New Year's Resolutions for Christians

As we turn the page from 2019 to 2020, I want to offer some New Year's Resolutions that will help us be better Christians during the New Year. While I offer up these resolutions for 2020, these things should be put into practice every year.

1. Make it a goal to attend the worship services at your local congregation or elsewhere every week of 2020. There are 50 Sunday's in the year 2020. Make it a goal to be present for worship all fifty opportunities. This is not counting the Sunday and Wednesday evening worship services, gospel meetings, Vacation Bible Schools, and singings that can be attended throughout the year. Obviously there will be instances where attendance for all 50 Sunday's might not be attainable due to sickness or other factors beyond your control, but before you decide to skip worship because you are too tired, remember the words of Hebrews 10:25, where we are told "not to forsake the assembly."

2. Make it a goal to better your prayer life in 2020. Everyone can improve their prayer life. As I wrote Monday and back in October, we have to be in the habit of going to God's throne and "wearing God out." This year, make it a habit to use your down time to pray. Prayers don't have to be long and we shouldn't make them long like the Pharisees did in Matthew 23:14. Instead we should be like the persistent widow in Luke 18 and "pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1).

3. Make Bible Study a priority in 2020. What do you do in your down time? Personally I enjoy watching sports (in person or on TV), playing fantasy football, reading, and watching The Andy Griffith Show. As a minister I have the privilege to get to spend the majority of my work days engaged in the study of God's Word. I do this by preparing sermons, Bible Classes, and blogs. Even though I devote most of my time to these things, I still read my Bible outside of sermon or Bible Class prep. I read the Gospel Advocate magazine, I go back and revisit passages from sermons or Bible Classes that I have heard on Sunday's and/or Wednesday's. I challenge you in 2020 to carve out time for Bible Study. When you wake up in the mornings or go to bed at nights, spend less time on social media and instead devote more time to God's Word.

4. Invite friends, co-workers, classmates, and even non-Christian family members to worship. In #1 I said that there are a total of 50 Sunday's in 2020. That's 50 people and 50 opportunities to invite someone to worship (again not counting Wednesday Bible Study, gospel meetings, and Vacation Bible Schools). Jesus tells us in Mark 16:15 to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Are we preaching to others, either by sharing our knowledge of the scriptures or by our actions? Believe it or not, how we behave preaches a sermon that will make non-Christians either want to be apart of what we have, or dismiss us completely.

5. Break down the cliques. One of the biggest things that can kill a church are cliques. Cliques involve a group of people that only do things among themselves. They only sit together during worship, they only eat together, they only go on trips together. I get it, some people just gravitate to certain people better than others, but friends, this will kill churches. This will make people leave the church. We are all trying to get to the same place, there will be no cliques in Heaven, so why do we have them in our churches? The apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 3:14, that as Christians, we are "pressing toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." We are all trying to get to Heaven, instead of doing so with a select group, let's get there together!!

As this year comes to a close, I want to tell you that God loves you, I love you, and the Chestnut Mound church of Christ loves you. I guarantee that if you commit to these five resolutions in 2020, then you will become a much better Christian. This will be the last blog post (written by me at least) for 2019, however our doors are always open on Sunday mornings and evenings. We would love for you to join us for worship. If you're interested in becoming a Christian, we would love to study with you, and if you've fallen back into sin, we'd love to pray for you.

In Him,

Carver Moore

 We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

The Power of Habits

Habits are very powerful things. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, a habit is "a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior." We all have routines that we go through during our day, or our week. Oftentimes if we don't accomplish all we want to during that time span, then we have an empty feeling of incompleteness. Our habits control our thoughts, emotions, and physical actions. Our habits can either hurt us or harm us spiritually and physically. Habits prove that we are human and are simply part of our lives.

A few weeks ago I was presiding over the Lord's Table on a Sunday Evening at the Willow Avenue church of Christ. On Sunday evenings, Willow makes the emblems available to those who weren't able to attend Sunday morning worship. The emblems are placed in a children's classroom and two men preside over them. When it was time to offer thanks for the contribution, I started my prayer of thanks, however instead of saying "Bless the leadership of the Willow Avenue church of Christ as they oversee these funds." I said "Bless the leadership of the Chestnut (I caught myself) as they oversee these funds." I quickly realized that I got the two congregations mixed up and restated what I was trying to say with "Willow Avenue church of Christ." The lesson that I took from this, is that habit is a very strong and powerful thing. When does habit become too powerful and perhaps draw us away from our relationship with God? In today's blog article I ask you to consider the following four Spiritual items and how you can make them habits or better habits in your life.

Habit #1: Church Attendance, How often do we lay our heads down on Saturday nights and dread waking up early the next morning for worship services? How often do we wish the preacher wouldn't be so "long winded" and the songs and prayers were shorter? How often do we decide to stay home and watch the ball game instead of going to church? All of these factors influence our Christian lives, as well as our habits. If we allow ourselves to become conditioned to a point where our church attendance is an afterthought, then it will become hard to reverse that. On the other hand, if we allow ourselves to make it a "habit" to go to bed early, wake up early, and focus yourselves 100% on the worship service, then it will in turn be difficult to reverse that. In Hebrews 10:25, we are told not to "forsake the assembly." Make it a habit to attend worship services every time the doors of the building are open.

Habit #2: Prayer, The most intimate relationship that we can have with God is that of speaking to Him through prayer. Prayer is one of the easiest things to do, but yet we make it harder than it should be. Why is this? I believe that we simply don't make time for it. We live in a world where we are busy all the time. When we get home or to wherever we are going, we don't stop and think to pray. Our prayers don't have to be long and formal, but just a few words of thanks and requests for strength, or anything else on your mind will suffice. One thing that allows me to stop and think about God throughout the day is keeping a few of my favorite Bible verses in the notes app of my phone. I read these throughout the day and it helps me keep things in perspective. I also pray before I go to bed, and in the morning while I either walk or shower, sometimes at both times. The more effort that we put into making prayer a "habit" the easier it will be to "pray without ceasing" I Thessalonians 5:17.

Habit #3: Bible Study, When we need a clearer understanding of something that's going on in our lives, where do we go to find it? Do we turn to a "self help" book, or Google, or turn to the inspired Word of God? How often do we sit down and study God's Word in depth? Does it collect dust on our shelf from Sunday to Sunday? Did you know that the Bible is set up in a way that's easy for us to understand, yet we learn something new every time we read it? Why is it so hard to read and study it daily? Just like with prayer and church attendance, we live in a busy society. Oftentimes we barely have enough time to relax. Why not take those relaxing moments of the day and use them to study the Bible instead of watching TV and/or using your phone? Make it a "habit" to carve out a few minutes of your day to read at least one chapter of the Bible and I can assure you, that you will be blessed as a result. In II Timothy 2:15, we are commanded to "study to show ourselves approved unto God." Study provides us with much needed wisdom and understanding that will make us better, but others as well.

