The Love that Transforms

“While we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son…” Romans 5:10

It is one thing for us to admit that we have our share of weaknesses. Most of us can at least confess that we daily struggle in a variety of ways. Yet for us to truly own the weight of our sin and the depth our depravity, well, that’s a step more difficult to take. Scripture describes us as weak and ungodly, sinners far from God that have fallen short of His perfect mark (Romans 5:6-8, Romans 3:23). But it goes on to reveal that we are even worse than that.

Left alone, not one of us would seek for God; not one of us would pursue Him or His righteousness (Romans 3:9-12). In fact, we were hostile towards the cross. Not only did we fail to see our desperate need for a Savior, we wanted nothing to do with Him. And this is what makes the gospel so scandalous – that, “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.” What kind of love is this?! How rich is this mercy! How great a grace! Not as we were displaying signs of improvement, not at the moment that we started trying harder, or because we showed hints of our untapped potential, but in the midst of utter rebellion, that is precisely when and why Christ died for us.

So on this day that we remember and celebrate Dr. King’s life and legacy, let us examine that which fueled his perseverance. When faced with threats and opposition at each and every turn, what drove him to stay the course? Where did King gain such a capacity to endure? I contend that his strength and inspiration came from the cross of Christ. Reflect on his own words and consider his motivation.

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”

Martin Luther King could only say this in light of the grace he had received. He knew it to be true. The God who had liberated the Israelites from Pharaoh had broken the chains of his own heart. He had personally been forgiven of much, freeing him up to forgive others. He had been shown love he did not deserve, which enabled him to be merciful to his most contentious opponents. The only hope for peace and justice in the South would come in the same way – through a gracious, determined, undying, love. How did King resist returning violence against those who so vehemently opposed him? And how can we ever learn to pray for our enemies? Only through love, the kind rooted in the One who is Love (1 John 4:8).

Have you thought about where you’d be without Christ? Who are we that God is even mindful of us? Has there ever been a greater proof of love, than God chasing after the affections of His enemies? May we dwell on this gift so divine and might we allow God’s radical love to compel us today. We have taken steps forward since Dr. King, but we still have such a long way to go. The only remedy to evil in MLK’s day remains our only hope in this hour. Might we work together to fulfill the dream – bringing glory to God through our love and service to one another as those made in His very image. Christ has come to set the captives free, and one day, He will come back again to redeem all things. Might we persevere in the promise of His hope and meditate on the love that transforms enemies to friends.

Matt Fowler
Associate Pastor of Missions & Students
matt@nbchurch.info
@fattmowler

Right Where I Need to Be (Part II)

I’m thankful for Memorial Day. I’m grateful for the opportunity we have to pause and remember those who gave their lives for the very peace and freedom we enjoy today. I’m also appreciative of those that currently serve, for they willingly surrender their comfort and holiday leisure so that our families can rest in safety. While I am thankful for what this day means, I must honestly admit that I’m also just grateful for the day off. I look forward to such days on the calendar – days where we can simply relax at home.

In my April 27^th blog I talked about being “right where I needed to be.” However, in that piece I also explained that such awareness of being in the right spot at the right time has only come from the unfortunate realization that so many times I’m not. Today I will be continuing with the same theme but looking at it from a different angle. Hopefully, I can explain how these last few days had my wife and I right where we needed to be.

My wife and I spent the last 4 days in Breckenridge, Colorado, one of our favorite places in the whole world. We did some shopping, some sleeping, some sightseeing, and a lot of resting (and yes, that’s different from simply sleeping). We had a wonderful time! But truthfully, our little getaway was way overdue. In fact, when we booked our trip months ago, we were ready to call for a timeout right then, but there was nowhere to fit in a break at the time.

As I’ve written before, sometimes our schedule needs to be more fluid than we allow. We must be okay with tardiness and cancelations, longer meetings and unplanned gatherings, for the Lord often orchestrates such beautiful adjustments to our plans. The reason we sometimes miss those opportunities to be obediently present is because we feel pressures – occasionally from the external expectations of others, other times because of internal pressures of how we want to be perceived. But shouldn’t we be able to do the right thing without worrying about how it might be seen?

As a pastor that serves in high school ministry I must say that spring and early summer are not ideal times for getting away. As a parent of three kiddos that currently are in their baseball and soccer seasons, I can easily say that it is an even more cluttered calendar that what I have professionally. Our children have games pretty much every weekend, and our high school summer camp is less than a week away as I type this. Because of that, many might suggest that our timing was poor, for look at all that needs to be done. And that’s precisely my point.

Take the specifics out of our story and consider your own rhythm for a moment. When is it good to get away? When is it financially ideal to spend time and money to be gone? Isn’t there always something? Lord willing, the floodwaters will dissipate and our children will have more ball games in the not-so-distant future. Hopefully, we have worked hard enough on camp stuff to do a week of intentional ministry well. But if not, it will be okay. It will all be alright. I’m not a big enough deal to thwart the plans of the Lord. There is nothing at work so important that it deserves all my free time. There is nothing that can only be done by me. I know that. Even if you’ve never met me, you know that. But don’t we often live contrary to this truth that we realize about ourselves? Don’t we sometimes live like the world will stop spinning if we take a break?

