A Little Q & A

by Jim Lyon, Senior Pastor

Okay, it’s question and answer time. Some questions are out-of-the-blue (quite literally, as in “Pastor, I was just thinking about the color blue and wondered if it had any theological meaning in the Scriptures…”), some are triggered by current events (“Jim, what do you think about climate change?”), and some are born in conversations with others (“In our small group last week, we talked about why the choir doesn’t  wear robes. Why don’t they?”), and so on. All questions are welcome; thanks for asking.

Here are a few  questions that have surfaced lately—with some answers, too.

Q: We’ve missed you at the School Board meetings in recent weeks, Jim. Have you lost interest in our  public schools? After focusing so much attention on the Board, can you now just walk away?

A: It’s true that I have not attended School Board meetings regularly in recent months. I began attending them  without fail in June, 2008. The last time I attempted to address the Board in a public meeting was in May,  2009. The last Board meeting I attended was in November, 2009. I have concluded that attending School  Board meetings is not productive, for any cause or for informational purposes. Little debate takes place in  public, the rules of engagement effectively prohibit constructive give and take with “patrons” (that’s what the Board calls those of us in the audience), questions posed  from the floor rarely receive answers or followup— the whole present Board-meeting-in public process is a sad and perpetual failure. It does not have to be so. The Board could engage the public, governing our public schools in a way that would promote understanding and investment. But, the last two years of active participation have persuaded me that this outcome can only be achieved by electing new Board members.

Four of the seven seats will be on the ballot May 4, 2010. Consequently, I have redirected my time and energy to the Committee for Anderson’s Future (CAF), a diverse collection of community leaders who share this in common: Anderson’s schools (ACS) holds the keys to Madison County’s future; the School Board holds the keys to ACS; it is time to place those keys into new hands. You can learn more by visiting the CAF website: www.andersonsfuture.com. I want to believe the incumbent Board members are well-intentioned; I know they have made many sacrifices in their role. Still, it’s time to put some new drivers behind the
wheel. I believe I have a responsibility to remain engaged and to speak up for change.

Q: Is it true that popular author and radio talk show host Stephen Arterburn will preach at Madison Park throughout May?

A: Yes. And, we’re very excited about it, too. Steve has long been a friend of the ministry at Madison Park. In conversations following our shared platform at the CBH Retreat at the Cove (last October), Steve and I have arranged for him to speak for five Sundays in May, each week exploring themes from his best-selling (and Biblically-grounded)  book, Healing Is a Choice. Drawing from illustrations in the ministry of Jesus, Steve will help you wrestle with “ten decisions that can transform your life—and the ten lies that can prevent you from making them.” Steve founded New Life Ministries (the nation’s largest faith-based broadcast, counseling, and treatment ministry) and Women of Faith (attended by over 3,000,000 women). He has appeared on Oprah, CNN, Good Morning America, in the New York Times, USA Today,  and US News & World Report—always representing the healing Gospel of Jesus Christ, a voice for biblical values in a culture often detoured. He is one of the most engaging and insightful speakers you will ever hear. This is an outstanding opportunity for all of us to invite friends, business associates, family, and neighbors who otherwise would not consider coming to church. It all starts Sunday, May 2 and runs  through Sunday, May 30. Watch for new small group opportunities and curriculum to coincide with the  series, too. And, yes, I’ll be here, also—in the front row.

Q: Will we continue the new Holy Week  events in 2010 that we introduced in 2009?

A: Absolutely. We were overwhelmed with the positive response to last year’s Holy Week line-up—and, yes, you will see it again (polished, expanded, and improved) this spring. Palm Sunday falls on March 28; Easter is April 4. In between, circle these dates now: Maundy Thursday (complete with a delicious Passover Seder Meal, as Jesus and His disciples would have enjoyed at the Last Supper), Good Friday (with the  Journey to the Cross, walking in the steps of Jesus from the Last Supper to Golgotha—an unforgettable,  incredibly moving experience), and Easter Saturday (with the amazing Eggstravaganza for children—not to be missed). On Easter Sunday morning, we’ll be ready to celebrate the Resurrection with two services in  the Crossroads Auditorium and two in the Main Auditorium, both rooms at 9:00am and 10:45am.