Habit #4: Evangelism, How do churches grow? The answer is simple, we evangelize. We take what we learn from attending worship and our personal Bible study and share it with others. We shouldn't keep this knowledge to ourselves, we should share it with others. I'm 100% confident that everyone reading this comes into contact with a person(s) that does not know God every day. It could be someone you work with, go to school with, the cashier at the gas station or the grocery store. We can share God's world with them directly by inviting them to services, but perhaps the most underrated way to evangelize is to show God by your actions and the way you treat people. A simple smile and a kind word can go a long way. Make this a "habit." In Mark 16:15, Jesus commands us as he's preparing to leave this earth to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." We do this not only by words and doctrine, but also by our actions.

Our habits are very powerful things and can be dangerous at times. We can either use these habits for good or bad. I challenge you this week and especially as we turn the page to 2020, to make sure your habits are spiritually minded. Friends, I love you, the Chestnut Mound church of Christ loves you, and most importantly God loves you. Are you looking to improve your habits in 2020? If so we would love for you to join our family here at Chestnut Mound. We are imperfect Christians, yet we love each other and love you. We would be honored by your presence!!

In Him,

Carver Moore

 We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Take Up Your Cross

In our Bible Class here at Chestnut Mound, we have been doing a chapter by chapter study of the book of Matthew. The past few weeks I have been studying Matthew 16 in preparation for this Sunday's Bible Class period. One thing that I read really struck me. In verse 24, Jesus tells the disciples and us to "deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." At first glance, one would think that Jesus is referring to a physical cross, held together by two pieces of wood. But this is not the case. So what does the cross represent?

The cross represents all the things that we suffer from/with. The cross represents our spiritual and physical suffering. At the time Jesus is saying to "take up your cross," He is a very short time from being crucified on an actual cross for our sins. He is in the process of preparing His disciples for that day. Jesus used imagery frequently to help the people of His time and us today to better understand His teachings. Jesus was about to suffer on the cross for us, and He wants us to remember that we suffer our own "crosses" daily. The question is, what do we do with our crosses?

Humble yourself, or as I like to say, check your ego at the door. Before Jesus said "take up your cross," He said we must "deny ourselves." I see so many people trying to get through life by solving their spiritual and physical problems on their own. They are afraid and ashamed to ask for help. Why is this? Society tells us that we should be "alphas" we should be strong willed and not afraid to "stand on our own two feet." Where does this leave God though? Friends, God is bigger than any amount of "alpha" you think you are. We should not be afraid of admitting to Him that we need His help.

When should we do this? Think about the hardest things in life that you've either been through, or are going through. Do you have it? Now think about Jesus hanging there on the cross for you and me. In John 19, we have perhaps the most detailed account of the death of Jesus of the four gospels. In verse 17, John states that Jesus "bore His cross," as He was being led up to Calvary. In all four of the gospels, we are told that Jesus was nailed to cross, was thirsty and given sour wine to drink, and was mocked as the soldiers divided His clothes and bowed down to Him. I make this comparison to show you that no matter what we face in life, it's not even close to what Jesus did. Notice though that Jesus did indeed bear His cross. Sometimes we have to be humble enough to bear ours.

We are coming to a time of the year where things are winding down. The year 2019 is history and the year 2020 brings new things. Some of these things can be stressful, taxes are due in a few short months, insurance rates are being adjusted, and we are struggling with what to buy our loved ones for Christmas. These things make us want to pull our hair out and lead to a loss of sleep, but these problems pale in comparison to what Jesus went through for us. Next time we complain about something, remember the cross, humble yourself, and bring your cross to Jesus!!

In Him,

Carver Moore

 We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Do You Have a Wonderful Life?

As I write this, Christmas is approximately two weeks and two days away. Christmas themed music is playing, merchants are running ads on TV and the internet trying to get you to buy, buy, buy. In Friday's article I touched on the importance of family and what a great time I had with my grandfather on the day before Thanksgiving. I often feel that we take our family and friends for granted. On Thursday night I took the time to watch my favorite Christmas movie, "It's a Wonderful Life."

For those who have never seen it, the movie was released in 1946 and focuses on a family man named George Bailey. Bailey and his family own and operate the building and loan corporation in the small town of Bedford Falls. The movie begins with all of George's family and friends praying for him on Christmas Eve. The majority of the movie is spent going back in time looking at the impact that George has had on his family, friends, and community. The goal is to acquaint an angel named Clarence with George so that the former can save the latter from taking his life due to a significant financial event involving George, his Uncle Billy, and the building and loan. Throughout Clarence's education on George, he sees the broad impact that George has had on the town of Bedford Falls. George spent most of his child and adult life wanting to see the world and later become a famous architect. But along the way, events in the lives of his family, friends, and even his own prevent him from leaving town and these same events end up changing his life for the better. George is one of those good guys that I believe we can all relate to.

1. How do you respond when things don't go your way in life? One thing that Clarence tells George at the very end of the movie is that "no one is a failure who has friends." We should all respond differently than George did. Do we lean on those around us for strength and support? I think that all to often it is easy to hold things inside and not seek out those we trust for help. Why is this the case? We don't like to show others our weaknesses. This is especially true for guys, but I'm telling you, God puts friends in your life for this reason. I'm lucky to have a few friends, one is married with a newborn baby, a few are engaged, and a few are single. They each are unique in their own ways, and they all are equipped to give advice from a variety of perspectives thanks in part to their life situations. But who's our greatest friend? The answer is Jesus. I love the song entitled "What a Friend we have in Jesus." The lyrics tell us that he will bear all your sins, and griefs, knows our weaknesses, and he considers it a privilege to carry all these things. The song also challenges us to find a friend as faithful as Him. We all have friends that will never leave us no matter what, but Jesus goes beyond even those relationships. I am thankful for the friends that I have and the comfort knowing that they are just a phone call, text, or Facebook message away.

2. Do you ever wish that your life situation was better? Do you ever wish you had a better job, a nicer car, nicer clothes, or a nicer house? Are you like George Bailey and are longing for the day where you can "shake the dust off the town" you're in and go somewhere better? We've all been there. This past year, I spent a ton of time searching for and applying for jobs in the public history field. My goal was to "shake the dust" off Cookeville and the Upper Cumberland as a whole and go to Nashville. Well you probably guessed by know that I didn't get any of those jobs, I'm still in Cookeville and am perfectly happy preaching for the Chestnut Mound church of Christ. Like George Bailey and the building and loan, I have realized that I need Chestnut Mound and Chestnut Mound needs me. Who knows, my career as a public historian may be a facade masking what I am really meant to do with my life. The fact is, that's for God to decide. He does this for both you and me. It's a roller coaster ride for sure, but isn't that the beauty of being a Christian? If it wasn't a roller coaster ride, than what would keep us "desiring the pure milk of the word" (I Peter 2:2)?

