Life. Liberty. And the pursuit of God.

I am taking a blogging break for the next week. I am unavailable. No comment. The pressure of the paparazzi has finally taken its toll on me.

Ok, who am I kidding? Seriously though, I’ll be back on-line in a week.

If you don’t use an RSS Reader for your blog browsing, you really should. It will automatically let you know when a site has been updated, which keeps you from going back needlessly. Of course, even when my site is updated, it is basically needless to visit. Click here to subscribe to my feed anyway and it will let you know when I am back to blogging late next week!

Here is an e-mail that we received this week. It was a blessing to us and a reminder to all of us to encourage others. It is slightly edited for anonymity.

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Dear Dayspring Staff,

I visited your church for the first time yesterday with my son who is currently a student at a local college. It was Parent’s Weekend and my son was excited to take us to the church he has visited for the past 2 Sundays. He has struggled in the last few weeks searching for a place to worship.

I was so blessed by worship yesterday. I just want to encourage you! You are making a big difference in the life of a college student who was beginning to feel like there was no fit for him anywhere. Thank you!!!!

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And this is one of the many reasons I love what I do!

Aaron who puts my sermons on I-tunes wrote this to me today, “This one has me wondering – why is it so often this Genre?” For some reason my sermons always tend to be Electronica/Dance!

Name: Deconstruct4.2 / Artist: Senseone / Album: Myawesome Bf / Genre: Electronica/Dance

We have a newsletter. It is electronic. It is ONLY electronic.

We offer people the opportunity to sign up for our e-newsletter on Sundays. We had too many people signing up for it without an e-mail address, so we changed the wording to read electronic newsletter. We still had people sign up for our electronic newsletter this week and only put down a physical address. I still do not intend to produce a paper newsletter.

My point is this: precedents are like drugs. It is easier to say “no” at first than to quit after you start.

Bottom line: Don’t start, what you don’t want to keep up.

By Tamara Jolee

To see the story: (http://www.ketknbc.com/news/local/33255604.html?skipthumb=Y)

Story Created: Oct 24, 2008 at 5:38 PM CDT

Story Updated: Oct 24, 2008 at 6:13 PM CDT

TYLER – Each Sunday morning – Pastor Demarcus Pierson leads a high-energy worship service at Omega Ministries International Church.

Across town at a synagogue – things are more traditional with Tyler Rabbi Neal Katz.

At Dayspring United Methodist Church in Tyler, Pastor Jeff Olive has church each Sunday at Carmike Cinema.

Although each these religious leaders say they won’t endorse candidates from the pulpit, they do deliver messages about key issues relating to faith and the upcoming election.

“I think it’s important faith plays a role in politics because we make our decisions based on faith,” said Katz.

Each man says members of their congregation comes to them for spiritual guidance.

Some actually have political questions.

But the question is: should religion and politics even mix?

Specifically – should religious leaders endorse a presidential candidate from the pulpit?

“For me, I’m not willing to risk my credibility,” said Olive, “by endorsing any candidate or even openly talking about who I’m going to vote for come November.”

Pierson agrees.

“We must be careful that we do not make endorsements,” he said. “You should not speak on behalf of parishioners and just give them Biblical principals that would apply to their lives.”

Katz says his congregation steers clear of politics.

“I don’t talk about it from the pulpit,” he said. ” I don’t endorse candidates (at the pulpit). It’s against the law.”

Although Brother Pierson and Rabbi Katz say they don’t politicize formally from the pulpit, they do, however, show their support for Senator Obama during information settings.

“I personally do not speak for the congregation,” said Katz, “But I personally support Barak Obama. In fact, I’m apart of a group of about 600 rabbi across the country called “rabbis for Obama!”

“I can say being personally,” Pierson admits, “As an African American minister, I do have a sense of pride for the candidate we have.”

Pastor Olive says he does not discuss which candidate he likes, in any setting.

His advice to members of Dayspring? Pray…then vote.

“We don’t know who the best candidate is ultimately,” he said. “Only God does.”

All three leaders say regardless of their opinions on the upcoming election – they all agree this election is like no other in American history.

They say our nation, our state and city, is divided by race, religion – and now with Governor Sarah Palin in the mix – gender.

For those reasons – these East Texas religious leaders say – we all need to come together and pray.

Proverbs 26: 4-5 reads:

4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
       or you will be like him yourself.

