Life Together in an Election Year

The election season of 2012 will be starting in earnest with a primary election on August 14. As a pastor I am compelled to propose some agreements that would guard the unity of the Spirit within the Church as we move through this election season.


I begin with these words from the Apostle Paul to the church at Ephesus:

“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:1-6

Paul reminds us who follow Jesus that our primary identity and allegiance is to our one Lord who is “above all and through all and in all.” That means that we are first Christian brothers and sisters, united in Christ, before we are Republicans, Democrats, Independents or Americans. Our identity as children of God transcends all those other identifiers. It is important to remember that all the time, but particularly during an election season.

It is important to remember that there are faithful Christians in your church who will be voting for different candidates. There is no single candidate or party that will be “the Christian candidate or party.” There are issues that are important to us as Christians that each candidate and party will seek to address in different ways. And it will be important for us to prayerfully consider how these philosophies, if carried out in our nation’s laws, will make for a more just world that reflects the Kingdom of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

With this in mind, I propose that we live by these agreements out of love for God and one another, and for the sake of our Christian witness in the world.

I agree to have one on one conversations whenever possible with people who disagree with me, and I will “seek first to understand before being understood” (expressing the humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love that Paul speaks of). This means I will resist the temptation to participate in emotionally charged arguments via email, Facebook or blog comments. Instead, I will meet face to face for conversation whenever possible.

I agree to pray for the unity of the church as Christ prayed for the unity of the church in John 17. This is not a prayer that everyone would think the same, vote the same, etc. It is that we would give our allegiance to our one Lord and remember at the end of the day that our unity comes from our being Children of God rather than having an affiliation with a particular political party.

I agree to be responsibly engaged through study, dialogue and prayerful participation in the election process. If I am not registered to vote, I will get registered and participate. (Click here to register to vote).

I agree that if someone does not want to talk about politics I will respect that out of love for my brother or sister in Christ.

I agree not to make personal attacks or accuse another brother or sister in Christ of being unchristian for their political convictions. This includes agreeing not to post vitriolic messages, articles or comments through email, Facebook, Twitter or blogs. There is a way to have passionately held convictions without being mean spirited and accusing people of being evil. Remember that God doesn’t make evil people. We can all be complicit with evil without realizing it. Remember Jesus’ prayer? “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” That applies to all of us at times. The power Jesus gives us to resist evil is to first surrender to God ourselves through confession of our own sin and secondly through self-giving service and love. This is the way Jesus disarmed evil (see Colossians 2:15).

Understand that you will not hear support for a particular candidate from your pastors or church staff. But that does not mean we will not participate fully in the election. Our calling is not to advocate for a particular political candidate, but to proclaim the gospel of Christ and to equip the church for Christian service in the world. We fully recognize that there are faithful Christian men and women at Spring of Life who will vote for candidates from every party.

Out of love for God and one another, and for the sake of our Christian witness in the world, I will agree to live in this way and be held accountable for it by my brothers and sisters in Christ.

How about you?

Generosity in July

When Spring of Life Church started ten years ago Carolyn and I met with a group of about 15 people from other churches who either lived in the Lake Nona area or just had a desire to help start a new church. We were entirely dependent financially upon the generosity of Christians from other United Methodist Churches since the 15 of us couldn’t financially support the church’s start up. Other churches had faithfully taught their people how to manage money God’s way – staying out of debt, saving for emergencies and giving 10% or more of their income for God’s work in the world. Because other churches taught their people that this is normal for followers of Jesus, Spring of Life Church was born. Obviously money wasn’t the only thing necessary to start Spring of Life, but without Spirit-led people who had been faithful stewards of what God had given them, no one would be calling Spring of Life their church home today.


Christians from other churches paid $350,000 in 1998 for the 15 acres of property our church building is on. Christians from other churches gave us about $400,000 during our first four years as a church to purchase equipment, pay for staff, rent for worship space and outreach ministries. Christians from other churches gave us over $200,000 for building costs and mortgage support during our first year in the building. That is nearly a million dollars of support from Christians in other churches that helped Spring of Life get her start.