As I close this article, I want to leave you with the passage of scripture found in Romans 8:28, Paul tells the church at Rome, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." We don't understand it now, but God is molding our lives everyday to help us fulfill our purpose. I tell the congregation at Chestnut Mound frequently, that we are all a work in progress. Do you ever stop to think about all the people's lives we affect everyday? Clarence told George, "Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?" This holiday season and every season, don't be afraid to ask your friends for help, be thankful for where your life is, and remember that you have the greatest platform of all as a Christian.

In Him,

Carver Moore

 We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Riding Around With My Grandpa

A week ago today (I'm writing this on Wednesday) my grandpa, our good friend that helps him on the farm, and myself set out on a Thanksgiving Eve quest to find some of our Carver ancestors and those connected to them. The Carver family originally settled across the Cumberland River in the Wartrace Community of Jackson County, Tennessee. Our set of Carvers decided to purchase a home and farm across the Cumberland in the small community of Liberty near Granville in 1890. Before this trip I had a rough understanding of where the "older" Carvers were buried, but I had no idea what to expect. We began our mission at 8:30 on Wednesday morning.

The first stop of the day was at a cemetery on the banks of Wartrace Creek. One grave we visited was of a man named McCarver. My grandpa told us that he knew this man when he was my age. I thought to myself, who doesn't he know? Oh if I only knew. The next stop was to an older lady's house. This lady has a cemetery in her yard and my grandparents have known her for years. we visited with her for probably an hour and it was amazing listening to her and my grandpa talk about the old days. After leaving there, we went to a much larger cemetery there in Wartrace. There we found some Carvers and some Huffines (my grandma's descendants). From here, the day got much more interesting. The goal of the day for all three of us was to find the graves of Cornelius Carver (my 5th great-grandfather) and Joseph Rubin Carver (my 4th great-grandfather).

We found Joseph fairly easily, however Cornelius would prove much more difficult. Cornelius and his wife Naomi are buried on the top of a wooded hill. The path to get up there was literally straight up. My grandpa stayed in the Jeep (he had been there before and knew the way to get up there was difficult), while our buddy and I walked up there. We were winded and our legs hurt by the time we reached the cemetery, but boy was it worth the climb to get there. I have heard about Cornelius Carver my entire life and it was surreal to finally visit and get to touch his grave. The rest of the day was spent driving around looking for more Carvers and those connected to them. We found the old house where my 3rd great-grandfather, Samuel Sampson Carver lived before he and his family came across the Cumberland.

Outside of finally getting to visit Cornelius Carver's final resting place, my favorite part of the day was the three of us just enjoying small talk and each other's company while driving around Jackson County. My grandpa told us about riding the ferry across the Cumberland to get to my grandma's house, adventures with one of his buddies, and the three of us also talked about current things that were going on in our lives. The day reminded me of what Thanksgiving and the entire holiday season is really about. I also got a sense of why it is so important to learn from those that are both older and younger than you. I valued everything that those two men discussed and in turn they valued everything that I discussed.

Respect those who are older and younger than you. Believe it or not, older people know more than us younger folks when it comes to just about everything. Teenagers go through the phase of thinking that their parents and grandparents are out of touch and treat them like children. They don't do this because they want to make us feel bad, they do it to make us better and prepare us for adulthood. Older people, you should value the opinions of younger people and offer critiques when needed. Don't treat them like they are ignorant. I remember a really good piece of advice that my grandma gave me a few years ago. My grandpa was giving me a hard time about dating and girls and my grandma spoke up and said "There is no girl in this world, worth losing your soul over, I don't care how pretty she is." Even though she was my age in the 1950s, her advice is still relevant and still sticks with me to this day. I also remember when I first started preaching, I used to run through my sermons really fast. My grandpa told me that afternoon, "Carver, you need to slow down a bit." I still use his advice to this day, and guess what? It makes me less nervous when I get up to preach. In 1 Timothy 5:1-2, we are told how younger people and older people are to behave toward each other. "Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older men as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity." I wouldn't be where I am without so many influences from people both older and younger than me. They push me to keep preaching and teaching God's word and be the best man that I can be. Let's lift each other up, instead of tearing each other down.

As I close, I want to go back to that Wednesday before Thanksgiving. That day was one of the best days of my life. Getting to hang out with my grandpa and our buddy is something I'll remember for a long time and I can't wait for our next adventure together. The life lessons that I have learned and continue to learn from them is second to none. I encourage you to spend time with those who are both older and younger than you. I guarantee that you'll learn something!!

In Him,

Carver Moore

 We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Maintaining Priorities

We all have a lot of things that we enjoy doing. Some people enjoy sports, some enjoy music, others enjoy hunting and fishing. Where do these things rank in our lives? Anyone that knows me, knows that I am a huge Vanderbilt Commodores football, basketball, and baseball, and Atlanta Braves baseball fan. I never miss a game on TV if I can help it, and I try to make a few games each year. However if and when these games conflict with church attendance or preaching, or even family events, I simply push my fandom of those teams to the side. Do you ever find yourself talking more about your hobbies than about God and His church? Do your hobbies influence your life more than God does? I am guilty of this and I see it a lot, especially with the rise of social media.

This past Spring and Summer, my beloved VandyBoys baseball team made a magical run to the College World Series Championship. Along the way, the team recorded a 59-12 record, defeated every team in the Southeastern Conference at least once, and won the SEC's regular season and tournament championships. To say I was excited about this would be an understatement. I wore VandyBoys shirts almost everyday and I still regularly wear my two National Championship shirts. I can't help but think about, what would have happened if I had focused more of my attention away from the VandyBoys to evangelism. I figured out that I could mix the two, by using a lot of VandyBoys illustrations in my sermons and Bible class lessons. Jesus mixed the passions and careers of the Jews by using parables to illustrate his gospel teachings. I would encourage you to use your passions and hobbies as a way of finding common ground with those who are lost. 

I remember when I was in college and younger, I used to let all my emotions ride on how Vandy or the Braves did in a particular game. If they won, I was happy, but if they did not, then watch out, because you did not want to be around me. I would yell at the TV (I confess I still do sometimes), stomp my feet, and sometimes throw things. I would let a loss affect the rest of my day, and would get myself so worked up that I often lashed out at others. It was only after I began preaching at Chestnut Mound and later went through some health scares that I realized that there is more to life than Vandy and the Braves. Next time your team disappoints you, remember these things:

1. Jesus shed His perfect and precious blood for you and me. Matthew 10:28

2. If we follow the plan of salvation, we will have a home with Him in Heaven. John 14:2

3. This Earth will pass away, but His words will last forever. Matthew 10:45, Mark 13:31, and Luke 21:33

What should be our priorities in this life? Three things: God, family, and Christian friends. We only get one shot with each. Make them count, they will be your legacy, not your favorite sports team. We should focus the majority of our time and efforts on those three areas of our life than any other aspect. I love my hobbies, I love going to Memorial Gym, Hawkins Field, or SunTrust Park and watching my teams play, but when it comes between me and the three things I mentioned above, then it's not worth it. I challenge you to watch and keep a tally of how often you talk or post about your favorite sports teams or your hobbies, and then watch and keep a tally of how often you talk or post about God. You might be surprised, I know I was. 