My page doth run short; my Q & A column must close for now. But, again, thanks for asking. See you Sunday.

There’s Nothing Like It!

by Jim Lyon, Senior Pastor

There are some bedrock ideas in the Gospel that have driven the church in every generation to pursue missions. Chief among these is the understanding that God’s favor, which includes redemption from sin and the promise of heaven, comes only through Christ, as a gift—and that, to be experienced, that gift must be received. “All have sinned,” the Scriptures tell us, and we can only be saved from its consequences, which include shame, guilt, and hell, “by grace, through faith … it is the gift of God, lest anyone should boast.” Nobody earns it; we can only receive it.

Individually, we must each humble ourselves before God and accept this gift, if we are to have any hope. If people are not given the chance to receive the gift, by hearing “the Good News”, then they are doomed. All of us deserve to be doomed (I know, I know, not a popular concept these days, but still a foundation stone of Christianity) and Jesus is the only ticket out. From Peter and Paul to the present day, followers of Jesus have been proclaiming this “way of escape,” so that “all might be saved.” Jesus Himself commanded us to do so, famously, before He ascended to heaven. See the end of Matthew’s Gospel, for instance.

Not everyone agrees.  Some argue that it’s pretentious for any religion to imagine that it is the gatekeeper of truth; Jesus was a nice guy and great teacher—everybody gets that—but the Buddha and Mohammed and Moses and so on all had their equally valid points of view. Jesus “the Way, the Truth, and the Life … no one comes to the Father but by Me?” C’mon, a bit arrogant, wouldn’t you say? Or so the line goes. And, anyway, it’s not fair for people who haven’t heard about Jesus to find themselves in hell, is it? If everybody isn’t told about the lifeboat, then nobody really needs one, right?

Our problem? We believe what the New Testament says: nobody gets saved without holding on to Jesus. We have a responsibility to point as many people as possible to the Life-boat, Jesus Himself. Which brings us back to missions.

The Madison Park Church focuses its mission energies abroad in three fields. Each is a land thirsty for the Gospel.

India will soon become the world’s largest nation. With over 1.2 billion, it represents one of the world’s most exciting, and needy  mission fields. Hundreds of millions in India have never heard of the name of Jesus. Not once. We work extensively with five assemblies of the Church of God in India—and the indigenous India Gospel League (IGL) to provide relief and hope across the huge swaths of the subcontinent that know nothing of God’s love. Since 1997, IGL alone has planted over 100,000 churches in rural villages in which Hindu idols-carved-in-stone previously held sway. It’s a holistic approach, inviting villagers to embrace Jesus as Lord, tear down their idols, and advance their prospects for a better life here and now.

With the fall of the Iron Curtain and the emergence of the new Russia, we also have been at work in the Siberian city of Chelyabinsk. An urban center of 1.5 million, essentially isolated from the outside world during the Soviet years because it was a center of Russian nuclear and defense technology, Chelyabinsk boasts one of Russia’s best-educated populations. Masters of science, engineering, mathematics, and many other disciplines of knowledge, the city’s population was almost exclusively atheist, until the doors opened for evangelization in the mid-1990’s. We then helped purchase the first Church of God-owned property in Russia since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution; an ongoing sister-church relationship with the 15-year old Church of God there continues to bring light and life. Hundreds of believers, all first generation, new converts, now call the Church of God in Chelyabinsk home. Growing and maturing, last year the Chelyabinsk Church partnered with Madison Park to provide relief for believers in Pakistan, fleeing from the Taliban.

Madison Park has long had a heart for Haiti, too. Working with Mission Haiti, which helps resource and manage Gospel ministry, medical missions, and an orphanage for the Church of God in Haiti, we have been able to help open a medical clinic and rudimentary hospital at St. Ard, outside of Port-au-Prince—a compound that withstood last month’s devastating earthquake and even at this moment is a refuge for thousands of displaced and injured Haitians who surround it every day. Thanks Madison Park for the $40,000 you have contributed to Haitian relief in just three weeks!

