years ago. They looked into previous claims that the bone boxes in the Jesus Family Tomb were marked with names that meshed with the names of Jesus' brothers and sisters, as mentioned in the Gospels. The investigators went on to cite a statistical analysis of name frequency as evidence that the family interred in the caskets was that of Jesus.

Most provocatively, they pointed to one box that was said to contain the remains of Jesus, and another containing the remains of "Judah, son of Jesus." These claims ran counter to the mainstream Christian view that Jesus made a bodily resurrection after his crucifixion and death, and that he did not marry or have children. To explain the seeming discrepancy with the Gospels, Tabor and his colleagues suggested that early Christians did not necessarily believe in a bodily resurrection, but rather a spiritual resurrection in which Jesus left behind the "old clothes" of the flesh.

The first book ("The Jesus Family Tomb") and TV documentary ("The Lost Tomb of Jesus") set off a wave of protests, with skeptics saying that Tabor and Jacobovici were sensationalizing an unprovable assertion. Despite the criticism, the team continued their work, focusing on the other tomb. This tomb was only briefly examined in 1981 before protests by Orthodox Jews, concerned about the disturbance of a gravesite, forced an end to the archaeological study. The tomb was sealed back up, and a condominium was built over it. Tabor and his colleagues refer to this tomb as the "Patio Tomb," because a patio sits almost directly above the tomb.

Israel's civil and religious authorities were resistant to efforts to reopen the Patio Tomb, so Tabor, Jacobovici and their colleagues came up with an unorthodox alternative: They suggested building a robotic arm that could be extended down vent holes and drill holes into the tomb, to a maximum length of more than 15 feet. The authorities gave their permission, and the documentary team proceeded with their remote-controlled video exploration in June 2010.

James Tabor / UNCC

Investigators shot imagery of the 1st-century Jerusalem tomb and the bone boxes inside the tomb using a robotic arm, as shown in this video frame.

The filmmakers peered into niches cut into the tomb and found several inscribed bone boxes, including one that was left ajar to reveal the bones still within. In one of the niches, two boxes were jammed close together. As the robotic arm maneuvered to look at the side of one of the boxes, one of the investigators cried out, "Wait, wait, stop there!" A design had been etched into the limestone — a design that could be interpreted as a fish with a stick figure hanging out of its mouth.

The meaning of the inscriptions
After consulting with other scriptural experts, the investigators concluded that the etching showed a representation of Jonah and the fish. The biblical tale of the prophet who was swallowed by a giant fish, only to be vomited up alive three days later, had a special resonance for early Christians, who believed in Jesus' resurrection after three days in a tomb. The image of the fish, which would not typically be carved on a Jewish ossuary, suggested to Tabor and his colleagues that this might be the earliest surviving example of a Christian marking on an artifact in Jerusalem.

The team's excitement grew when they saw the inscription on the box sitting next to the one with the fish: A four-line inscription in Greek appeared to refer to a belief in the resurrection. The inscription could be read as "Divine Jehovah, raise up, raise up," or "The Divine Jehovah raises up to the Holy Place," or "Divine Jehovah, raise up [abbreviated name]."

"This inscription has something to do with resurrection of the dead, either of the deceased in the ossuary, or perhaps, given the Jonah image nearby, an expression of faith in Jesus' resurrection," Tabor said in a news release.

The Jesus connection
Tabor and his colleagues tie this latest discovery to their earlier claims by suggesting that the two tombs were part of one complex, which might have been chiseled out by a wealthy supporter of Jesus and his disciples. They even name their prime suspect: Joseph of Arimathea, a high-ranking religious official who was said in the Gospels to have arranged Jesus' burial. In the investigators' view, the fact that they found such a strong connection to early Christianity in the Patio Tomb strengthens their original claims for the Jesus Family Tomb, which is 200 feet away.