In Him,

Carver Moore

 We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Being Thankful

I don't know about you, but there is one thing that really gets under my skin this time of year. I bet that if you turn on your television and watch for a few minutes you will figure out what I'm thinking of. Did you get it? I hope so, but if not, it's the amount of commercials dealing with Christmas offers for cars, jewelry, furniture, and electronics. It seems that every year as soon as Halloween is over, merchants begin shoving these products down our throats. Sadly we live in a society that's all about buy, buy, buy. We have to have the latest car, latest electronic device, and the latest jewelry. I think our society has lost the point of Thanksgiving and Christmas. What happened to being thankful? What happened to spending time with your families? I have never been Black Friday shopping and I hope I never will be subjected to that madness, but I often wonder, what if everyone that was lining up at the crack of dawn on the Friday after Thanksgiving, were that committed to going to church? All those people knocking other people down to get to the latest "hot item," why can't they all be that excited and determined to come through the doors of the church building? So in a world that tells us to be all about material wealth, how should we act?

1. Remember who you are and who's you are. We are all God's. We were created in His image and bought by the blood of His Son Jesus. How often do we really stop and thank God for the sacrifice of His Son? That sacrifice is greater than any material thing we can purchase. It is the gift that will never go out of style.

2. The Bible commands us to be thankful at all times. I often wonder, why we set aside just one day per year to be thankful for all of life's blessings? Shouldn't we be thankful year round? As part of this writing I searched the word "thanksgiving" in the Bible Gateway app and it returned forty results where the word thanksgiving is found in the scriptures. You still think we should only celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday one day per year? I don't think so. One of the verses that I liked the most is found in Psalm 100:4. It says "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name."

3. Count Your Blessings. I love to sing, I'm horrible at it, but I still like to do it. It pained me to miss the Putnam County Thanksgiving Singing last night as I was dealing with seasonal allergies and was grateful just to get through my sermon at the Mayland church of Christ yesterday morning. One of my many favorite songs is entitled "Count Your Blessings." The song reminds us that "when upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, count your many blessings names them one by one." What we should take from this song is that no matter what we are faced with in life, count your blessings to remind yourself that you are bigger than those problems. As a society today I wish we could get back to this. I challenge you to sit down and write out all the spiritual and material things you are thankful for. Sadly we might have more material things on our list than spiritual things. The joy from material blessings only lasts for a short time, but the spiritual blessings that God gives us will last forever.

Friends, this Thursday and everyday be thankful for the spiritual blessings that you have. We shouldn't just set aside one day in November to "count our blessings." I also challenge those of you that go Black Friday Shopping to ask yourselves, "I'm out here standing in line for this great deal, but would I stand in line to go to church?"

In Him,

Carver Moore

 We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Try a Little Kindness by Clarence Deloach

One of the greatest influences in my ministerial career is Brother Clarence Deloach. He is always there to offer an encouraging word and advice on sermon prep, evangelism strategies, and just ministering to people in general. I have been blessed to be able to preach a few of his sermons and I often use his sermon outlines as templates when making my own. One of my favorite sermons that he has preached and that I later preached was entitled "Try a Little Kindness." The title is taken from one of country music star Glen Campbell's hit songs. In today's article, I'm going to share some thoughts from that sermon.

1. What is kindness? The word "kindness" comes from the root word that means to be useful, good, helpful, or suitable. I Corinthians 3:4 tells us that "Love is kind." Kindness is love in practical and personal ways.

2. Why should we be kind? Because God has been kind to us. He saved us through His lovingkindness. Titus 3:4-5 tells us "But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." Jesus' coming to this world is God's kindness. Ephesians 4:32 tells us that we should "Therefore be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." Paul tells the church at Ephesus that we have received kindness from Jesus, so we should show kindness to Him and others in return. How else will the world see Christ in us?

3. When should we be kind? Paul tells us in Galatians 6:10 "As we have opportunity, let us do good." Opportunities will come for us to be kind, but oftentimes we let those opportunities slip away. Consider the story of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37. The man had his opportunity to be kind or not. He stopped, he helped that man. He offered no excuses. All around us today are opportunities to be like the Samaritan man. There are people that are bruised financially, emotionally, spiritually, and domestically. The chief enemy of kindness is business. We get so busy that we forget to or put off doing an act of kindness. You can't do an act of kindness too soon because you never know how soon it may be too late.

4. Where should we be kind? We should be kind in times of conflict and quarrels. Paul tells us in II Timothy 2:24 "The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle." There are always going to be times of conflict, but we need to be careful when we get into an argument, lest we win the argument, but lose our respect. People both inside and outside the church are watching how we react in times of conflict. Kindness can be the most powerful sermon ever preached. When we are engaged in conversation with another person, we have to remember that our words can bless or burn or hurt or heal. But the area where we should be the most kind, is in our homes. Why is it that we are sometimes the most unkind to those we love the most? We can be so cutting to those who mean the most to us. Many marriages could be saved with a little kindness, and when it comes to raising children, Psalm 18:35 tells us "Thy gentleness has made me great."

In the society that we live in, especially with the rise of social media, it's harder and harder for us to be kind. Whether it's arguing about politics, sports, or religion, people just find it hard to be kind. What is the solution? The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yesterday, Vanderbilt University announced that head football coach Derek Mason will return for the 2020 season even though he currently holds a 2-8 record this season. In the past 24 hours social media has blown up with unkind words directed to Mason and athletics director Malcolm Turner. Sure people are frustrated, as am I, but unkind words will not solve the problem. Strive to live more like Jesus each day and be a good example by the way you treat others!!

In Him,

Carver Moore

 We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

In Praise of Small Country Churches

For those of you that know me, know that small congregations of the Lord's church are near and dear to my heart. In my opinion those churches are the backbone of the church as we know it. Sadly we are losing them. I challenge you to drive through the countryside in the Upper Cumberland sometime and notice all the vacant church buildings. When I travel to my grandparents house in Jackson County I pass two such examples. One of which has since been converted into a residence. Other examples of small churches that have closed include the congregation in Granville, since converted into a museum, and a small congregation in Sparta that I visited with a historic preservation client of mine this summer. As we peered through the windows of that building, I couldn't help but notice that there were still Bible school decorations on the classroom doors, and toys, blankets, Bibles, and songbooks left in the pews. To say this spooked me, was an understatement. Being the curious type that I am, I reached out to a college buddy of mine from Sparta, and asked him what happened to that congregation. He said that there was only one or two men there to lead the services and from what he understood, the people there decided one Sunday to simply lock the building up and not come back. Sadly this is all too common among churches of Christ today. I offer you the following to consider:

