Drew Boswell

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Running on Empty

MLK Quotes About Moving OnIn life there will be times when you could stop forward movement but you know you have to finish the task at hand. It may be a large event and there are many things that need to be completed before the next day when everyone will show up. It may be at summer camp and you are tired and exhausted and you still have three days left to go. Whatever it may be, you are forcing yourself to put one foot in front of another – you have to finish. If you do ministry any length of time you will eventually find yourself in this position.

Yes, I know, you type ‘A’ people out there are thinking, “you should have planned better, trained more thouroughly, recruited more people, rested before hand, etc. but here you are “with miles to go before you sleep, with miles to go before you sleep.” No matter how well you may have planned, people will back out on you, and plans will go “sideways.” It’s just part of the game.

Here are some things to consider as you are heading into more exhaustion.

  1. Watch Your Step. When you are tired and your tank is empty, this is when you are more likely to stumble (metaphorically and physically) and hurt yourself. You are far more likely to say something you will regret or do something that otherwise you never would have done had you been rested.

oscheat4This is not the time to jump around and act goofy. Your mind and body are tired and you are far more likely to injure yourself (so that you won’t be able to finish). Just stay focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Finish the race. Keep moving forward. Focus on each step.

  1. Just Keep Moving. If you stop and sit down, then there is a good chance that you won’t get back up. The finish line is up there somewhere, you just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

“Just keep swimming, just swimming, just keep swimming.” Dorey in Finding Nemo

  1. Tell yourself, “I will finish.” In your mind’s deep recesses, tell yourself I will finish this. This is when you review why you are doing this in the first place. Picture the children’s faces, review the story, and think back on all the days of preparing. Why are you doing this? Who is it going to impact?

Experts and Their Advice

10924648_10203667384909115_6817664805544394066_nAs I lay down at 11pm the night before I ran the Disney marathon I took some time to peruse the participant guide. I received this guide when I checked into the ESPN SportsCenter to pick up my running bib and various other items they gave the runners earlier that day. I quickly turned past the routes through the theme parks (knowing I would never remember them anyway), and settled on an “advice from an expert” section.

The outlined advice the expert gave was:

  • “Don’t stay on your feet for more than three hours the day before” – The reason I was going to bed at 11am was because after I picked up my running stuff we went through Magic Kingdom. We had to stay for the fireworks (at 9pm), and by the time we made our way back to the hotel, with 50,000 of our new friends, it was late. I thought to myself, “ok so I walked for about 9 hours, maybe it won’t be that big of a deal.”
  • “Don’t eat ‘heavy’ foods the night before.” By the time we thought about dinner, along with 50,000 of our new friends, it was around 8pm. The only place we could find had a very limited number of items on its menu. So fried chicken tenders and green beans it was. Ok, so I can’t check off two items on the expert list – is being tired and full of grease really that bad before you run a marathon?
  • “Get a good night sleep; at least eight hours.” Well, I had to get up at 3am, and now it was pushing 11:30pm. My thoughts were beginning to gravitate toward, “This is going to be a train wreck!” There sat three empty squares on the checklist.
  • Also, there was the fact that I had not actually run the full 26.2 miles. The most I had ever run up to that day was 20 miles. In my training I had to do the long runs when I could. In between a full time job, four kids, and various other responsibilities – ok, let me just tell the truth. My forty-year-old body did not like long runs (anything over 10 miles) – It would cry out, rebel, and remind me that I had mistreated it for days afterward. So I avoided them like the plague.

So, unrested, tired, full of grease, and feeling unprepared I sat the very “helpful” booklet aside, rolled over and went to sleep (be it ever so briefly).

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Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 8.12.27 PMWould I have had a better experience had I listened to and followed the advice of the expert runner? As the old Magic Eight Ball would say, “It is decidedly so.”[1] But in life, there are times when you have a choice to make. The weather report indicated that it would rain the day after the marathon – the original day my family had decided to tour Magic Kingdom. So, we decided to go the day before, when the weather was much nicer. This meant that my body moved from one of being potentially “fully rested” to “not all that rested.”

If I had listened to the advice of the experts there probably would have been less “pain.” But sometimes we push forward anyway because the payoff is worth the pain.

If you happen to find yourself as one of those “experts,” don’t get mad when people don’t always listen to you. Instead, understand that rarely do we operate in a perfect and ideal world where nothing ever goes wrong. We meet the unexpected around every corner. It is this unknowable spontaneity that makes life’s path so treacherous and the veranda so majestic.

Along the way toward any noble goal “life” will happen. And, let’s be honest, there are few times when you have done everything you know to do and are fully prepared for something. If noble goals were easy to accomplish everyone would do them. It is the difficulty and our perseverance that makes them mean so much more to us. Crossing the finish line of a life goal is wonderful, but rarely will it be without insurmountable obstacles.

