Just Ask Me!

I had lunch with Eddie Cox on Thursday, and we talked about a lot of things concerning his vision for Marathon, and the fact that we are, once again, on the verge of reaching another level with our ministry. Marathon is continuing to grow, but it is the relational connections that are being formed that are really making the difference.

You see, attracting a crowd to your church is fine, but it can not be an end in itself. The goal is to help that crowd become a church of growing believers who are worshipping, serving, and connecting in life-changing relationships. Our ability to help people make these relational connections will directly affect our ability to continue to grow a healthy church.

The trick is to avoid letting the methods get in the way of the purpose.

For instance, for several decades Sunday school was nearly universal in American churches. In its prime, more people actually attended Sunday school than their church’s morning worship services. Why? Because, it was where people connected; felt loved and accepted, and shared their lives. Then, over the years, the method replaced the purpose. In many churches Sunday school became just a time for Bible study, which is certainly a worthy endeavor, but not very conducive to the original purpose. Once they became classrooms, and were no longer engaging people in meaningful relationships, pastors and other leaders began to look for other methods to accomplish the purpose.

As a result, there was a huge shift to small groups, or home groups (we now call them Life Groups at Marathon). Where the people could meet together in the relaxed atmosphere of each other’s homes, which was certainly more appropriate than most class rooms to forming relationships. Some churches added small groups as an alternative to their Sunday school program. Others replaced Sunday school all together.

The thing that we have to always keep in mind is that the small group is just the method, and not the goal. The Bible doesn’t tell us that we are to get people together in small groups, it tells us that we are to teach people how to relate, how to grow in authenticity with others, how to help each other through the tough stuff in life.

Small groups have the potential to change lives, but it is only potential. They do not guarantee relationships, but rather offer an environment where those relationships might start, and to experience true Biblical community.

So, let’s talk…

Are you a member of a small group?

Does your small group foster lasting relationships?

What other ways are you working to build those close relationships with those around you?

Want some help? Just ask me!

Robert

The TXT series

The 'TXT series' has been a fantastic series the past few weeks. We as Christians get in such a routine in our daily walk. We need to constantly remind ourselves what we should and need to be doing. God wants us in His Word. He wants us to grow closer to Him. Have you read anything in the Bible lately? Why not? Do it now!

This past Sunday, Robert stepped all over toes and even mine. We as servants of the Lord should take the time to ask people to church. Not everyone is comfortable to walk someone to the Lord but just get them to church. Marathon is created to do this for you. You want the people you know to be in Heaven. Are we only giving them the other option? Have you invited someone to church for this coming Sunday? Why not? We are only here for a short period and think of all the people that do not know God yet. God has placed these people in your life for a reason. Who just popped in your mind? That is who you need to ask.

James 4:17 says, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."

James 1:22 says, "Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!"

Opportunity to Help Out with Upcoming Youth Mission Trip

The mission trip for the youth is around the corner. They are going again to Inner City Memphis, TN. They will be gone the last week of July. This is an awesome time for several of Marathon youth to reach out to others less fortunate and share the Word of God. A life changing experience for the youth and for the children and adults they will reach!


This year I asked Bryan Holder is there any way the Sunday Service Teams and Life Groups could be a part of the trip without even going. The answer was yes! Until July 19th, I will be collecting socks (for ages K3 – 4th graders), children’s belts, cases of bottle water, or Wal-mart gift cards. The children are in need of uniforms and the gift cards will help Holder and the youth to be able to go to the local Wal-mart and purchase khaki shorts and collar shirts since we don’t know sizes needed right now. If you would like to participate, please bring any of the items to volunteer central in the next few weeks.

YOU Are Why They Come Back!

When you think about it, church leaders, in their ongoing efforts to find new and better ways to carry out the great commission, have made many parts of Sunday morning obsolete. Churches are now streaming their services on line, on television, and on radio with the goal in mind of reaching more, but many times, with the unintended effect of the isolation of the worshipper. And, I'm certainly not saying that we should stop those efforts. In many cases they are extremely effective in getting "seekers" to pay closer attention, and as you know, that's a large part of what we do at Marathon.

With all of the “outside the church” choices in worship today, I sometimes wonder why people keep coming through the doors. You can go online and selectively choose any sermon that you are in the mood to hear, by practically any type speaker; and this variety of sermons and speakers is not only matched, but exceeded by the variety of worship music available at your fingertips 24/7. In fact, statistics show that in many cases the younger, more tech savvy worshipper has stopped coming in favor of the “online variety and experience”.

So why do people keep coming? Why do they get up, leave the computer behind and come to Marathon?

It is because Marathon offers a component of the worship experience that can never be obtained through an online praise service, message, or chat room discussions – the fellowship of the Spirit through human touch. In other words; Marathon offers YOU!

As I told my Life Group last Sunday, the reason for our shared fellowship – what draws us together, and gives us a sense of comfort among each other – is our shared Spirit. Among believers, the Spirit of Christ which dwells in all of us calls out, and is mutually answered. Comfort can be, and is found in God through the deepening of our personal relationship with Him. However, God made us to need the contact of others, and it is only through that contact that we will ever fully develop ourselves.

Worship is more than just experiencing God on our own. It is also experiencing God through others who we come in contact with, and who also have the indwelling of His Spirit.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:25

As I have said many times before, YOU are the reason that people come back! YOU are the ones who provide the "seekers" who come through the doors at Marathon with that all important link to the Spirit.

Without this continued contact, the relationship suffers, loneliness flourishes, and joy is dampened. Through this continued contact, loneliness is dampened, the relationship flourishes, and joy abounds!

Thank you, again... for everything!

Robert

Did you know?

So, did you know that He loves lilies? It is a well-known and much overlooked fact of His life - as known and overlooked as the lilies that He loves. And it's a puzzling fact, too. Why lilies? Why especially lilies?

Maybe He loves lilies for being white, the way many people love roses for being red. Maybe it's because of the brilliant green of their long, slender stalks or the glorious, deeper green of their leaves. Maybe He loves them because their blooms look like trumpets and their leaves resemble swords. It could simply be their simplicity, it might be their commonness. It may be because of all of that and it just as easily might be because of none of that at all.

In the Sermon on the Mount - a sermon that predated the birth of Christianity, a sermon so profound and timeless that it would endure throughout the history of Christianity and would (in fact) shape and distinguish the character of everything Christian - Jesus pointed to lilies as examples of a splendor superior to that of Solomon's. He considered them to be better dressed than kings - lilies, that is (and a lily is one of the most naked flowers known to us.) He did not apparently blush or stutter when He commanded His followers to consider them. He gave that command with the same authority that He gave the command to "let your light so shine" and the command to "turn the other cheek." It is an astonishing command - maybe given because lilies are astonishing flowers or maybe given because Jesus was an astonishing man.

After all, He has a certain fondness for sparrows and does not consider their care and feeding beneath the dignity of God - though God's care and dignity (Jesus would assert) is beyond the comprehension of men. It was God's Spirit that led Him into the wilderness where He fasted and spent forty days (Mark tells us) "with the wild animals." It is easy, considering this attitude about lilies and sparrows, to imagine (and yes, this is imagination and certainly not revelation) that He spent that time romping with those creatures, not cowering from them and thus in His person, partially fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy about a "peaceable Kingdom of the Branch."

And... If this were the entire picture of Christ, the world could easily write Him off as a nature lover - perhaps a forerunner of Greenpeace. But this is where the lover of lilies throws us a curve - for you see, He loves men. It was to the end that they might be saved that He came. This man who looked at flowers and loved them, also looked at an arrogant young human and loved him. He who romped forty days with the wild animals, spent and worked three years with yet a more savage and brutal species - man. He who rejoiced in God's providence for sparrows miraculously fed a crowd of 5,000 people on one occasion and 3,000 on another. His attention and affection was not won by the attractive and the beautiful - His glance and His love made things and people attractive and beautiful. The touch of His hand would give sight to the blind and from the hem of His garment flowed healing.