1. I don't believe we realize how good we really have it. Before I begin, you must understand that our buildings are just that, a building, the people inside those walls make up the church. The actions of the members and leaders of a specific congregation is what makes the church strong or weak. Large congregations have a plethora of resources available to them. How often do we take these resources for granted. For example, how often do you visit the library at your congregation? How often do you use the kitchen at your home congregation? How often do you complain about the temperature of the building? How often do you thank the elders, the deacons, and the ministers? I could go on, but I won't, but my point is that in a large congregation we tend to expect things to be there. What would you do if the preacher, or the elders decided not to show up? Would they be missed, of course. Now what if Mr. John Smith or Ms. Jane Doe was missing, would we notice? In a large church, I highly doubt it. Sadly when I'm at Willow Avenue, I can go weeks at a time and not see someone when they've been right there under the same roof as I have all along. Who's fault is that? It's mine. I'm too lazy to walk from one end of the building to the other, unless I have reason to and that's something I could improve upon. In a small church, this is not an issue, we see everyone, every week, and if someone is missing their void is felt. As the preacher I can make a mental note of that absence and make a phone call or send a message. Small churches can do more with less. The outdated Bible class curriculum from a large church is like gold to the small ones. If there's a light that needs to be replaced in a small church, we just power through, but in a large church it sometimes turns into a larger issue. We all like to have amenities in our buildings, but aren't we all working to get to the same place? Next time you see the preacher or one of the elders, thank them for what they do. Next time a light goes out in the building, don't make a big deal about it. Next time you notice someone missing from services, reach out to them. I also challenge you to venture over to the other side of the building and get to know the folks over there. We are all working to get to the same place, let's do it together. This leads into my next point.

2. Cliques are a crick in the neck to the church. Think back to your days in school. There were the jocks, the musically and artistically inclined, the loners, and I could probably keep going. How many churches have you attended where the members are all huddled in groups before and after worship? I'd say we all have. Everyone has people that they are closer to than others, but this can and will cause problems. Oftentimes we come in to the building and head straight to our seat and talk to "our people." By doing this we often miss opportunities to talk to visitors, and talk to other folks in the congregation that we don't know as well. I know in the years that I've been hanging out in the foyer I've met and gotten closer to people that sit on the far side of the building. It all comes down to getting out of your comfort zone and approaching people. You never know what you might have in common with people you don't know very well or at all. Along this same line is the rush to the exits as soon as the "last amen" is said. A few weeks ago I was coming back to the church building with the bus on a Wednesday night after dropping off my only rider. This lady lives just down the road from the building. As I came back up the road, there was this parade of headlights and taillights leaving the parking lot. I couldn't help but think, "what's the rush?" Isn't the relationships we have among our church family some of the greatest relationships of all? Now I know that we sometimes have places to be after worship, but that line of traffic that I saw was like traffic after an Atlanta Braves baseball game. Yesterday at Chestnut Mound, we all stood around and talked for a good thirty minutes after service was over. Yes we are smaller in number, but I could tell that we all were enjoying each other's company. There's no cliques. I challenge you this week to tear down the cliques and if you don't have anywhere pressing to go after services, stick around and get to know your fellow brothers and sisters, 1 John 1:5 tells us that this is a necessity as Christians.

As a member of a large church, and a preacher at a small church, I see the pros and cons of both. But why can't the two varieties of churches coexist? If not for the small churches, we wouldn't have the larger ones, and many of the smaller churches depend on the larger ones for support. Sadly I've heard it said that small churches should be closed because they add nothing to our brotherhood. Friends this is wrong, if there are still people to hear the message, and people around the building to evangelize, then you must keep pressing on. Every time a congregation (large or small) closes down, the devil wins. This can't happen, and as Christians we can prevent this from happening by following the points that I stated above. I often think about what could have been done to have prevented that church in Sparta from closing and use that as motivation in my ministry at Chestnut Mound. When searching for a photo to go at the top of this article, I chose one of the Old Philadelphia church of Christ in rural Warren County, Tennessee. The members of this church back in the 19th century were responsible for reestablishing New Testament Christianity, and without them and so many others there would be no Chestnut Mound or Willow Avenue church of Christ.

In Him,

Carver Moore

 We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Almost Perfect

A few weeks ago, I drove the college age group from Willow Avenue to their Fall Retreat at Fall Creek Falls State Park. If you know me, you know that the three church busses are like my babies. Myself and the deacon over the ministry split time making sure that each of them have gas, are clean, and are in proper working order. We also devote a lot of our time training and recruiting new drivers. Up to the Friday night around 7 o'clock of the retreat, I had never once had an issue with any of the busses. But before we get there, let's rewind to the earlier that day.

Friday October 25th, 2019 was a rainy cold day. After I got off at 1 o'clock at the Cookeville History Museum I headed over to the church bus garage to check on the busses. Only one needed gas and I took it to the gas station down the road and filled up the tank. The bus in the middle bay, I took out and drove it into the lower parking lot so that it would be ready to go at 4:30 that afternoon. Keep in mind that all of this was being done in the pouring rain. The running joke around Willow Avenue is that it always rains when I drive the bus.

Fast forward to 4:30, I arrive at the church building and everyone is there minus one person. We load up the luggage and board the bus, and begin to wait. Finally, we are able to pull out at 5:30. By the time we got to Sparta, the rain showed no signs of letting up and darkness had set in. By the time we got to the top of Spencer Mountain, fog had rolled in. We got off at our exit and headed towards the park. Once we got into the park, that's where the trouble began. We got lost and the park signage was not the best. Between the driving rain beating on the windshield and the fog, I could barely see past the bus' hood. My sister and her good friend were sitting behind the driver's seat and were trying to get service to see where we were. They finally were able to call the college minister but he was cutting in and out due to the service. Finally after fifteen minutes of driving around the park we thought we had the right road. Problem is, we turned off the road too soon and pulled into what appeared to be a road, but ended up being a mud hole. As soon as I realized what we had done, I threw the bus in reverse and tried to get out of it. All the tires did was spin. We were officially stuck. After unloading the bus and making a few phone calls we were able to get a tow truck and the bus was pulled out. I recall saying to myself "Jesus, if there was ever a time for you to come back, now would be the perfect time." I was embarrassed, but after reflecting on this event, there are some spiritual applications that we can make out of this.

1. Don't be embarrassed about sharing your faith with others. In Romans 1:16, Paul tells the church at Rome, that he is "not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." Do we ever find ourselves so embarrassed by our faith, that we don't share it with others? We have the perfect opportunity to tell others the good news, but we let it pass by. Why do we do this? Are we afraid we might lose a relationship with said person? Are we afraid that said person will laugh at us? Let me tell you all right now that if that's the case we either 1. Don't truly care about that person, because we are ok with letting them losing their soul. and 2. They are not truly our friends if they will laugh at us for believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul endured torture and imprisonment for preaching the gospel, but regardless of all this, he was not ashamed or embarrassed by what he was preaching. Can we say that?