"We now have the new archaeological evidence, literally written in stone, that can guide us in properly understanding what Jesus' earliest followers meant by their faith in Jesus' resurrection from the dead — with his earthly remains, and those of his family, peacefully interred just yards away," Tabor and Jacobovici wrote.

Crossan said that was too much of a leap. "There's nothing that associates [the Patio Tomb] with Joseph of Arimathea," he said.

He said the two tombs may well have no relationship to each other: "This whole area is riddled with tombs, as far as we can tell."

Ben Witherington, a New Testament scholar at Asbury Theological Seminary, voiced a similar view. "The attempt to connect [the Patio Tomb] to the other tombs is sheer conjecture, unless the tombs were connected," he told me.

Witherington said the connections made in the newly published book were similar to those put forth in Tabor's earlier work. "Most of us who have evaluated his work would say, OK, all very interesting, but it's building one speculation on another speculation," he said.

However, Witherington was intrigued by the fish carving. "We have early Christian ossuaries with the fish symbol ... in the 2nd century, if not back into the 1st century," he said. "That is the early Christian symbol for I-Ch-Th-Y-S ... 'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.' What we don't have any evidence for is that symbol on Jewish ossuaries."

The words of the inscription also caught Witherington's interest. "They imply a belief about the resurrection," he said.

It is thought that the use of such bone boxes in Jerusalem ceased in the year 70, due to the Roman destruction of the city. Thus, there's a chance that the residents buried in the Patio Tomb actually lived during the time of Jesus and his first disciples. However, Crossan noted that Christians weren't the only ones in 1st-century Jerusalem who held a religious belief in resurrection. The Pharisees and the Essenes also looked forward to the resurrection of the righteous, he said.

"What I would say is ... this is a rich Pharisee, a rich person in the 1st century who believes in the resurrection," Crossan told me. "We always thought that [the image of] Jonah coming out of the fish was peculiarly Christian. Maybe that's one more thing that the early Christians took from Jewish tradition, and this would be the first evidence."

"Other" languages

One of the clear signs of a Christian, an authentic Christian, is that he or she will speak in "other languages." I remember years ago engaging in conversation with a shopper at a local discount store in Richmond, VA. After hearing that I was a minister, she asked if I "had been baptized by the Spirit yet." I indicated that I indeed had. She then wanted to make sure that I knew that she meant "Was I able to speak in tongues." When I indicated that I did not speak in an "unknown language," she proceeded to relegate my faith experience as incomplete and said, "You'll really be something when God finally gets hold of you!" How arrogant! Any time we select some biblically mentioned gift of the Spirit and then impose it upon God and others as "the greatest of gifts" because it is mine, we are arrogant! Arrogance is not of God; rather it is of the Devil!
In Acts 2:1-13 we read the story of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. All outside the room of believers were amazed that they heard the apostles speaking in their native languages; one's that the apostles clearly did not know only minutes before. Understand that these were unknown languages to the apostles, neither to God nor to some others.
I have come to believe that authentic Christians will indeed be able to speak in other languages accordingly:
1. God's language. Authentic Christians are filled with the Spirit of God, filled with Christ, and therefore see with new eyes and hear with new ears. No longer do we speak from a human self-centered perspective that only deals with I, me, my and mine! We begin to see the beauty and presence of God in all kinds of ordinary experience. We are filled with the desire to allow God’s will to guide our lives along in joy and praise, and in trust and obedience. Authentic Christians speak the language of love of God and love of neighbor, which leads to…
2. Neighbor's language. Authentic Christians develop an innate ability to listen to others -- what they are saying with their tongues, body language and emotions! One who is filled with Christ doesn't need to use other people, or creation for that matter, to fill a void through manipulation of resources -- people and nature!
How are you going to speak in other languages today? Can you speak with God's perspective in the forefront? Can you speak with God to the "other" that will cross your path today? If your words and witness doesn't build up the body of Christ, but instead promotes your own arrogant agenda, then your faith should be called into question!
Spend time in the Bible, in prayer and listen before you speak. Consider James 1:19
Know this, my beloved brothers and sisters: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;" (ESV)
Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. (MSG)