How I wish everyone in our church family could visit each field and see the dramatic good that is done, for Jesus’ sake, every day. You’d be amazed. It’s almost Beyond Belief, really. Imagine how He can use you. Don’t ask what God can do for you; ask, instead, what God can do through you. And, as He works through you, you will experience the life-giving wonder of being one with God’s heart for the lost. There’s nothing like it.

Beyond Belief

by Jim Lyon, Senior Pastor

The ancient Romans believed winter was so dreary that it was “monthless,” as if there was no use even marking its grey and gloomy days. January and February were the last two months added to the Roman calendar (in 700 BC). The Anglo-Saxons didn’t think much better of the winter; they called February Solmonath, which translated means mud month.

The word February is derived from the Latin Februum, which refers to an old festival of purification (or cleansing) designed to “please the gods” before the spring planting season began. This festival (also dubbed Lupercalia) fell on what we now date as February 15. St. Valentine’s Day on February 14 is thought to have originated as Christianity replaced pagan festivals with feast days celebrating great men and women of faith.Born to freed slaves in Kentucky in the 19th century, Carter Woodson went to work as a child in the coal mines. He enrolled in high school at age 20, graduated in two years, went on to college, and ultimately earned a PhD from Harvard. Brilliant and black, he was astonished to find that African Americans were absent from American history books at the time. In 1926, he launched Black History Week (which became Black History Month) to draw attention to the positive contribution Black Americans have made to American history. He chose February because two men who greatly influenced black American history were born in the second month: Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln’s birthday has always been overshadowed, though, by Washington’s Birthday. Today, President’s Day merges both. Richard Cadbury gave the world the first heart-shaped box of chocolates in 1870; Highlights magazine still dresses children up in mittens to build snowmen in its February edition.

Ah, February—that shortest of months, too often passed by, even with its charms, on the way to spring. But, not this year at Madison Park Church. In 2010, February will be a month filled with adventure, inspiration, daring, and life reaching beyond our front door. Beyond Belief is the title of February’s Sunday sermon series and the frame for four weeks of looking at God-at-work in the world around us.

Beyond Belief will draw lessons every week from the Acts of the Apostles, as they changed their world. Beyond Belief will help our children and students explore MPC’s mission interests and opportunities. Beyond Belief will include a parade of nations, testimonies of God’s extraordinary provision for His purposes, and Shane Bennett (a dynamic, riveting voice for embracing God’s call to get out of our comfort zones).

Beyond Belief will feature an extraordinary evening on February 25 in the Crossroads Auditorium: the “Beyond Idols Tour,” with international contestants and a multi-national band, all veterans of American Idol-like television competitions from around the world. Each of the participants, representing many different nations is a believer with a testimony and talent that is guaranteed to inspire. This unique tour is brought to us by our partners at Global Disciples, with whom we work all the yearlong supporting Leaderwell Posghnap in India.

Beyond Belief will transform the Lighthouse Café on February 24 into an international café. This Salt and Light Event will then give us all, no matter what your age,  a chance to experience a hands-on mission moment in which you will be able to be participate in one of many projects set up throughout The Commons.

Beyond Belief will dare you to step up, step out, and take a chance. Beyond Belief will invite you to make a Faith Promise, stretching and trusting, both at once, as you watch for God to provide in unexpected ways for His purposes.  Beyond Belief will test—and strengthen—your faith.

Pick up a copy of Madison Park’s first-ever missions journal, available this Sunday, February 7. Don’t miss any of the opportunities to grow and explore, spread across February at Madison Park Church. From the Junior High Student Winter Olympic Games to the focus on Haiti relief at the Holy Grounds, visit Madison Park and see the world.

And, oh yeah, speaking of Haiti. . .MPC has, so far, collected nearly $40,000 in cash to invest in Haiti, following last month’s devastating earthquake. Every cent is going to work on the ground there; much remains to be done, but may Heaven be praised for all the good that will be done because of your generosity. You can continue to support the Haiti effort by marking your gift “Haiti” anytime, as the weeks unfold.

February. No mud month here. No faceless winter grey days at Madison Park Church. Nope. It’s time for Beyond Belief. The Son is going to shine. And, the world will be changed. For the good. For God. And, you can be a part of the great adventure.