2. God has a plan for you, even though you don't understand it right now. After we got the bus pulled out of its mud hole, the college minister and I, with the advice of a park ranger, went and found a place to park the bus for the night. When the college minister and I drove down to the cabin in his truck, we both commented that it was probably a blessing in disguise that the bus got stuck, because it would not have made it down there. The road curved at one point and wound between two large trees. On Sunday, one of our elder's wives told me that they got lost trying to find the cabin and she said that it was a good thing that I got stuck where I did, instead of closer to the cabin. Oftentimes in life when bad things happen to us I believe that we look back on them and see the good that comes as a result. In Jeremiah 29:11, the prophet Jeremiah tells us "For I know the thoughts (some translations say plans) that I think toward you, says the Lord." Friends we might not understand now, but when things don't go our way, there is always good that comes from it. Getting lost and getting the bus stuck most likely saved me from not seeing that curve in that narrow road and getting the bus lodged between two trees and actually doing damage to the bus.

We all do things that embarrass us. We all let opportunities to do good works pass by, which in turn embarrasses us. The real question is, how do we respond in these times? I'm not going to sugarcoat it, I thought about just quitting the bus ministry completely, I was that embarrassed. But you know what, I didn't and come Sunday morning, I drove my regularly scheduled route and then went and picked up the college group. They say when the horse throws you off, the best medicine is to get back on it, and that's what I did. Our deacon over the bus ministry and our elders were not upset with me. They said it could have happened to anybody and proceeded to tell me stories about other times things had happened with the bus. One elder said "We're thankful to have you willing to step up and drive the bus." One elder gave me the nickname "mud hole." Most people wouldn't recall this embarrassing time, but my hope is by doing so, I will help people see the good in times like these. I also hope that this article will help people not to be ashamed of the gospel. When trying to choose a title for this article, I thought about the trip up to that point, it really was "almost perfect." Friends we are human, we can't hide the fact that we will mess up daily, and when we do it's best to embrace the bad and learn from it. I know I have and I hope you will too!!

In Him,

Carver Moore

 We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Some Thoughts on Baptism

Last night at the Willow Avenue church of Christ, the congregation had the joy and honor of witnessing a young man's baptism. If you have ever witnessed a Baptism, then you know how joyous of an occasion it is. It got me to thinking about how, why, and when a person should be baptized.

1. A person should be baptized to have their sins washed away. In Mark 16:16 and Galatians 3:26-27, we are told that baptism is the only way to have our sins washed completely away. Baptism is the only way for us to get to Heaven. Do we still have to live faithfully, yes, but baptism gets us started in our Christian walk.

2. A person should be baptized by complete immersion in the watery grave. In Romans 6:4, the church at Rome is told that they "were to be buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." What does this mean? What happens to a person when they die? They are buried in a cemetery. When we become dead to our sins, we are buried in the "watery grave." Our sins are washed away and we put off the "old man" and instead put on the "new man" (Ephesians 4:22-23). Again, we still must remain faithful, but our old sins are forgiven, and we now can gain forgiveness directly from God in prayer for future sins (Mark 11:25).

3. A person should be baptized only after following the previous four steps of the plan of salvation. As a refresher they are: Hear (Romans 10:17), Believe (John 3:16/Romans 10:10), Repent (Luke 13:3/II Peter 3:9), and Confess (Matthew 10:32/Romans 10:8-10). Once an individual has followed these four steps, they are now ready to be baptized. One point that I want to drive home in this article is that baptism does not have to be performed as part of a church service. An individual can come to the building, a river, lake, etc, and be baptized. I believe that many people (including when I was finally baptized in high school), put off baptism because they are afraid of being immersed for the remission of their sins in front of everyone. I tell the saints at Chestnut Mound that if you are ready to be baptized and do not want to come and do it in front of everyone, then wait until everyone leaves and I will baptize you in an empty or close to empty building. Some people have the feeling to be baptized arise in the middle of the night. That's perfectly fine to do that. We might be a bit groggy, but I or any other gospel preacher will gladly accommodate you. Don't let the time of day, your fear of crowds, or any other factor be the reason you lose your soul.

Being baptized for the remission of your sins is the greatest decision that you will ever make. Baptism gives you hope of eternal life with God and Jesus in Heaven. When Jesus came down to this earth and put on a human body and was crucified for the remission of our sins, he gave us the greatest gift of all. We redeem that gift when we are baptized. Are you thinking about being baptized? We would be honored to study with you at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ!!

In Him,

Carver Moore

 We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Be Wary of "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing"

I'm a huge fan of The Andy Griffith Show. I would rather watch reruns of this classic show, then any of the current sitcoms on TV. I have to many favorite episodes to count, but as I was looking back over my sermon notes from this past Sunday, one episode in particular stood out to me. The episode is entitled "Barney's First Car" and was aired during season three in 1963. The synopsis of the episode has Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife wanting to purchase a car so that he and Sheriff Andy Taylor do not have to share the patrol car. Barney takes all his money out of the bank and begins to scour the classified section of the newspaper for a suitable car and eventually finds an ad for a car that had been "garage kept," "low mileage" and "driven only to church on Sunday and grandma's house for Thanksgiving." Barney contacts the seller and a little old lady named Miss. Lesh shows up at Andy Taylor's house. Barney falls head over hills for the car at first sight and wants to make the transaction right then and there. Levelheaded Andy suggests Barney take the car for a drive and go over to the "filling station" and get the car checked over by Wally. Barney claims that doing so would be an insult to Miss. Lesh and he purchases the car on the spot for $300, telling Miss. Lesh to "keep the change." As we find out later in the episode, sweet Miss. Lesh is running a stolen car operation and the car that Barney purchased is a lemon. So what can we learn from Barney's decision?

1. When you are listening to a preacher, follow along, don't take what they say as gospel. Before you start saying "Carver, what do you mean," hear me out. As a preacher, the greatest thing that I ever hear during my sermons is the sound of pages of the Bible turning. It lets me know that people are engaged in what I have to say. I spend weeks preparing for sermons and Bible classes, but I'm not perfect and I know I make mistakes, and if I do, I want my listeners to catch it and correct me. In Matthew 7:15, Jesus is preaching the Sermon on the Mount. He warns the Jews to be "wary of false teachers." He says they come to us "in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." I can't help but think about Barney and Miss. Lesh. To him she was like a harmless sheep, but inside her intentions were to rip him off. What about a preacher? Do we invite just any man off the street to come preach and teach us? Of course not. The men that stand up in our pulpits have been vetted throughly, they still make mistakes, but they do not do so unintentionally. But what about the ones that do so intentionally? They do not come into our pulpits physically looking like false teachers, no, they come to us looking like any preacher would. It's when we begin to hear their thoughts on the gospel that we begin to see who they really are. The question is, do we check what they say on our own in the scriptures? Or are we like Barney Fife and take their word for it? Think about it.

2. What about church leadership? In 1 Timothy 3:1-13, Paul lays out the qualifications of elders and deacons. Note what he says in verses 6 and 10. They are not to be a "novice," and are to first be "tested." Why is this? God does not want inexperienced, immature men leading his congregations. God also told Paul to write this, because he does not want false teachers leading his congregations. A man should spend years following and obeying the gospel, making themselves better Christians. What about a man that's been a Christian many years and is in a leadership position just to have the power of that position? He is no better than the false preacher or Miss. Lesh.