 5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
       or he will be wise in his own eyes.

You have to love proverbs. There are no simple answers or solutions. It is a book of situational wisdom. Like today: “Birds of a feather-flock together”, or is it “opposites attract?” which is it? Well, it’s both depending on the situation and circumstance. The beauty of scripture and proverbs is that they do not try to give easy answers. Life is complicated and nuanced.

What I have learned is just because something worked in one situation and was the right call does not mean it is right the next time. Just because something that Dayspring did last year was a success does not mean we should do it again. We need to assess the situation and season and determine which proverbial wisdom to use. What are you doing that you need to re-think?

When and why did the custom of conducting altar calls begin?
Steven Gertz is editorial coordinator of Christian History.

The question is tied to the history of revival and revivalism. George Whitefield, who historians identify as the key preacher of the Great Awakening, refused to speculate on how many of his listeners had been converted. “There are so many stony-ground hearers which receive the word with joy,” Whitefield said, “that I have determined to suspend my judgment till I know the tree by its fruits.” Revivals were the sole work of the Holy Spirit, and the test of time either confirmed or disproved these conversions.

But as the nineteenth century dawned, popular American Methodist preachers wanted a method to help them determine who of their listeners had been converted. Anglican churches featured an altar in front of the communion table, and ministers often encouraged parishioners to come to the altar if they needed prayer or encouragement. Methodist preachers inherited this tradition but changed its purpose, calling rather those “under conviction” to come forward to the altar. In 1801, for example, itinerant Methodist preacher Peter Cartwright told women at a camp meeting that if they promised “to pray to God for religion,” they might take a seat at the altar. Cartwright further accused parents who discouraged their children from “going to the altar” of hindering their salvation.

The altar call gained popularity in the 1830s with the preaching of Charles G. Finney. Prominent evangelists since Finney’s time, most notably D.L. Moody and Billy Graham, have continued to make use of the altar call.

[Jeff: While there is debate over the exact origins of this practice, most agree that it came into prominence in the 1830's with Charles Finney (1792-1875), who popularized it through the mourner's bench. I think it is good practice to look at the origins behind our practices. Although most Methodist churches don't have an "altar call" as perceived today, we do generally lump: an invitation to know Christ and membership as a type of ending "altar call" to many services.

Martin Luther, George Whitefield, The Wesleys, C. H. Spurgeon, and great Evangelists in the history of the Church, were men who shook entire nations, yet never once did any of them use the modern day "altar call."]

This morning I preached on the first chapter of Habakkuk. I talked about how God works through the unforeseeable and unimaginable. Habakkuk was astonished that God would use the Babylonians to punish those living in Judah. Yet, in the midst of this God was still working.

Anyway, we had several sound difficulties this morning. Everything was working fine during sound checks but when the service started, it went crazy. Fortunately, our sound guy was able to get it going pretty quick, but it was just one of those mornings.

Throughout the service, my mic was making some weird wind noise. As I reflect on the morning I can see that “God was still there.” This was just a minor difficulty in the scheme of things. And even in imperfect situations God is able to use it for good. I am sure God is able to use an imperfect service for his glory. After all, as I mentioned this morning – we were there to see God not a service.

I arrived early this morning to have time to pray in an empty theater for the service and those who were coming. Glad I did, can’t imagine what it would have been like if we weren’t covered with prayer.

God is good!

In an OP-Ed piece today for the New York Times, Warren Buffett urges Americans with this title, “Buy American. I Am.” Ultimately, Buffett is swooping in on stock deals that can be found right now because of the rampant fear of the possible catastrophe of the American market. In the long run he has confidence that these stocks will rise and be much more valuable than they are today. He states that a simple rule dictates his buying:

Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.

The church may not like the words Buffett uses, but there is a lesson we can learn. As the economic crisis settles in and appears to be a hole that will take time to dig out of, the church should not shrink from ministry. Now is not the time to cut back on mission and outreach, it is a time to move forward! We know that now, more than ever, the world is hungry for Good News.

UPDATE: THANKS FOR PRAYING. WE GOT A “NO” TODAY, BUT NOW WE ARE ONE STEP CLOSER TO A “YES”. SOMETHING GREAT WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE MONTHS AHEAD, OF THAT I AM SURE. 

I am praying for something BIG this morning. It will take a movement of God to see it happen, but I know that it can. Would you say a prayer for Dayspring this morning?