And even if someone would (and why should they) doubt the accounts of His miracles, I can testify myself I had never seen a lily until He showed me one. I had never heard a sparrow until His voice unplugged my ears. I had never known love until I met Him... and He is love.

So, all those things He did that we call "miracles" became believable to us because Christ, who performed them, operated out of love - and love (His love at least) has a height and depth and breadth and length that reaches beyond the dimensions of mere reason. And while reasons may be found within His love, no reason would be able to contain His love. It is possible that He loves lilies because He is love and that He feeds sparrows for the same reason. It is possible that the evidence of His divinity lies in that love - that in light of love, miracles seem sort of unremarkable. If God can love me, the rest will follow. And Jesus Christ is, for me, the evidence of God's unreasonable and unsolicited attentiveness, His unearned favor, His incomprehensible love.

So, did you know that He loves lilies?

Saying Thanks to Deployed Troops

On May 17th and 24th we will have a table set up in the atrium to give everyone an opportunity to write a thank you card to a deployed troop. The cards will mostly go to Iraq and Afgan. Please take the time to write a quick note. Stationary and cards will be provided. Marathon will also handle mailing out the cards. Every day troops should be remember for the sacrifice they provide for our freedom. They are fighting not only for my freedom, but my children's freedom.

Troy Gill sent me an email today that I wanted to share. Too good not to share!Please read below.

The Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.. 'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan


After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached
the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time..

As I reached for my wallet, I
overheard soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch.. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base ' His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or
chicken?' 'Chicken,' I replied,
wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks.'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be
part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars. Soon after I returned to my seat, I
saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, an said, 'I want to shake your hand.'

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness
I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers..

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars! Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their
safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one
point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to ' America for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'

That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.'

Made by the Book

The Bible is a very great book. It is the written witness to God's revelation of Himself in His Word: Jesus Christ. And, if you like, you can make a great deal of it.

You can speculate about it: This will make you a philosopher and people will think you are deep and very smart.

You can adulate it: This will make you its number one fan. You can display your very fine collection of its various versions all over your house.

You can attack it: This will make you a skeptic and people will admire your honest, blind determination to live in your grim, faithless little world.

You can adapt it: This will make you a popular scholar or author. You, too, can be the icing on a cake.

You can systematize it: This will make you a theologian and people will quote you and regard those quotes as some sort of authority.

You can criticize it: This will make you a scholar - and those who are not put off by your egg-headedness will confer on you M.A.'s and D.D.'s.

You can theorize about it: This will make you an expert in biblical slants on contemporary issues like political science, psychology, church growth, economics, sex, and marriage.

You can ponder it: This will make you a mystic and people will turn to you for spiritual advice (and from you when then get it).

You can practice it: This will make you a model citizen - a fair, generous, and righteous (if somewhat uptight) person.

Of course, what we make of the Bible will never be as great a thing as what the Bible will - if we let it - make of us. For that which is born of the flesh - our human understanding and handlings - is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit - God's revelation of Himself and the power of that revelation to enliven us - is spirit. The will of man will not ultimately prevail against the will of God. It is the will of God that we should know Him as He has revealed Himself and that will has not only survived the arrogant attacks of scientific and "enlightened" men, it has (even more miraculously) thrived in spite of our best intended, though sadly misguided, attempts at "rightly dividing" that seamless robe of revelation.

So, let us press on with no faith in our own understanding and nothing but faith in the Truth that is too great to be diminished by our feeble minds and too great not to transform us. Salvation comes from God, not from our cleverness. The Bible is a very great book. Let us submit to it so God may do the great work of making us into a great people.