3. What about regular members? When a family or an individual decides to identify themselves with a local congregation, it's the job of the leaders of the church to meet them and really get to know them in depth. Why do we do this? To avoid being a Barney Fife and letting a Miss. Lesh in to our congregations. The old saying "one bad apple can ruin the whole bunch" applies here. We love our congregations and leaders of the church and have a responsibility to protect them. Elders as shepherds are in charge of this. In John 10:12, Jesus tells of a wolf that came in amongst the sheep and scattered them. Can't the same be said of false teachers, leaders, and members? 

I for one am happy and content in my role as a preacher. I have so much respect for elders, and I would not want their jobs. However as a preacher I must stay aware and make sure what I am preaching and teaching is the truth. Our congregations are God's. It is our responsibility to protect them. Once false teaching creeps in, then it is difficult to get them out. We should always guard our hearts. If I or any preacher says something in our sermon or Bible class that's not backed up by scripture, don't be afraid to call us out. We want you too!! Learn a lesson from Barney Fife. He should have listened to Andy and gone and got the car inspected by Wally before he bought it. Do we inspect cars and houses before we purchase them? Of course. Why? Because there's thousands of dollars involved. Did you date your spouse before you married them? Of course. Why? You want to find out if they are a suitable mate or not. Then why not do the same when it comes to matters of the church? There's much more at stake than a few thousand dollars or someone you are going to spend the rest of your life with. 

In Him,

Carver Moore

 We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Loving the Brotherhood

You all knew that it was a matter of time before I did a blog article with an illustration based on my beloved VandyBoys baseball team. Since Vanderbilt first started playing baseball in 1904, the program has an overall record of 1,933-1,611. 411 of those victories are owned by current head coach Tim Corbin. Corbin has led the VandyBoys to five Southeastern Conference championships and two College World Series championships. Under Corbin's guidance, Vanderbilt has had 25 players play in Major League Baseball. In essence the program is the 31st MLB team. But with all this success, Corbin is quick to say that it's not his doing, instead he always praises the players, assistant coaches, and parents for the program's success. At the 2019 National Championship celebration Corbin talked about what it means to be a VandyBoy. He said that once you play here, you will always be a member of this program, no matter what else you do in life. He said it's a brotherhood. This led me to think about our relationships with the brotherhood in the church.

In the book of Ephesians, Paul tells the church at Ephesus in chapter 2, verses 4-10 that God has mercy on us and loves us no matter what we do. He doesn't love our sins, but He always loves us. We are all created in His image. No matter how deep into sin we get, God is always there for us and Christ's death on the cross is always available as a way of escape. Consider these three points as we look for ways that we can pay God's love for us forward and show those who are lost or are going through tough times that they always have refuge in the church.

1. Encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ. With the rise in social media this has become easier than ever. It's not that hard to log into Facebook and send someone a quick note through Messenger. Oftentimes we never know what folks are going through. We attend church on Sundays and then we leave. We have no idea what people are going through Monday through Saturday. We are all one big family and just like Coach Corbin said in regard to the VandyBoys, we are all going to be a part of God's family for the long term. God loves us, even though he doesn't always love what we do.

2. Don't let new Christians fall through the cracks. On Sunday's for Bible Class here at Chestnut Mound, we are going through the book of Matthew and really taking our time to study each chapter in depth. Yesterday, we studied Matthew 13 and Jesus's parable of the sower. In verses 20-21, Jesus talks about the new Christians who have "received the good news with joy, but after a while he stumbles." This is all too common in the Church today. Men and women obey the gospel and are "on fire" for a short time, but eventually they leave the brotherhood and fall back into their old lives. It is our responsibility as Christians to not let this happen.

3. Remember that people are free moral agents. Everyone has the right to choose. Throughout Matthew 13, Jesus repeats the phrase "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Jesus says, "I'm putting the word out there for you, but it's your decision, and only your decision, whether or not to accept what I am saying." Think about that person in your life that has never known God, or once did but has since fallen away. I bet you would do almost anything to get them to make their lives right? Unfortunately all you and I can do is put the word out there. We can't make anyone follow the plan of salvation. For a preacher, this is hard, but that's just the way God wired people. Believe it or not, we are already showing our love for those people just by putting the gospel out there for them.

Just like Vandy baseball players will always be VandyBoys, so will all of us always be loved by God and created in His image. Again, He won't always like what we do, but He will always love us and have mercy on us. Will it be easy to live as Christ did? Of course not. We live in an evil society. Temptations and other roadblocks come at us from every direction. When freshman pitcher Donny Everett tragically passed away in June 2016, Tim Corbin said that he thought about quitting. He said he had a hard time dealing with the grief. But he stuck it out and in 2019 went on to win his second National Championship with what would have been Donny's senior class. Are there things in our lives that just make us want to quit? Do we see our fellow brothers and sisters wanting to quit? How do we respond to them? Think about that this week and love your brother and sisters and remember that God will always love you, no matter how deep in sin you might be, there's hope!! I and the Chestnut Mound church of Christ love you!!

In Him,

Carver Moore

We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Photo at top courtesy of VUCommodores.com

Fickleness and Fantasy Football

Let me preface this by saying I'm a huge fantasy football fan. I'm in no way telling you that you should or should not play the game. With that said, I want to use this game of statistics to make a spiritual comparison. I have been playing fantasy football with my church buddies for years. For those who do not know how the game works, at the start of the National Football League season you draft players for your fake team. Players can be from any of the 32 teams in the league. Based on how those players preform in their real game, you are awarded points. The goal is just like real football, if you score more than your opponent than you win. Based on your record, you can qualify for the playoffs and have a chance to win your league championship. Most of the time if a player is having a rough year and there's no hope for the playoffs, then he/she will quit. This leads me to the "meat and potatoes" of today's blog entry.

This year, I was asked to be "co-manager" of my best friend's fantasy team. He and his wife's son was due around the time the NFL season was starting, so he needed an extra man to help run his team. This league is unlike any league I have ever played in. The league consists of fourteen teams, the draft was in person with a huge draft board projected onto a screen, and they also do weekly podcasts. Me and my buddy spent weeks either texting back and forth, or in person talking about our strategy for the season. So fast forward past the draft, to where we are at the season's halfway point. We currently reside in 8th place, with a 3-5 record, and the fifth most points scored in the league. Yes we have had some rotten luck. My best friend and I are very competitive guys and we have had some fickle moments this season. Just this past Monday night, we had about a thirty point lead on our opponent. The only player he had left was Pittsburgh Steelers backup quarterback Mason Rudolph. The Monday night matchup was between the 2-4 Steelers and the 0-6 Miami Dolphins. My buddy text me Sunday night and said something to the extent of "Rudolph is average at best and there's no way he can beat us." My fickleness came out and I responded along the lines of "Well he's facing the Dolphins so if he's going to go off and have a career game, this is his prefect opportunity." In a few minutes my buddy responded and said "I'm not worried." In the first half of the game things looked really good for us, as Rudolph had recorded -4 fantasy points at one point. Thinking he was only going to have 1 point for the half, the Dolphins threw an interception with about two minutes left, giving the Steelers the ball. Rudolph and the Steelers offense proceeded to march down the field, where he threw a touchdown pass. At the half, what should have been a one point yield from Rudolph had ballooned to nine points. Our lead had gone from thirty to about twenty points.

