Pay it Forward

State Bank and Trust in Fargo, ND gave their employees a really cool Christmas gift. You can read about it here and watch the video. Basically they gave their employees $1000 ($500 for part-time employees) and a video camera. The employees can’t spend the money on themselves, their family, or other families at the bank. They have to “pay it forward” to people in the community. They were also asked to video tape their good dead. Wow! What a great and original idea. As I thought about what the bank had done it kind of reminded me of Jesus. Didn’t He do the something, ask his disciples to “pay it forward”? I know when I get a Christmas bonus I immediately think of what I can do for myself or my family. I never really think about paying it forward. Most Christians are the same way when they receive God’s grace. Just like a Christmas bonus, God’s grace isn’t something we earn or should expect. It’s a gift from God. Unfortunately, Christians and the church don’t feel it their responsibility to “pay God’s grace forward”. Once they’ve got it they do very little to tell others about it. Jesus, right before He ascended into heaven, told the disciples to “pay it forward”.

One of the things that keep me going a lot of the time is watching the baptisms that happen at our church. It’s cool that we tape all of them and show them on occasion. It helps us all refocused our attention on what we’re here for. Our church is doing it’s best to pay it forward (and we have much room for improvement), and we’re video taping it. So I guess the bank’s idea isn’t so original after all. I think it would have been cool if Jesus had given the great commission to the disciples and then handed them video cameras. I can just hear them all saying “Is the red light on?”

Official Proclamation

On this day, December seventeenth in the year of our Lord two thousand and seven, and from hence forth Andrew Marshall shall be referred to as "The Fleet Footed Beast”.

This past Saturday Andrew proved himself a worthy adversary on the grid iron. When I discovered that he was a soccer player I initially found myself loosing a littler respect for Andrew. Soccer is generally reserved for lesser men. Pansies if you will. The French play soccer, enough said. Then, after shedding his cowboy hat and boots, Andrew took the field in his bare feet. The day was cold and rainy, yet Andrew was the complete opposite. I’m not sure if was pent-up up aggression, or perhaps he is not as delicate a flower as I once thought, but Andrew released the beast. Running, tackling and chasing down everyone. As the game continued everyone found a new respect and fear for Andrew.

Here’s to you, Andrew “The Fleet Footed Beast” Marshall. I look forward to our next contest.

P.S. I still think soccer players are pansies.

Crank That Kosha Boy

So today my family and I are having a Christmas outing. We’re going out to eat and then doing the whole Santa thing. We go to the same mall and see the same Santa every year. It’s really fun. Anyway, today we’re going to eat at a place called The Real Chow Baby. And let me say, this is one of the best places in Atlanta. It’s a stir fry restaurant with a twist. You go through a line and pick out what you want (rice, noodles, veggies, meat, sauces, spices, etc.) and then they cook it right there and bring it to your table. The best part is it’s ALL YOU CAN EAT. For someone like me it’s AWSOME. I love Asian food and I love to eat a lot. It’s a match made in heaven. So being the king of odd comparisons, I thought about our church in relation to an all you can eat buffet. It’s sad, but I get really excited when I’m at a buffet. There are few things in the food world I get as pumped about. I have endless choices, endless plates and if I don’t leave full then it’s my own fault. Having grown up in a traditional church I can truly appreciate what our church does week after week. There are few things in the world that I get pumped up for as much as church. I have endless opportunities of areas to serve, I have endless opportunities to meet new people (5 this past Sunday), and if I leave and haven’t felt the presence of God it’s my own fault. God is alive and working in our church. Over the last two weeks I’ve seen six of our teenagers (and about 20 adults) accept Christ and baptized. I even had the privilege of doing three of them. I can remember growing up and going to church but not being excited about going. Kind of like getting a dry ham sandwich instead of a buffet. I’ll eat the sandwich, but I ain’t gonna brag about it. Our church is my spiritual buffet. Ok, that sounded kind of dumb. But to my fellow buffet eaters you know exactly what I’m talking about. I love to brag about it!

Man, has the church screwed up!

I received an e-mail from a woman that has a teenage son that is homosexual. She saw our church’s web site and thought it seemed like a neat place. She wanted to know if her teenage son would be accepted. In light of her question all I could think was “Man, has the church screwed up!” We’ve taken the sin of homosexuality and put it in a different category then any other sin. No one ever ask me if we would have a problem accepting their son that lies. But people automatically assume the church would treat a homosexual as an outcast. And they are right. We would! Shouldn’t the church be the FIRST place people feel comfortable? If we truly lived out what Jesus taught wouldn’t parents sit at home a worry about their kids going to school or work and breathe a big sigh of relief when there kid goes to church. Homosexuality is a sexual sin just like premarital sex; lust and masturbation are sexual sins. In God’s eyes they are not different. The church has just put homosexuality in a different classification of sin. God doesn’t “hate fags” as so many street corner preachers like to say. God hates SIN. I answered this woman and told her that her son would be loved and accepted, but that we do view homosexuality as a sin. But that we do not treat it any different then any other sin. She couldn’t agree so I don’t think they will visit. So now, because we, the church, have done such a poor job of extending love to homosexuals there is a young man out there that may never know that Jesus died for him. He’ll never know that there is a better way to live. And by “better way to live” I don’t mean not being gay. I mean not living in sin. All sin separates us from God. The church has just decided that homosexuals, for some reason, are just extra far away, with no hope for return. I guess it will be a bunch of middle class straight white people in heaven. Oh boy. That sounds like fun!

Cool Christmas Song

I still get overwhelmed by how God uses a bunch of messed up people to do His work. Sometimes I get so focused on “task” that I forget to just let God use me. Well he most certainly used me this past Sunday. As I and Kelly Whisenhunt lead our Sunday morning small group, or “My Girls” as I call them (we vary rarely have any guys in our group, maybe one or two) we began our discussion on baptism. Based on information we had collected in the past we thought everyone in the group that morning had already been baptized. But as we went around the room we discovered that one young lady had not. It was at that moment that God really began to work. As we started into the lesson and came to some scripture reading this young lady was adamant about doing all the reading. She grabbed the Bible and started to read several passages related to baptism. As we talked about each one this very smart young women, who loves Jesus, realized that maybe baptism was the next step for her. Kelly and I had decided to head over for the end of second service so we could see everyone who getting baptized (the adults were teaching on baptism and giving people the opportunity to come forward). Of course we were both hoping she would decide to get baptized right then, but we didn’t want to pressure her into doing it. We decided to see what God would do. Anyway, we walked in toward the end of Jason’s message. He was talking about how the Bible talks about if we recognize Jesus here on earth He will acknowledge us in front of God, but if we reject Him, He will reject us in front of God. Then we went into an awesome song. Then this young lady leaned over to me, and with the innocence of a child, said “Mr. Kelley, will you baptize me today.” That, my friends, is why I do what I do. I love to speak in front of people and organize and plan wacky youth events. But for me, all that is worthless if they don’t lead teenagers to Christ. In all 19 people were baptized this past Sunday. I think God is really happy. I know I am, because now I know I’ll have at least one more friend with me in Heaven.