MOVING FORWARD - pastor mike landry

It's been a couple weeks since my last entry to this blog. Sorry about that if you're a regular reader. My plate has been a little fuller than normal. I've not had the time or the words to adequately describe the events up to this point. But none of the events have been so exciting, so fulfilling, so captivating, so life-changing as my daughter's wedding. My baby, Michelle, just got married over the weekend!

I'm a dad who has loved this season of life. There's nothing that Cindy and I have enjoyed more than spending time with our kids. Watching them grow up and develop into young adults who are so very different from each other has been amazing. Yet the variety and differences have added so much fun to the adventure; not to mention the stories that have become legendary to our family. An added blessing has been to see how each sibling has been a vital part of the development of each other’s progress. They actually seem to like each other and want to be vital part of each other’s future. Nothing has blessed Cindy’s heart and mine more than that.

But now, things are changing for us. Our kids have gotten married. Michelle was the last one to tie the knot. We knew it coming, but, for me, the thought of marrying off my daughter was not so easy.

I’ve had to entrust my girls to these “guys” who have not been part of our adventure up to this time. As my friend, Jay Strack, told me, “It’s like giving a Stradivarius Violin to an 800-pound gorilla.” I couldn’t agree more. I’ve always been the provider and protector of my girls. It’s tough thinking about passing that responsibility on to somebody else…much less, an 800-pound gorilla.

However, I’ve had a chance to get to know these “guys” very well and am amazed at how much they care for and love my daughters. In fact, it even appears that God made them for my girls. That’s really helped me to make it through this time of transition. To give my daughters away, I’m having to trust God. That should be easy…but it’s not.

But I did it; and was able to make it through the wedding. The hardest part of the wedding was saying, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” I knew the moment I did that, there was no turning back. It was one of the happiest moments for me, but also, one of the saddest. No turning back. My role was changing.

Now, I’ve got another son-in-law, Nathan Schneider. He’s a very good friend of my other son-in-law, Steve Browning. My son, Jason, is also a friend of theirs. It sounds like a conspiracy. But I’ve come to believe it’s a “conspiracy of grace.” The Lord knew what I needed. Instead of losing another daughter, I’ve gained another son. The adventure is not over, but rather continuing with 3 new pioneers (two “guys” and a daughter-in-law named Amanda) to share the excitement with.

I am blessed. My wife and I are extremely blessed. My three kids have now become six. And I’m being told by many that it may result in many more… called grandkids. Talk about scary. And I thought giving away a daughter was life-changing. ☺

"God said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness...For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor 12:9-10

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how often our sincere devotion to God easily morphs into simply a performance or an act. The practice of a spiritual discipline can easily become a mindless routine. Worship is often reduced to simply the singing of a song or listening to a sermon. It can become a matter of form rather than substance.

You’ve heard that our worship should be for an audience of One. Unfortunately, the performance may be for an audience of one – but which one? Spiritual leaders are especially susceptible to this temptation.

A couple millennia ago, the Greeks and the Romans were into drama. Often a drama would start with a character called the narrator. He would open the play with a monologue and then place a mask over his face and become an actor in the drama. The word that described this actor was, “Hypocrite.”

Spiritually devoted followers of Jesus must always be careful not to fall into the trap of simply going through the motions. It is so easy to put on the mask and act like everything is just fine between you and God. Literally, that’s called hypocrisy.

Devotion requires the heart. Spiritual growth cannot be manipulated simply by improving the “sound byte.” But it is so easy to merely reproduce what worked the first time and think that reproducing the form or sound is good enough.

I think you got the point. So here’s an overly simplistic solution that I’ve found helpful in taking off the mask. More details are to come in my Sunday Morning message on July 12 on Matthew 6:1-8. You can listen anytime after the 12th at www.SarasotaBaptist.com.

DEVOTION PREVENTION TIPS:

1. DEPENDENCY – Be alert to your desire for the approval and praise of others. Choose to live only for the approval and praise of Jesus Christ!

2. DETERMINATION – Be committed to doing what the Bible terms as acts of devotion (or righteousness). i.e. giving to the poor, praying, fasting.

3. DIRECTION – Head in the right direction by daily denying your fleshy demands and live to honor and obey God by serving others.

4. DEDICATION – Make sure your prayers reflect your relationship with God. Don’t allow them to become magical incantations or simply expressions of your theological knowledge.

5. DESIRE – Pursue God, not His blessing.

Matthew 6:1-8 NASB

1“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

3 “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

6 “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.

8 “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Labels: devotion, hypocisy, spiritual disciplines

I love this holiday - Independence Day. I've always been intrigued by our nation's beginning and have devoured many books related to the Revolutionary War and biographies of our Founding Fathers.

As a child, who wasn't raised in a Christian home, I tried to imagine what life would have been back then. It always puzzled me as I read about these heroes of mine and how they endured such hardship and risks. Their faith always seemed to sustain them and guide them. I couldn't relate to their beliefs but certainly couldn't deny them.

It's interesting that many, these days, would have us believe that our nation's early leaders were able to separate their personal spiritual views from their prescription for governmental policies. Our Forefathers are accused of approaching the beginning of our Republic, called the United States of America with a secular worldview. I've come to think that those who would make such claims are either uninformed, unread, or deliberately attempting to rewrite history.

To understand the Christian faith is to know that you cannot separate one's belief in God from his prescription for life, nor his lifestyle. In fact, the New Testament nails that truth when it says in James 2:14-17 that "faith without works is dead." One who can separate his prescription for life from his faith is at best a hypocrite.

Our most precious national documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are saturated with references to God and the importance of faith. These documents affirmed and built on the timeless and eternal truths of God and revealed in Scripture. How else could one honestly interpret this phrase in the Declaration of Independence?

"all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Or how about George Washington's farewell speech on September 19, 1796:

"It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible. Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, our religion and morality are the indispensable supporters. Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that our national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

I thank God that our Forefathers were not ashamed to be known as men of faith. Their knowledge of the God of the Bible and His ways made a huge difference in the beginnings of our nation.

One more thing. For those who wonder or would debate whether our first President, George Washington, was a Christian, I encourage you to consider this entry from from his personal prayer book:

"Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the emaculate blood of the lamb and purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of thee and thy son, Jesus Christ."

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Labels: christianity, constitution, George Washington, Independence Day, patriotism