At the half I text my buddy and said "Dude I'm officially worried." He responded and said "They're terrible, I'm still not worried." Shortly after coming out of halftime, Rudolph threw his second touchdown pass of the night. Luckily for us this gave the Steelers the lead and meant that they wouldn't be playing from behind and could run the ball more, or so we thought. The Steelers kept trying to take shots down the field and at one point they had a guy wide open, but luckily for us Rudolph missed him. My buddy text and said "Good thing he didn't catch that, that would have ended us." After many more minutes of sitting on pins and needles, the game finally ended and the Steelers won 27-14, Rudolph recorded 20.55 fantasy points, but we won our matchup 174.10-167.20. Needless to say this was closer than either of us wanted it to be, but a win is a win. What I want you to learn from this, is that with fantasy football, or anything else, we can all be fickle. Notice how both of our emotions roller coasted throughout that game. But what about in our Christian walk? How do we avoid being fickle? Consider this way:

Trust God in all things. When things don't go our way, how easy is it for us to blame God? Why do we always blame him? Well I think it is because we can't see God, he doesn't answer right away, and we are used to airing our "dirty laundry" to him anyway, so we think we have the right to blame him for everything that goes bad in our lives. Think about this, when everything in our lives are going great, who do we thank? God When everything in our lives are going terrible, who do we blame? God We are a fickle society. We don't blame ourselves, we often let our faith waver, and the result is that we question God. During my beloved Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team's run to the College World Series championship, I wavered back and forth playing arm chair manager in every decision that Coach Tim Corbin made. The fact is, Coach Corbin knows more about baseball than me and probably everyone reading this combined. There's a reason he's the best coach in college baseball. Obviously no one knows more about anything than God. God knows what's going to happen this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow, and tomorrow night. Why do we love him when things are going good, and then question him when everything is going sideways?

I want to leave you with two passages of scripture that I am constantly reminding myself of. In Romans 8:28, Paul tells the church at Rome "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose." Focus on that first part of the verse though. Paul, speaking through God told the Romans and tells us that if we love God, then everything will come out in a positive way. Will it always be the way we want it to? Of course not? But as long as we love God, and never question him, then everything will turn out for the best. How comforting is that? Another verse that we should take comfort in is found in Proverbs 3:5-6. It says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." We become so fickle sometimes, that our faith in God wavers. But the fact that as long as we trust Him, "He will direct our paths," that's the most comforting thing in the world. Do these passages mean that we will never find ourselves being fickle with him? Of course not. We are all imperfect humans, living in an imperfect world. Whether it's in your Christian walk, your family, your job, or your fantasy football team, never lose your faith in them.

In Him,

Carver Moore

We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Photo at top courtesy of ESPN.

Have My Prayers Become too Repetitive?

Have you ever felt like your prayers are too repetitive? Do you often find yourself praying to God for the same things over and over again? I know I do. There are two passages in the Bible that I want to examine, compare, and apply in this article. In Matthew 6:7, Jesus tells the Jews to not use "vain repetitions." According to Matthew Henry's Commentary, Jesus was cautioning the Jews to not be like the Pharisees and "make long prayers (Matthew 23:14)" just for the sake of praying. This means that as Christians today, we shouldn't pray just because we have too. Instead, our prayers should come from the heart and it doesn't matter how long or short they are as long as we have our hearts and minds in the right place.

Now let me transition to the Parable of the Persistent Widow. In Luke 18:1-5, Jesus tells the Jews of a widow who wanted "justice for her adversary (v. 3)." The widow continuously went to the judge seeking justice for this adversary. The judge was a man that did not "fear God nor regard man (v. 2)." After a period of time however, the judge avenged or made things right with the widow (v. 5). In verses 6-8, Jesus explains this parable by saying in verse 7, "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them them?" This tells us that every time we go to God in prayer, with the right heart and right mind of course He will hear us and avenge us.

So now you may be asking yourself, "Carver, how do I apply this to my life?" Well I'm glad you asked, because here are a two tips on how we can be more like the Persistent Widow and less like the Pharisees:

1. Make sure your prayers are sincere. When you pray really humble yourself. There should be things in our prayers that push us, or lead us to tears. Prayers are more sincere when we turn off the TV and put down the phone and just blot out every other care in the world and take time for God. I don't know about you, but this is easier for me to do at night when I'm getting ready to go to bed. I learned a long time ago when it comes to praying with someone in a public prayer, the best thing to do is to repeat what the man leading the prayer is saying back to yourself. Sadly our society is not friendly to the idea of stopping to pray. I challenge you to carve out time throughout your day to go to God in prayer. It may only be for 30 seconds, but for those 30 seconds just clear your mind of everything else but God. One thing that helps me is to put reminders out there for myself. In the "notes" app of my phone, I have three scriptures (2 Timothy 4:2, Philippians 4:13, and Romans 8:28)   to constantly remind myself of throughout my day. Our prayers are not like school papers where we are required to write on a specific topic in 250 words. Instead prayers are the highest form of conversation we can engage in.

2. "Wear God Out." A few years ago there was a preacher that spoke at Willow Avenue's summer series. I can't remember his name and I don't even remember the title of his lesson, however one thing he said has stuck with me. He kept using the phrase "wear God out," in reference to our prayers. This phrase and the Parable of Persistent Widow go hand in hand. Just like the widow in Luke 18 absolutely wore the judge out with her requests, so should we with God. Contrary to what society says, God wants to know all our problems, needs, and requests (even though He's all knowing and already knows about them) and it's our job to bring them to Him. In Luke 18:1, it says "men always ought to pray and not lose heart." As Christians it's easier for us to lose heart when we pray sincerely and frequently but it seems like God is not listening and not sending us an answer. The Persistent Widow teachers us that if we have a Spiritual, Personal, Physical, etc, need, concern, or request we are to bring that to God frequently. Say you have a family member or friend that is living in sin, bring that to God and never stop until He answers it. Young people, do you pray for your future spouse? If so, bring that to God every time you pray. Persistency always pays off. God always answers our prayers. Not always in the way and/or time we want Him to, but He never forgets us.

Prayer is a very powerful thing. But with anything that's powerful, we have to use caution. Don't be like the Pharisees and pray just because you have too. But do be like the Persistent Widow and always come to God with your difficulties and needs. God loves YOU and wants to hear YOUR problems.

In Him,

Carver Moore

We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm