A Case of Mistaken Identity

If I had a dime for every time someone said I looked familiar to them, I'd be a very rich man. I guess there is someone who looks like me in every city in America. People say I look like their uncle. They say they've seen me at a Bible conference I've never been to. People confuse me with someone they know all the time.

My family recently started serving at Timberline Baptist Church in Sherwood, OR. One of the assistant pastors is a young man by the name of Jared Rhodes. He is three months older than I am. Several people have asked me if I am his brother. We both have sons who are a little more than 2 years old. My son has walked up to Jared and tried to hold his hand thinking he was me. Just this morning, Jared's son Dillon wrapped his arms around my leg only to look up and realize I wasn't his dad. It's all a case of mistaken identity. People think I am someone I am not.

To be honest, these kind of situations are getting kind of old to me. I think I'm just going to start messing with people from now on and tell them I am the person they think I am. That should be fun.

When I think about it, every Christian should experience a kind of mistaken identity.

Acts 11:26 says, "And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." They were called Christians because they acted so much like Christ. People saw Christ in them.

Romans 8:29 says, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son..." God's desire for his children is that He could constantly be conforming us more and more into the image of His Son. Of course, as long as we're in this body of sin, we'll never be exactly like Him. 1 John 3:2 gives us that promise that "when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."

The fact is that if we are surrendered to God and He is doing the work in our lives that He wants to do, people should be mistaking us for Somebody else all the time. That Somebody is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Are You Sure You Have Something Up There?

You really HAVE to read this article! It's one of the funniest things I've seen in a while that's actually real. The picture to the left is an MRI of a man's brain. At first glance, you would think that the dark part in the middle is his brain. In fact, the gray matter pushed to the edges of the skull is his brain. The dark area is actually water. The man almost has no brain!

There is just too much room for joking here. I'm sure you're thinking of somebody you know who might have this condition (it's called the Dandy Walker complex...I'm sure Dandy Walker is really proud of that). Anyway, read the article and check out the symptoms. Are you sure you have a brain?

Appreciating the Faithful Man

For the last three years, I pastored the Mission Peak Baptist Church in Fremont, CA. Just recently, my family moved to Sherwood, OR to serve at Timberline Baptist Church. For the time being, I am working a secular job. It is the first time in over four years that I have drawn income from anything other than a ministry position.

Here is something I have learned having been back in the "regular" work force for the last two weeks: We should praise the Lord for faithful men!

Let me start by saying that the ministry is work. Hard work. The preacher doesn't just work on Sunday and play golf the rest of the week. He usually puts in 50-60 hours a week and is basically on-call 24/7. Be sure to show your appreciation for a faithful pastor.

Having pastored for three years and now going back to working a secular job, I know how valuable faithful men are to the church. There are a lot of things demanding my time right now. Even though I'm tired, there are places I need to be on certain nights of the week. I'm an ordained minister, so serving passionately and regularly kind of comes with the territory. What amazes me is how faithfully some laymen in the church serve.

There have been men like this in every church I've been a member of. They go to work five days a week. They give their Saturday to spread the gospel by going door to door. They volunteer for a prison ministry service that takes place on Saturday night. They're always there for the mid-week Bible study on Wednesday or Thursday (whenever your church might have it). They even stay after the Bible study service to pray with other men (we have our men's prayer time at 9 PM).

The men that do these things weekly never went to Bible college. They have never been called to preach or been ordained to the gospel ministry. They're just faithful men. They're leading their families in a way that glorifies God. They're doing the same for the church. The truth is, no church can survive without faithful men. I don't care who the pastor is or how structured the programs are, the church won't go forward without faithful men.

I praise God for many faithful men I have known in my Christian life. They're not perfect. Their families aren't perfect. The churches they are members of aren't perfect. Nevertheless, God is using them. Praise God for faithful men.

Dr. R-ism

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Dr. Mark Rasmussen is the Vice President of West Coast Baptist College (my alma mater) in Lancaster, CA. He is known for his very funny one liners. He came to our church in Sherwood, OR last night with the singing tour group from the college and before he started preaching, he delivered one of the best "Dr. R-ism's" I've ever heard.

He said: "Lancaster looks a lot like Sherwood...if Sherwood was hit by an atomic bomb."

If you've never been to either place, you'll find a picture of Lancaster and Sherwood above. I was still chuckling ten minutes after he said it.

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everybody has a great 4th of July. Blow some things up. Spend time with friends and family. Eat some good barbecue. Most of all, don't forget to thank God for the privilege of living in the greatest country on earth.

Great Post on Prayer

Trey Morgan put a fantastic post about prayer on his blog. Click here if you want your prayer life to be challenged.