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You may be wondering what Dinner With The Pastor is. Is it a formal event? Is it a date with the pastor? Will I stare deeply into your eyes and ask for money? Will I ask you to explain the book of Revelation to everyone while wearing a bad suit and a comb-over?

Heck, no! But we will have free food and child care. We have even been known to have a laugh or two. I am not promising that Dusty, our executive pastor, is going to take his shirt off and dance, but I have heard rumors.

One of the disadvantages of pastoring a large church is that you don’t get to know everybody. For the first couple of years I knew everyone by name, I knew important events in their lives, and it was cool because it was so personal. Now, I don’t even know the names of everyone of our preschool volunteers. Thank God we have a wonderful church staff, each of whom knows the people in their area of ministry. By the way, our staff is awesome! We operate with about half the number of staff members that the average church our size has. They are efficient, hard-working, and God-called and I love them.

Dinner With The Pastor is one way that we get people connected here at Avalon. It is an introduction to our ministries, to our process, to small groups, to our staff, and it is the one time that I get to hang out with people who are new to this church. You hear us talk a lot about a few things at Avalon - Identify with Christ through salvation and baptism, Involve yourself in a ministry and a small group, Invest your resources into God’s work here at Avalon and invest God’s Word into your life, and Invite someone to church with you and someone to serve along side of you. If you attend DWTP it will all come together and make sense to you.

We have made some improvements to DWTP. You will be able to sign the church covenant and become a covenant member. I am doing the teaching now. I will tell a brief history of the church and share the vision of where we are going. You will be able to meet our entire staff and learn more about each ministry. You will be able to sign up to serve in a ministry. You will have a chance to ask me questions. We will have it at the church instead of my home and this will allow us to provide childcare.

If you want to learn more about Avalon or you want to become a covenant member you need to come to DWTP. If you plan on attending this Sunday afternoon at 5:00 you have to sign up by today. If you have not signed up yet you can e-mail me @ ritchie@avalonchurch.net. Do it by 5:00 pm or you will miss the dancing Dusty.

Have a great day.

Ritchie

As a high school graduation gift I took Brittney, our oldest daughter, to Paris this summer. We had an awesome time. I have always loved art and history and Brittney, so I was in my element.

While we were there we toured the Cathedral of Notre Dame. I took this terrible picture, which in no way captures the beauty and majesty of this magnificent work of architecture. (bet you are glad God called me to be a pastor instead of a photographer, right?)

While we were there I noticed that I was not the only one gawking. Everybody was just standing around and staring. It got me to thinking. When does a church stop being a church and just become a museum? I am sure the architect meant for the beauty of his art to draw people’s attention to God, but there was no worshipping, no serving, and no churching going on — just gawking. Just outside the cathedral were millions of people. There were poor people, sick people, needy people, hurting people, angry people, sad people, empty people, lots of people who needed Jesus, but the church was filled with gawkers.

Many Christians are good at all kinds of standing and staring in the church. We stare instead of serve. We gawk instead of give. We complain and criticize rather than work or worship.

God lays it out in James 1:22.

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

Maybe the old Nike slogan was inspired by what God told us to do. Just do it. It is more than just say it, or just hear it, or just blog about it, or just consume it. For those who serve God faithfully He promises to say, “Well done.”

Ritchie

Last week I challenged our church to give over and above our regular giving so we could pay off all of our debt before launching a new campus. One of our church members gave a check for $540,000 to wipe out the remaining debt. You can imagine that I was pretty pumped!

I do believe that this is a blessing, but it is also a test. Will we obey God in the matter of giving? Will we still have everyone participate? Will we launch out in faith and go to a new level? Will we pass the test so that God will trust us to minister to tens of thousands?

I believe we will. I just know you and how you normally act. You always rise to the occasion. Thanks, Avalon. I love you in the good times and the bad and you amaze me.

Let’s launch out into deep waters.