Green Board

Lord, I saw a weather person standing before a blank green board explaining the weather on a map not visible to her. But the image is produced elsewhere and injected onto the screen that we view. Is this not similar to showing you to others. To the lost all they see is a blank green board that we claim shows your presence. But to those who follow You, your image is injected onto the screen of their experience by the power of your Holy Spirit. It really isn't there to the lost! They are indeed right! But to those who follow Jesus, it's not just a blank green board that we stand before. We stand in trust and faith that you, the Producer, reveal an accurate image of reality and life. It is our job to follow and point. It is your job to reveal and show! Thanks be to God!
In Christ,
Amen

O "Little" Town of Bethlehem!

I have been reflecting on that dismal little town of Bethlehem. It is a dark dreary fortified city cut off from the rest of all important and powerful Israel! Today it is surrounded by a high and large wall that has military guarded gates limiting the flow of traffic for Arabs, nonJewish residents, who live inside this tiny financially destitute town. The Church of the Nativity where Jesus was reportedly born is owned and run by the Greek Orthodox. They have regular rituals of prayers and cleansing with incense. All must move out of the way when this all important ritual begins. The church has not been kept up well and you must walk to the front of the sanctuary and then descend into the basement where the Christ-child's manger was to have been.
Groups are channeled down the winding staircase for a brief look, bent over prayer, and then quickly shuffled out. Entry into the church is through a small door where one must stoop in order to keep from bumping one's head. I've been to the church twice and someone has bumped their head each time. Some believe that this is an example of the biblical cliche regarding a camel going through the eye of the needle (a supposed reference to a camelback warrior trying to ride through that narrow entrance -- virtually impossible).
I think about the unimportance of that little town now, and I think about the unimportance of that little town when Jesus was born there. No great five star hotels! Not the Hollywood strip or Wall Street or Pennsylvania Avenue, just a little town where God chose to grace the world with His incarnation. If we are looking up to God, listeing to God's call and following his signs, then we can walk circumspectly in the world without bumping our heads, losing our minds in the shuffle and hustle of what the world says is all important! I might think I have gotten that point by now.
The first Friday in December we have a luncheon at our church for seniors, many from the local nursing homes and assisted living centers. We fed about 275 this year on Friday December 2nd. I was relieved this year when our Sunshine Luncheon director indicated that children would lead the service and that all I had to do was introduce the beginning of Communion, The Lords Supper, and drive the minibus to collect residents at two of our facilities (they didn't have transportation). At Carebridge, the first of the two stops for me, I failed to look up. I failed to see the divine signs! The overhang outside the front of their entrace had a huge sign that read, "9 Foot Clearance!" Our minibus was clearly more that 9 feet and I pulled her into the woodword under the awning. I then backed back out dragging remnants of splintered wood with me and leaving a gash in the top of the minibus and my ego! Ouch!
When I fail to slow down, look around, but especially look up to God listening for His calling and following His signs, I am sure to bump my head, to injure my ego. Who am I without the "I am" of all life? Nada! I am glad that the church forgives me for my inadequacies, even as God forgives us all for riding in bumper cars through life. That was fun as a child, but not as an adult!
Hmmm!
Dr. Fitz

Following the Star during 2011 Advent

This year our theme for Advent (the season where we prepare for the coming of Jesus) is “follow the star.” Clearly the language of faith is countercultural. We are challenged by God to take a little language coarse, like how we teach ESL (English as a Second Language) to some of our international church members and friends. Our understanding of star gazing is totally different that what the world thinks of when they search for stars.

Our culture is obsessed with following the star(s). Headline news covers great events like weddings and divorces of those we consider stars (Prince William and Kate Middleton), or Tiger Woods and his marital problems. Prime time television has an obsession with star watching too with great shows such as “Dancing with the Stars,” or shows that focus on individuals whose sole aim in life is to become a star, like the old original “Star Search,” or contemporary ones like “American Idol” and “The X Factor.” We wonder, “who might have “the X factor” to become the next great star that the world is looking and waiting for to make our lives so much better? Maybe it’s Kim Kardashian? Isn’t she your hero? Millions of people tune in to watch and cast their votes for their hero dancing or singing stars.

What is a star except a point in the universe that gives off light in the midst of a dark sky. What we now know is that when we gaze into the dark night sky we may be seeing light from a star that has actually burnt out and is no longer there! The light has travelled so far that indeed the object that emitted that light may, in reality, not really be there anymore! That is quickly the case with the cultural stars highlighted in the news or on prime time television. Here today, gone tomorrow! Where is the light and glow of their great illumination? Where is Ronald Regan now? Or John Wayne? Or Marilyn Monroe? Or Michael Jackson?

Contrary to cultural star obsession, our ministers will be leading music, devotions and sermons that focus on the star of heaven that shines to give light on the presence of God. The Bible notes that Jesus is the light of the world.
John 1:4,9 – “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.”
Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Therefore, our Advent focus isn’t about worshiping stars, or the heavens, but allowing the heavenly star that originally guided people to Christ to reflect and direct us today to the light of life, the light that pokes holes in darkness and enables us to see the light in Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God. When we worship and receive Christ Jesus into our hearts and homes we invite light and love and life into the very center of our being and doing.

Follow the star with us this Advent and watch it reflect on the truth, Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us, and thus we have a light that the world cannot see, doesn’t know and cannot snuff out.

Bridge is Out

I was looking for images to place on our church website regarding "Bridge is Out" as it relates to Josh. 3:7-17 and Matt. 19:23-26. I stumbled across the one inserted above. It challenges us to consider if we'd rather spend the night in the wilderness, where we are, rather than move forward with God in trust and faith. Our God is never stationary, never static. Our God is a God of movement, not merely motion! Our God is ever wanting us to move deeper and deeper into communion with him, until one day, there will be no separation, no broken body that can only partially know of God's glory and love! I have moved 15 times since I got married almmost 30 years ago. Yet in those moves I see God's hand, God's leadership, God's love and God's challenge for me to commit my way to ever deeper experience and presence of God's image. To add to that, I have been blessed with missions all over the world that have enabled me to know how little my perspective really is. I am so excited that God is calling me to continue to move forward, leaving behind stuff that has too many strings! How about you? Up for another move? Ready to either pack your stuff or sell it at a yard sale? Jesus even called us just to take it to Pamlico County and give it to those who lost everything! Some of you have already been doing that! Could you give it all away? Even the new "stuff" that you are using in your everyday living? Could I? Hmmm!
Dr. Fitz

Accommodations

As you reflect back over your life, what are some of the most unique accommodations you have experienced? As a child, youth or adult? Have you experienced less than adequate accommodations at one point or another?

I cannot help but pray and contribute as best possible to those in our community and particularly in Pamlico County whose accommodations have been devastated. Many have lost their homes, furniture and vehicles. Life is not very accommodating for them right now. Many are sleeping in tents, campers and/or on their porches and it doesn’t smell good. Have you been to some of those hard hit areas in Pamlico County since the hurricane? Word is that the mosquitoes are so large and populous that they are catching them in crab pots! Again, that is funny to us, but not to them if they are sleeping and living in such horrible accommodations.