Ok…maybe it’s just me. Anyway, this is my point. I needed to hit the reset button. I needed to reconnect with my wife. It was good for my wife and I to be able to spend some undistracted days together in conversation without any time constraints. We needed to together repent of our busyness. We needed to invest in our individual walks of faith, as well as our marriage, for when we are right with God and each other, we parent better, we serve in His strength, and we are more focused on glorifying Him in the day-to-day activities of life.

This writing is not to justify our trip, for I have only One to answer to concerning that. This blog is not typed out to speak of “oh how busy we are,” for all of us are. Busyness is no badge of honor but something to be pitied, especially when it distracts us from daily seeking our Savior. No, I write this to ask you whether or not you feel a similar tension in your spirit? Do you long to be more purposeful in life yet struggle to know where to start? Do you sense that you are indispensible at work or that a more moderate pace would somehow be devastating? Is your job worth all your energy and effort? Does your family deserve more than your leftovers? More importantly, are you called to give them more than the depleted battery version of yourself? Is there any time for your friends? Have you any margin for others outside of your tight-knit circle?

I’m not at a breaking point nor am I questioning my call to the gospel ministry. I’m not in a bad place at all. I’ve just been convicted about how I’ve neglected my first priorities as a husband and father. Wouldn’t it be horrible for me to be seen as this great guy by most everyone at the church and as an absentee, grumpy, short-tempered, dude at home? I don’t think that’s where I am. Lord willing, that will never be our story. But I know this: without God graciously allowing us to evaluate where we are, without Him mercifully sustaining us, without His providential hand of guidance, I could easily be drawn astray. As the old hymn states, “prone to wander, Lord I feel it.”

My prayer is that whether at home or work, fulfilling our schedule or deviating from the original plans, that we’d be found faithfully, obediently doing His will, right where we need to be. Well, I’ve spent long enough on this topic for my day off, so I’m gonna return to my family now. Be encouraged and enjoy the rest of this Memorial Day!

Matt Fowler
Assoc. Pastor of Missions & Students
matt@nbchurch.info
@fattmowler

What our shadows say...

It is my understanding that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning and headed back inside. While I’m not necessarily excited about the idea of another six weeks of winter, I’m not discouraged either. For I’ve lived in Oklahoma long enough to know that our weather is pretty hard to predict – even for the most meteorologically well-studied of rodents. But on this significant holiday (please tell me you smell my sarcasm), I’d rather talk about another shadow…your shadow.

When you see your shadow, is it a long shadow? Is it a small silhouette? Is it even visible? Well, obviously that’s dependent upon other factors – time of day, cloud cover, lighting, etc. However, today I’m asking about a different shadow; I’m referring to your spiritual shadow. Allow me to explain.

For one to have a long shadow, the sun needs to be setting lower in the sky. As where a noonday sun that shines directly overhead, results in a much smaller shadowy representation. So then, spiritually speaking, describe your shadow. Does your shadow make you appear as a giant, or like one that’s simply under the power of our universe’s central star? Or to ask it another way, is the sun (Son) high in its (His) rightful place or positioned for a quickly approaching dusk?

Yes, I know this is a unique way of asking, possibly even silly. Yet I contend that our answer to such goofiness can be quite telling. Are we making much of us, or much of Him? Let’s consider this together: if you are bigger (long shadow), then remember this shadow is only a mirage. For you and I are not imposing! We are not as big as we appear. In fact, if we see ourselves as big, then the sunlight we have is fading and darkness is drawing nigh. I believe the illustration is not lost on this point, for when we increase – when we are center – when we begin to notice and believe in the false illusion of ourselves, we take our eyes off the True Light and we become vulnerable to darkness.

But let’s not quit there… When our shadow is minimal, the Giver of Light is high, exalted, and over all. In these times, we rarely even pay attention to our shadow for our gaze is out in front of us – looking to the field we’ve been called to labor in. In this scenario, it is not about us, but the world we’ve been allowed to see through the gracious illumination of the Spirit.

And in hopes of exhausting this word picture let’s contemplate something even better. We’ve established that smaller is more desirable because it makes much of Christ and little of us. Nevertheless, even better than our shadows being barely observable is for them to not exist at all. How does Phil (the Groundhog, not our Pastor) know that spring is coming? Well, according to folklore, he doesn’t see his shadow, for it is covered by the much larger shadow created by the clouds. In the same way, growth, refreshing, and newness – our spiritual spring draws close as our shadows disappear. Yes, when we are positioned beneath the much larger shadow of the cross, we decrease. Better than that, “self”, completely evaporates. We are not scorched by the overwhelming heat of the all-powerful One that is looking down on us, but rather sheltered under the finished reconciliatory work of His cross. We walk in the shadow of His grace and mercy. We work in the cool of His shade. The only shadows we see point us back to our great King of Kings.