As Spring of Life began to grow and become a church that was sustained financially by the people at the church, I had this nagging question. Will we be the kind of church that teaches people how to manage their money God’s way so that one day other churches and ministries will benefit? Will there be a new church pastor who will go to their mailbox in the future and pull out a check for $35,000 written by a person who learned to manage their money God’s way at Spring of Life? (That happend to us, by the way.) Will orphan children in Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya be empowered and equipped to become secure, confident, self-sufficient and mentor one another as a result of generous gifts from people who learned to manage money God’s way at Spring of Life? Will you become increasingly free from financial burdens so that you can know the joy of giving like never before? I hope the answer is yes!

This is why Spring of Life Church keeps offering the Financial Peace University Course. We believe that when God gets hold of our heart we want to give generously to God’s work in the world. The problem so often is that people are over committed and over extended financially. As a culture we continue to spend more than we have. We are enslaved to debt, and we cannot be the kind of generous people God created us to be. Those who have gone through the Financial Peace University Course are slowly changing that culture.

125 people have gone through FPU at Spring of Life, and 82 of those are regular participants at Spring of Life. While this is an ongoing process, those people have the tools to eliminate debt, live on a budget within their means and therefore plan generosity into their way of life.

Here is where this work makes a difference. When I find out about needs in our church and community Spring of Life is in a position to respond. For example, one family in our church is caring for a sick parent. They needed a wheelchair ramp to get her out of the house and couldn’t afford to have it built. Two guys stepped forward to build it, and the generous financial giving we have seen this July (up significantly over last July) gave the Church the ability to purchase the materials for the ramp. Another woman called the church and shared that her 4 year old son had been diagnosed with cancer and she had missed work in order to take him to the doctor. She couldn’t cover the weeks stay at the hotel they are living in because she fled an abusive relationship. Because of your generosity in July we were able to help her through this difficult spot and refer her to Hailey’s Hopes and Hugs foundation that helps families with children battling cancer.

Last July I would have had to turn down both of those opportunities to bless those families in a practical way. Thank you for your generosity in July. I hope you sense the joy of sharing in the Lord’s work in this way. Keep up the great work you have begun!

And let me challenge you to pass on what you have learned by considering leading an FPU class at Spring of Life. All the materials are new. Dave Ramsey has shortened the course to 9 weeks, updated the course videos and it is better than ever! Please pray about stepping up and being a leader in this area. One of the marks of a disciple of Jesus is not just what you accomplish, but what others accomplish because of you. Email me if you will consider being a course facilitator.

Still dreaming of what the people of God could do for the kingdom of God if they were debt free!

God is a Runner

This morning while running through my neighborhood I passed a home with the front door open and the sounds of a man and woman arguing coming from within. Honestly it made me want to pick up the pace. Who wants to be around a heated domestic dispute, right?


As I ran on past that house the thought came to mind. God is a runner. Only, God runs toward the world’s greatest pain rather than away from it.

It always comes up when our lives are touched by tragedy. Columbine, September 11, Tsunami, Earthquake, Cancer, now Aurora . . . in addition to sadness, anger and fear, in every instance there is that nagging question, “Where was God?” Some conclude that it’s proof that God is make believe at best or doesn’t give a rip at worst. Others say, “Who can understand what God does! We just have to accept it by faith.”

None of those responses takes into account the major storyline of the New Testament, God became flesh and dwelt among us. (For my pastor friends who think running is a worthless activity that shortens your life, I just have to point this out.) God is a runner!

In Jesus, God runs toward the world’s greatest pain, not away from it.

If the crucifixion of Jesus tells us anything, it tells us that God is running toward the world’s greatest pain and not away from it.

Think about that for a minute. God is running toward the world’s greatest pain, toward your greatest pain.

The exact place where you think God has said to you, “That’s it, you’re on your own.” That’s what God is running toward. Your arguments with your spouse, your divorce, your sexual sin, your love of violence, your victimization, your hatred for others, your dishonest businesses practices, your addictive behavior that you try to keep secret, your feelings of inadequacy and your pride of self-sufficiency.

Why in the world would God want to run toward that stuff? This is the mystery of the good news of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul put the answer this way in his letter to the Corinthian church. “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself . . .” 2Corinthians 5:19

Apparently this is what God wants most – reconciliation. He wants it enough to run toward the world’s greatest pain - the places where division seems impossibly more powerful than anything else in the world.