I have voluntarily lived in a tent for a short period of time as a child and young adult on backpacking trips through the mountains or at the beach. I have also lived in a dirt floored hut without power in a squatter village in Zimbabwe, as well as a little hut in Chambuta refugee camp, a small cinderblock home for a month at the Baptist Theological Seminary of Zimbabwe, and then a four star hotel in Harare Zimbabwe. After living is such modest and meek accommodations with indigenous people of Zimbabwe for over four weeks I was unable to comfortably stay in the luxury hotel so I checked out and stayed in the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board Guest House for $3 per night. I gave the saved money to a local pastor who lived in 10 x 14 foot house with his wife and child. They had an old mattress on the floor and the baby slept in a stroller. That pastor subsequently earned a PhD from University of South Africa and became a professor at the Baptist Theological Seminary of Zimbabwe. He has authored several books. While I was working in the investment business for a decade I experienced corporate trips that enabled me to stay at places like The Lodge at Vail, CO and The Breakers in Palm Beach, FL. As I reflect over which accommodations have had the greatest impact upon my life, they are NOT the Lodge or Breakers, but the places where the Spirit of God enabled me to have communion with people from completely different regions and backgrounds. I have been welcomed lovingly and completely into the homes and lives of people who could have condemned and judged me negatively, but instead accommodated me and allowed me to listen to their story, try to learn something new about God and neighbor, and possibly link to my neighbor in a healthier manner.

I am also musing over the countless men and women who have come to assist the New Bern area through Disaster Relief post Hurricane Irene and how they have used our church for their accommodations. The floors are not soft. The Family Life Center hot water heater only has enough for about eight showers before it is empty and cold! Their days working in our community have been long and hard, just like the floors they sleep on in our church. Nights can be long and hard with so many sleeping in one room. Inevitably one or two individuals snore loudly! However, tought accommodations have not kept them away from God’s call to come and help, to come and love, to come and share the glory of Christ with those who have lost their accommodations to natural disaster.

Rev. 3:20 tells us that Jesus stands at the door of the church and knocks and wants to be invited into our worship services, into our work and witness in the world, into our fellowship and business gatherings. How are we doing at beginning and ending all activities with an invitation for Christ to come in and be at the center of all we are and all we do? Jesus tells us in Matt. 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Jesus will not come into our church or our lives as individuals unless invited! He does not push or manipulate his way into our hearts. Furthermore, Jesus wants to make accommodations for us that will enable us to be in communion with our Creator, God his Father. He promises us that he will go and prepare a place for us and that he will come again and take us to himself so that where he is we may be also (see John 14:3). We are offered accommodations that cannot be acquired with money or any worldly bartering. What Christ offers is permanent and perfect, after we invite him into our lives. The accommodations of Christ offer a place in the palace, the very presence of God’s glory. It turns dirt floors, hard floors, and mosquito infested yards into places of encounter and faith as we walk with Christ through this world. Jesus doesn’t offer four or five star hotel accommodations, neither do we when we invite him in. But he does offer his own home beyond the stars in a place of light that transfigures and transforms all who come in and share accommodations with Jesus, ours with him and his with us!

Dr. Fitzgerald

A Well Oiled Machine

1 Cor. 12:1-14; Gen. 4:9-10
Lord, it sure is great when my car runs well or my A/C, or my computer, or my body and golf game (driver, long-mid-short irons and putter). Lord, when just one little part of any of these breaks down the whole thing is affected negatively. So it is with my body, with my family, and with my church. When one part malfunctions the whole system is affected!

You have created us such that we are to function like a well oiled machine, put together correctly and maintained properly. If either of these two primary tasks in not taken sincerely, then something inevitably will break down prematurely. Furthermore, if and when a part inevitably does break down, it is imperative that the broken part is repaired promptly and completely.

I am indeed my brothers keeper. What happens to any one part of the family system has ultimate significance on the whole system (see Gen. 2:15; Col. 1:17; Gal. 6:10; and Eph. 4:25).