Ritchie

I have heard the old proverb “never criticize until you have walked a mile in someone else’s shoes.” That may not be exact, but it is close enough that you get the idea. That is a great if we are talking about not having a critical spirit, a self-righteous attitude, or a holier-than-thou approach to Christianity. That is, in essence, what Jesus meant in Matthew 7:1-2 when he said, “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.” Please do not come up to me and misapply that verse the next time you hear a preacher say that something is a sin or that a person is going to hell if they do not receive Christ. I might just kick you in the shin and punch you in the throat in the name of Chuck Norris. He is talking about pretending that you are better than others, or that you have no sin in your life, or that your stuff don’t stink. Anyway, I digress.

Back to our proverb, it is a bad idea to walk in someone’s else’s shoes. I don’t mean the understanding part. That is good. I am not even talking about the obvious gross factor of walking in someone else’s fungus. Yuck! What I am talking about is wearing someone else’s armor. You can’t walk in someone else’s giftedness. Saul tried to make David wear his armor before he went out and kicked Goliath’s hind quarters. Didn’t work. Never has, never will. You can’t walk in my calling. I can’t run your race. You can’t fulfill my purpose and I can’t serve God with your gifts. I have to use my own and so do you.

I know that I have been frustrated before because I was trying to walk in someone else’s shoes. It is OK to follow someone else’s example. It is a bad idea to try to BE them. I don’t preach or lead like others because God made me for a purpose. You can’t do what God has called you to do by being someone else either. We each have to use our own gifts.

God made me the way He chose to for a reason. He made you the way He did because He has a plan. How sad it is for pastors, church planters, leaders, and everyday Christians to try and be someone else. IT NEVER WORKS! God did not intend for it to work. He made you to be you and me to be me. Cool, huh?

When you think about it, not walking in your own giftedness is a slap at God. It’s like we think that He did not know what He was doing, so we need to help Him out.

So here’s to walking in your own shoes. It smells better, anyway.

Ritchie

This morning I was reading about how the Jewish people rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day. What they did was awesome! They completed a task that was considered impossible and they did it using amateur builders. How did they accomplish such a great task even while being greatly criticized?

1. They did whatever it took. When you read about the group of people who did the work you come to realize that these were not skilled wall builders. They were priests, goldsmiths, and recently freed slaves. But their attitude was, “I’ll do whatever it takes. Count me in.” Are you a “count me in” kind of person?

2. When people tried to discourage them, they talked to God. What do you and I do when critics begin to talk? Make no mistake, critics will criticize you if you do ANYTHING. That is just what they do. These people paid no attention to the critics, however; they just talked to God. That is a powerful lesson that will keep you going when you feel like quitting.

3. They made a great commitment to a great cause. In Nehemiah 4 it says they “worked with enthusiasm.” That only happens when you make a commitment to a cause that is greater than you are. I believe one reason many Christians are unhappy and unenthusiastic about Christianity is that they have made no great commitment to a great cause.

4. They trusted God, but kept their swords. Whenever they were afraid they reminded themselves to trust the Lord. They said, “The Lord will fight for us.” They trusted God, but they also wore their swords and set up a guard. I think there is a powerful lesson there. We need to trust God to do His part. He never fails. But we must also be prepared. Do not expect God to help if you are not prepared. That would be like the kid in high school who never studied for the algebra exam, but when the test came he prayed for God’s help. When he fails the exam does he have the right to question God’s love, or to doubt if God answers prayer? No, I don’t think so. We have to trust God, but wear a sword.

Now, go build your walls today.

Ritchie

After I got back from my morning run I went into our kitchen and saw my wife, Kim, and my youngest daughter, Brooke, looking at a bunch of ants on our ceiling and walls. We sprayed bug spray and they just kept on coming. We are going to call our exterminator this morning and they will take care of the problem.

Ants are funny creatures. They are pests but they also give us some great lessons for life. Consider what God told us in Proverbs 6:6-8.

Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.
Learn from their ways and become wise!
Though they have no prince
or governor or ruler to make them work,
they labor hard all summer,
gathering food for the winter.

There are lots of life-lessons in this proverb. Want to be successful? Then act like an ant!

Do whatever it takes to be self-motivated. Surround yourself with people, books, and lessons that charge your battery.

Don’t be afraid to work hard. That seems to be a characteristic of ants. They start early and they work late, when necessary.

Lead yourself. Self leadership is another way of saying to be disciplined. Without discipline we will not accomplish much no matter what kind of leadership is over us.

Don’t quit! Ants never quit. You can knock over their mound and they just get right back on the job and start building again.

Be prepared. They work and plan ahead. They prepare during the summer so that they will have food for the winter.

Act like an ant today. You will find yourself getting closer to your goals.

Ritchie

If you go to Avalon Church, you know that HOPE not only reaches into the community around us, but also reaches across the world. One of our big projects is helping AIDS orphans in South Africa. Our church gave money to help purchase the land and start building a children’s home. I want you to pray for Dr. Bob Graham as he leads this wonderful project. He and his wife, Joanna, went to college with Kim and me, and we have been friends for a long time. You can do more than pray; you can give a financial contribution and be a real part of helping AIDS orphans. Click here to give or to check out the property and the progress on the buildings.

Peace. Ritchie

I am loving the Warrior Series that started last weekend. The stage set and the graphics are really cool and it feels so ninja. Speaking of ninjas, there is a dude in the Old Testament that was so bad he would have even ruled Chuck Norris. That is bad! Do you know why Chuck Norris destroyed the period table of the elements? Because he only recognizes the element of surprise. Who is this bad ninja warrior? His name is Shamgar.

The Bible does not have much to say about Shamgar. His name is only mentioned two time in all of the Bible. What was said about him, though, is powerful.

Judges 3:31 (NIRV) After Ehud, Shamgar became the next leader. He was the son of Anath. He struck down 600 Philistines with a large, pointed stick that was used to drive oxen. He saved Israel too.

Wow, that was a lot! Just the facts, folks. He became Israel’s leader. (They were known as judges before Israel got its first king and they would rise up and deliver their nation from the slavery and/or the oppression that was caused by its national disobedience to Yahweh) Told who his dad was. Killed 600 Philistines at one time with a pointy stick. Oh, by the way, he saved the entire nation. Ho hum. All in a day’s work. No bluster. No chest thumping. No erecting monuments to himself.

I think we can learn two powerful lessons from Shamgar, the ninja man.

1. Stop making excuses and get started. All he had was a pointy stick and some serious chutzpah. No worries. God was on his side. He did not compare himself to the judges before him. He did not make excuses about his timing, his lack of training, the state of the economy, the credentials of the presidential candidates, or how mean and ugly the Philistines were. He just did it. I think God really likes it when we don’t whine or complain. In fact, when we trust Him we find that He is a lot badder than a few greasy Philistines.

2. Use what God gave you. “Of all the nerve, God! You expect me to fight 600 Philistines with a cattle prod? Why, they have swords, and shields, and spears, and machine guns, and tanks, and really bad attitudes. I can’t do this! Now, if I had what Ehud had, I might be able to do this. After all, he was left-handed and he got a lot more pub than I got. He got sixteen verses and all I got was one and a measly mention in another. He had money and notoriety. All I got was a stick!” Nope. He did not say that. He used what God gave him. Just a stick of wood. It was not much, but God can use anything that is put in His hands. After all, He used a stick in Moses’ hands to part seas, deliver a nation, defeat armies, feed millions, and do miracles. He used another slab of wood to change the entire course of human history when His son was nailed to it. Surely, He can use what is in your hand too.

The point is that God is looking for people who will stop making excuses and start trusting Him. It ain’t about the stick! It’s you He wants to use. The tools are irrelevant.

So, arise, my ninja warrior. Take your pointy stick and go forth and conquer today.

Ritchie