Also, yes I had trained almost an entire year to run this race, but my family were with me. Like a scene for National Lampoon’s Vacation I would have felt terrible if they stood at the entrance of Magic Kingdom only to have to go back home not having experienced it (due to weather). So, my goal was second to our family goal of going to Magic Kingdom. Life happens, so hold on loosely to what is of lesser priority.

Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 8.14.29 PMSo set your goal, mark out your course, and in spite of advice from experts, do it anyway. Take the first step, even if you suspect that it’s probably going to be a train wreck. Life is about the journey and the destination.

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[1] Just as a side note, it probably would have been of more help had I received this advice before the day before the race – just saying.

More Than A Ticket; Matthew 28:17-20

More Than A Ticket – Matthew 28:17-20 from Drew Boswell on Vimeo.

* The following is an approximate transcript of the sermon preached at First Baptist Church Valdosta, Georgia.

Introduction

If you have ever seen the movie Willy Wanka and the Chocolate Factory then you know that there is a feverous search among the entire world to find the five golden tickets. Then one by one each is found and eventually the tickets are turned in for entrance into the magical chocolate factory.

For many Christians, the gospel is treated like this. Once you have “prayed the prayer,” “gone down front,” and “received Christ,” then you leave the gospel behind and move into discipleship. But what we will discover today is that the gospel is yo stay with the believer, it continues to change the believer to become more and more like Christ every day. The gospel is more than a ticket into heaven, it is the God given means to grow in your faith.

Prayer 

Lord if it were not for your grace and mercy we would be without hope. You have provided the only means of salvation, and you alone are worthy to be praised and worshipped. Help us this morning to understand your great commandment to receive the good news of Jesus Christ, and to share this gospel with those around us. We pray that you will bless the teaching of your Word this morning. Amen.

Please stand as we honor the reading of God’s Word.

Matthew 28:17-20 “And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.(ESV)”

In the 28th chapter of Matthew, we see a description of the events immediately following Jesus’ resurrection. Two women, disciples of Jesus, go and tell the other disciples of their conversation with the resurrected Jesus, and how he had told them to go and tell them to meet Him in Galilee.

In John 20:17,18 “go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”‘ 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord” and that he had said these things to her.

Matthew:17 “And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.” The word for “doubt” in Greek is distazo and refers more to hesitation than to unbelief. Jesus had been crucified for the salvation of the world. For the 40 days following the giving of the Great Commission Jesus would appear to various groups, even groups of over 400 people. And eventually he would tell the disciples that He must go, so that the Holy Spirit may come.

So the way they had operated and lived with Jesus were about to change. Some worshiped him and were quick to follow, “while others were hesitant because they didn’t know what they were supposed to do now. When Jesus was there with them, “ he told them what to do, where they would go, even how to dress and what to say. But now, they were hesitant and didn’t know what to do. People will always have this response when they don’t know what to do.

How had the resurrection changed things? Jesus now appears and disappears (as in the upper room with Thomas), He can allow people to recognize Him or hide His identity (the road to Emmaus), Jesus has gone to cross, resurrected and now changed from mortal flesh to a glorified body.

So some of the disciples are worshiping some are hesitant and confused so Jesus comes to them and gives them a clear mission. “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples.”

What we will see is that it is through obeying this command of Jesus to “go and make disciples” that the disciples will begin to realize how they are being made more like Christ and how they have been changed as well.

This “Great Commission” is for every believer to share the gospel with the lost world around them. As the body of Christ we must continue to share and preach the gospel to ourselves, but the “going” is not to church, but to the world.

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Imagine you are at the mall and you and your family have just sat down to eat at a Chic-Fil-A. You are enjoying your waffle fries, and chicken sandwich. The kids are inhaling their chicken nuggets so they can play on the playground and about that time a girl comes around with a tray of tiny cut up samples of chicken with a toothpick stuck in them and asks, “would you like a free sample?” Doesn’t this seem like a waste?

She should take her tray and stand out in the mall to the people passing by, she should go to the McDonald’s line and hand out samples. The people sitting down in Chic-Fil-A with their chicken are already committed. The sample girl would have the greatest impact if she went to those who weren’t already committed to chicken.

We have the most precious message that has ever come to mankind in all of its’ history, “creation and Creator can be restored. We have been saved from sin and depravity, “our lives can be changed and brought into the image of Christ. We have the power of the gospel, salvation and the only means for people to have eternal life. Where do we go with this message? Where do we share this message?

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There are a couple of things that we can infer from Jesus’ commission to us:

1) You have to believe that people really are lost. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Your neighbor who is a really great guy, who fixed your stove when it broke, “yes if he doesn’t know Christ he will be eternally separated from the Father for all of eternity in hell. No one comes to the father apart from a saving relationship through Jesus Christ. Hell is a very real place that those who don’t know Jesus, that’s where they go.