Enough (Easter Sermon April 24, 2011)

Enough!
John 14:8; 2 Chron. 31:8-10; Prov. 13:25
EASTER – April 24, 2011
First Baptist Church
Dr. Steven E. Fitzgerald

John 14:8 – Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
2 Chron. 31:8-10 – 8 When Hezekiah and the officials came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD and his people Israel. 9 Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps. 10 The chief priest Azariah, who was of the house of Zadok, answered him, “Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat and have plenty to spare; for the LORD has blessed his people, so that we have this great supply left over.”
My extended family would spend a week at the beach July 4th week every year when I was growing up. I can remember by greatest desire during beach week, to grow tall enough to have my head reach the line that would allow me to drive the big boy go-carts! It seemed to take forever for me to become tall enough! By the time I finally reached the proper height to be able to drive the big-boy go carts, my sister had her learners permit and was getting to drive a real car. So then I became jealous that I just wasn’t old enough! I guess now I’m just not young enough? Haa haa!

Enough is a bad word within this world. It highlights the great void in life! We are just NOT:
• smart enough
• tall enough
• pretty enough
• skinny enough
• rich enough
• healthy enough
• strong enough; or
• we don’t have enough hair, or
• we cannot sleep enough, play enough, or vacation long enough!
Or my spouse, or our children, or our parents are just not:
• Loving enough
• Responsive enough
• Caring enough
• Giving enough
• Or they just don’t give me enough space, enough freedom!

We just cannot get enough! When we’re consumed with the cares and concerns of the world, there just never seems to be enough. This life is just a great void, like the days between Good Friday and Easter Sunday for those who had come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the consolation of Israel, the hope of humanity! What Jesus did during his lifetime just wasn’t enough!

Easter is a day of surprises though! On Easter, God reinterprets the word ENOUGH for us!

1. Easter is about the fact that God had had enough!
a. Enough of our crying out and then ignoring him
b. Enough of our inability to perceive his presence
c. Enough of evil and death apparently having the upper hand and final word in the world
d. Enough of signs and markers that were misread and misinterpreted

2. Indeed, God had always had Enough – with a upper case “E” – and I want to challenge you today, on this Easter of 2011, that Enough is the nickname of his only Son, Jesus!



This Jesus – “Enough” – was with humanity even in the beginning, in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had Enough, but the liar lured them into focusing their attention on the need to have everything. Satan’s lie is to lure us into a life pursuing everything, to never be satisfied with Just Enough. The serpent said, “It’s not enough to know God, to be in loving and living relationship with God! You need to be like God and know everything like God does! Then you will be special! That’s more than enough!”

Satan’s alternate way it to try to reside in the house of Everything. Too often humans are duped into believing that they can have everything they want. All they need to do is to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. So they spend time, money, energy and attention on what new tricks will enable them to acquire “everything.” Everything is a residence that appears to be at the quiet end of a cul-de-sac. Satan sends you a free set of keys to this house in the mail, unsolicited I might add, and for free! If they fit, this house of everything is yours! The main problem is that as you approach the house at the end of the street, it mysteriously moves further away. It is like walking the wrong way on an escalator! You just go nowhere! It’s like paddling up creek in a swift river! Such is the search and labor to “reside with everything.” It is impossible. You can never have everything. You can never know everything. You can never be everything.

Humanity’s desire to have everything has led to incredible violence. Those who seek to have everything think that they can do so through gaining power and control over the masses. However, God rescued His chosen ones from the violence and influence of pagans in their midst over and over again.

Finally, God sent himself into the world, Enough, Jesus, to show us clearly how to live with Enough! Jesus never had much, but he always had enough, because He was Enough! Relationship with God above and within in order to bless those without was Enough of a job for Jesus’ life.

Just a brief touch of Enough gave new life and healing to people who had been starving and sick and lame. Just think, they were made whole without having to have everything, like the hemorrhaging woman who had spent everything trying to be healed, but was ultimately healed by just touching Enough of Jesus, through faith, to be totally healed, just the fringe of his cloak.

But those who had to have everything said that they were enough, so they had to eliminate Jesus and his description of Enough so that they could control something that they said was everything. Jesus said enough to let us know that their father was the father of lies, the very same one that had been in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve!