What could possibly defeat the proud and painful divisions that we experience in this world? Christians are foolish enough to say Jesus.

Interestingly, Jesus way of reconciling the world to himself isn’t by pontificating platitudes. He doesn’t do it with shaming lists of “thou should” and “thou shalt nots.” He doesn’t reconcile the world to himself through violence and vengeance. Nor does he do by distancing himself from the pain of our lives until we figure out how to get our act together and come to him. Jesus way of reconciling the world to himself is by running toward the pain. Becoming flesh. Bearing the weight of our evil in himself on the cross.

Of course, as I continued running past the arguing couple in that house the thought occurred to me, “How will the world know that God runs toward the world’s greatest pain if His Body here on earth keeps running from it?” (ouch! Forgive us Lord when we, your body here on earth, run away from the world’s pain).

Paul continues his letter to the Corinthians by saying God has “entrusted the message of reconciliation to us.” Translation: "You are called to be a runner too." As Christ’s body on earth, the Church is called to run toward the world’s greatest pain.

What do we do when we get there? I don’t know. . . How about break bread? Confess our sin. Offer forgiveness. Ask forgiveness. Suffer with those who suffer. Share what we've been given. Place our trust in the Original Runner who trusted God in the face of death and rose from the dead victoriously. Embody Christ and His hope in the midst of the world’s greatest pain.

Run with Christ toward the world’s greatest pain. That is right where God already is.

Dehydrated?

It is as hot as it gets in Central Florida these days. It is estimated that 75 percent of Americans are chronically dehydrated already. We aren't getting enough water on a regular basis to keep our bodies working like they should.

Considering water is the second most important nutrient to the human body next to oxygen, this is not good. The body is made up of about 70 percent water, which plays a vital role in nearly every bodily process; water is essential for proper digestion and circulation, numerous chemical reactions, nutrient absorption, waste elimination and flexibility of the blood vessels.

This week the triathlon team coach at the YMCA gave everyone on the team a "come to Jesus" speech about staying hydrated this summer. One of the guys on the team got dehydrated and had a heat stroke. He is ok, but his recovery is going to take months and he very well could have died. The summary of her speech is, "Drink regularly." She said it is not only important to drink during a workout, but also before and after. And you shouldn't wait until you are thirsty.

Now the pastor in me can't help making a connection to our spiritual life in all this. First of all, Jesus is our source of "Living Water" according to John 4. And I wonder how many of us feel "spiritually dehydrated" because we only drink from this Living Water occasionally, not at all, or only during our worship "workout" on Sundays? It's great that you are drinking that Living Water on Sundays, but you're going to continue being spiritually dehydrated if you don't drink regularly, before and after worship on Sunday.


Being a disciple of Jesus isn't just about going to worship occasionally or bargaining wtih God to get something we want from God. Being a disciple is regularly following Jesus and drinking regularly of His Living Water so that we become who God created us to be. The goal is to be so regularly hydrated with this Living Water that we begin to love the things God loves.

I challenged everyone in worship last week to consider the last time you made the time to encounter the love of God in Jesus. Seriously, how long has it been? That is the only thing that will truly satisfy us in this world that is chronically spiritually dehydrated.

If you are vacationing this summer, do not neglect your spiritual life. Do not take a vacation from worship. Do not take a vacation from meeting with God in reading the Scriptures. And if you've never done it before, start this summer with one of the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Set an appointment wtih God everyday to meet Him and be hydrated by Him. Try the "You Version" app if you have one of those fancy devices. Or ditch the device and go old school - open The Book.

It is dangerous and foolish to not drink regularly in this heat. It just takes some awareness and planning to do it. The same is true for spiritual hydration.


I love the picture of the person handing off water to the runners in the race. It reminds me of the communal nature of our lives both physically and spiritually. Jesus might love you personally, but he never made you to follow him privately. Staying spiritually hydrated isn't possible without a community who will encourage you, hold you accountable and at times give you a "come to Jesus" speech about drinking more reguarly.

Drink well and often this summer (and throughout the year!)