In closing, I acknowledge that there are sunny days, long afternoon shadows, and times of merciful cloud cover. But friend, we must ask ourselves another important question: what do we long for? That is to say, what do we truly desire? Do we want to look bigger, appear as more? Is our focus to make much of us, or much of Christ? Is it our hope to see God in His rightful place – high and exalted, shining over all, granting shadows that turn own attention and affections heavenward, causing us to cease striving in our own strength, glorying in the covering of the cross?

Oh, may our theology not be focused on us; may our hope not be misplaced. Father, help us see our desperate condition yet the Savior’s perfect provision; might we recognize our helpless state, even so, Your amazing grace. May our shadows say nothing praiseworthy of ourselves, but sweetly sing of Your great Gospel!

Matt Fowler
NBC Family Pastor of HS
@fattmowler

Why you should go see Selma...

Last Monday my wife and I went to watch the recently released movie, Selma. Now, I could write you a brief review and talk about all the reasons that we liked it. I could give you a rating based on a number of stars or thumbs up, but plenty of others, far more qualified than I, have already done that. What I'd like to do today is give you a short list of reasons why I recommend you go watch this film.

1)     It’s timely. Not because today is MLK Day and not because Black History Month is up next, but because the message it offers speaks to our nation right now. Despite the fact that the events depicted in the film occurred nearly 50 years ago, evidence of racism and corruption persist today. Granted, we have come a long way, but clearly we still have a distance to travel. Selma illustrates the labor, toil, and unity necessary to bring about change. It does not happen at one’s convenience; it is not a simple process; sacrifices shall be made if such lofty goals of justice and equality are to ever be fully realized. The film portrays this well and during a time that such a message needs to be heard.

2)     It’s about OUR history. While the movie’s central figure is Martin Luther King, the story is much bigger than him. And this movie is not about Black History but our history – American History. Watch the film, then follow up with some research of your own. This was a sad time in our nation’s history, but ignoring it does not make it any less true. Meanwhile, embracing it for what it was and seeking to understand the forces behind the events might just aid in avoiding such atrocities in the future.

3)     We need to talk about Selma. We need to talk about Ferguson. We need to have conversations about our history – how far we’ve come and how much further we’ve still yet to go. We need to dialogue about the issues that have divided, as well as the ones that are currently causing friction. But as we pursue this, we must do so with an eye on gospel reconciliation. As believers, we must maintain a focused determination to seek an understanding of one another. We must desire authentic unity and work tirelessly toward that goal. And before we can ever walk in genuine peace, we must first be able to talk about and discuss these difficult matters at hand.

4)     There are many sweet pictures of the Gospel. I cannot go into them all here for I want you to go see this movie for yourself. However, I will share one of my favorite themes from Selma. The film highlighted Martin’s need for encouragement. Not only was he taking on the violent, racist authorities of the South in a peaceful, non-violent way, but he had other problems to deal with as well. Martin had some trouble at home, things beyond the normal threats his family had grown accustomed to. There were also divisions among the blacks that had to be addressed. Although these men and women were working toward the same goal, they were not always on the same page. Their methods varied and as a result, conflict came about. Can you imagine how tiring it must have been? King was exhausted and fearful that he could not finish his race. Thankfully, he had a Barnabas or two in his corner to offer up truth when his flesh was weak. Folks, we need a community of friends in the faith that can encourage us to endure this good fight we’ve been called to. The movie truly captures this well.

5)     At the end of the day, racial issues are Gospel issues. Our only hope of finding healing lies at the foot of the cross. If we can meet there, hand in hand, as brothers and sisters in Christ, perhaps there we can find the healing our nation so desperately needs. There we can finally see each other as fellow image bearers of the King. There we will discover God-ordained equality and realize the beauty of our differences; we can experience the growth and development of churches ready to prepare us for the glorious diversity that will one day be enjoyed in heaven. At the foot of the cross we will finally see racial lines and hindrances disappear; we can learn to love and listen and empathize with one another. We can seek the Spirit’s power to be longsuffering; we can find the fortitude to stand with each other, even if we stand to gain nothing more than freedom for a friend; for a cause of rejoicing in him, truly is enough.

Many of us acknowledge that there is much brokenness and great need for healing in regard to racial reconciliation. We often wonder what we can do to make a difference. I’m not certain that I know the answer, but I assume that it will take doing something. We cannot sit back and wait for the opportunities to come to us. We must pray for wisdom, for guidance and discernment, then make a plan to get involved in working for a solution. And your entry into this progress may start by simply buying a movie ticket and having a conversation.

Matt Fowler - NBC Family Pastor of HS
@fattmowler