Easter reveals the futile attempt of the world to persuade us that secular leaders and religious dictators definition of something that appears to be everything is better than Enough from God! They couldn’t get rid of Enough to maintain power and control and they cannot do so now! God’s resurrection of Jesus is Just Enough, not everything, but Enough for those who don’t believe they have to have everything. Look at the lives of Jesus’ disciples after their resurrection encounter and empowerment with the Holy Spirit to see what happens when we become satisfied with Just Enough! Followers of Jesus have learned that God’s Son gives us enough to love, have joy, peace, patience, kindness and the other fruit of the Spirit.

Jesus is Enough!

1. Jesus’ life gives me enough provision to feed my deepest needs on a daily basis (see Matt. 4:4) I can stop playing the acquisition game and find that I have an excess, excess that is to be shared with others in need. (see 2 Chron. 31:8-10)

2. Jesus’ death gives me enough forgiveness, by God’s grace and mercy, to rid me of living in unresolved guilt! I don’t need to spend my life trying to make up for my past mistakes (mortification). (John 4)

3. Jesus’ resurrection gives me enough hope that I can live my life without fear, thus enabling me to be more present for God and neighbor! I can begin focusing on what is best to bring lost sheep into the house of God rather than what keeps me comfortable. (John 21 – Peter)

The Good news of Easter is that Jesus’ life, death and now his resurrection is Just Enough for me!
• I don’t need to know everything, only enough (Jesus’ nickname).
• I don’t need to have everything, only enough (Jesus)
• I don’t need to be everything, only enough (Jesus) – know that “I am” is in me and with me!

Have you had enough… enough of the world?

Do you have Enough to be satisfied? (John 14:9-10)

If you have Jesus, you will have Enough for this life and beyond. Easter is the truth of God’s gift of Enough to promise us that!

Amen

Recharging my Droid Phone...

I really love the features of my HTC Droid Incredible. It's like having a little computer with me at all times. I can check my email, surf the internet, access my personal and church calendar, have an HD digital camera and video recorder with me at all times and receive and send text messages by voice activation, not to mention Pandora Radio when I'm driving and the Google Maps Navigation feature that far outstrips my expensive GPS which never had updated roads! The main problem I have with this phone is that it runs applications in the background and I'm constantly utilizing an app killer to save my battery life. No matter what I do, the battery life is miniscule when compared to old phones that you only used occassionally for phone calls. The solution to much of this dilemma is that I have seperate power cords at home, in my office and one in my car that runs through the old cigarette lighter spot.

I have also realized that as I have gotten older and as our church has grown larger, I am running more and more applications of God's calling in my life throughout each day and week. Not only do I have to teach twice on Wednesdays, but also the big attempt to spend great amounts of time with God, pen and computer trying to fashion a sermon that will be truthful to God and relevant to those who listen hoping to have a living encounter with God and his grace, love and mercy. In the midst of these teaching and preaching events, I have more and more individuals, within the church and friends of the church, who desire spiritual direction or counselling, and then there are the many visitors that we have comeing to church now that I really want to visit with (meetings scattered on various evenings inbetween).

All of this is wonderful because this is my calling. However, like my cell phone battery, if I do not regularly recharge my battery, through Scripture focus and quiet devotional prayer many times a day, then I will burn out, just like Sharon, Barry and others. Perhaps the most emotionally exhausting calling is spending time with those who are hurting and afraid, those whose lives are falling apart. After time with them listening and learning, after trying to assist them to hear of God's presence in the midst of their difficult journey, I usually must have time to recharge immediately.

John Wesley said one time that he had gotten so busy that he was having to move his prayer time up to four hours per day. Why is it that we're the opposite? Too many times when we get "busy," we spend less time in prayer and at the feet of Jesus Christ. The story of Mary and Martha reminds us of the better way. It is to spend copius time at the feet of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. He is the charge of life, the love of life, the gift of life, the sustainer of life as the manifestation of God's very Word made alive.

Recharge frequently or you'll burn out! God's needs you to be running the applications of his presence to the world around you in the unique and specific ways in which he has called you!