2) You have to believe that people really will respond. If we don’t really believe that anyone will respond we simply won’t do anything. We have been commanded by Christ to tell others about Him, we reach out with the gospel,  “and people will respond. There is power in the name of Jesus Christ, and when you share the gospel.

3) every Christian is to duplicate themselves in the life of another person or people. You have received the saving message of the gospel, so we share it with others who in turn give their lives to Christ as well.

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So once we shared the gospel, and they have responded to the gospel and are growing in their relationship with Christ, “ what then? The next step is to welcome them into the church. “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

The Christian reaches out and shares the gospel with non-believing people. They receive Christ and are brought into the church body and fellowship through baptism. Then they begin a life long process of learning about Christ and following his teaching in obedience.

So up to this point, I have mentioned the “gospel” several times, but I want to make sure that we are all on the same page as to how we define this term that means, “good news.”

The Gospel

There is one God who is the ruler of heaven and earth. He created all that is including mankind. They were created in his image male and female. They were given dignity, value, and purpose. He made us to worship Him, but we chose to rebel against him and worship the creation instead (which includes ourselves).

As a result of this rebellion, we are separated from God. We all have believed the foolish myth that we are our own god, so we believe we have the right to make our own decisions, do we what think is right, and live by our own moral code.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 “Now I would remind you, brothers,1 of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures . . . (ESV)“

The man Jesus is also God, or Christ, (fully God and fully man) was born of a virgin, and lived a sinless perfect life even though “he was tempted in all ways like us.” Jesus died on a cross in our place, paying the penalty for our sins. He was our substitute, “he took the punishment that mankind deserved.”

Just like mankind’s first parents substituted themselves for God in the garden, now Jesus (as God) substitutes himself back for mankind. He took upon himself all the sin (past, present, and future), of those who would come to trust him.

He gives the gift of salvation freely to all who believe in Him alone for eternal life. Jesus as a man took my place, paid my sin debt to God, and purchased my salvation.

Jesus’ dead body was then laid in a tomb and three days later (on a Sunday) He rose again to conquer sin, death, demons, Satan, and hell. Then as he ascended into heaven he commissioned us as missionaries to tell this amazing story to the world. This good news is that there is a God who passionately loves you and gave His one and only Son to die for you and your sin.

He continually pursues us, “He passionately chases us because He loves us with a love beyond our comprehension or anything the you have ever experienced. After the resurrection, He ascended into heaven where then and today, and for all of eternity He will rule and reign over all of creation. He is and always will be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is commanding everyone to repent of their sin and turn to Him through His Word.

He is also coming again to rule as judge where everyone will have to give an account of their lives and how they are in relation to Him. Those who have believed in Him will enjoy eternity in heaven and those who have rejected him will suffer apart from Him for eternity in hell.

That is the gospel. It is this message of top priority that must mark every ministry, every lesson, every thing that we do must rally around the only message that can save mankind from their sin. The church is a group of people who have believed this message and are passionate about sharing it with others.

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Martin Luther rightly said that, as sinners, we are prone to pursue a relationship with God in one of two ways. The first is religion/spirituality and the second is the gospel. The two are opposites in every way.

But as believers we tend to think of the gospel as something we leave behind so that we can get strong. We receive the gospel to get saved, then we leave it behind to become religious. However, we are strengthened by God, through the gospel, every day.

Religion says that if we obey God He will love us. The gospel says that it is because God has loved us through Jesus that we can obey.

Religion says that the world is filled with good people and bad people. The gospel says that the world is filled with bad people who are either repentant or unrepentant.

Religion says that you should trust in what you do as a good moral person. The gospel says that you should trust in the perfectly sinless life of Jesus because He alone is the only good and truly moral person who will ever live.

The goal of religion is to get from God such things as health, wealth, insight, power, and control. The goal of the gospel is not the gifts God gives, but rather God as the gift given to us by grace.

Religion is about what I have to do. The gospel is about what I get to do.

Religion sees hardship in life as punishment from God. The gospel sees hardship in life as sanctifying affliction that reminds us of Jesus’ sufferings and is used by God in love to make us more like Jesus.

Religion is about me. The gospel is about Jesus.

Religion leads to an uncertainty about my standing before God because I never know if I have done enough to please God. The gospel leads to a certainty about my standing before God because of the finished work of Jesus on my behalf on the cross.

Religion ends in either pride (because I think I am better than other people) or despair (because I continually fall short of God’s commands). The gospel ends in humble and confident joy because of the power of Jesus at work for me, in me, through me, and sometimes in spite of me.

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Sanctification “is the process of God’s grace by which the believer is separated from sin and becomes dedicated to God’s righteousness.”[1] Sanctification is where we as believers become more like Jesus, as we turn from sin over our lifetime.

How do we grow in our faith? How are we sanctified day-by-day? As we make a concerted effort to go out into the world (all nations), and share His love. In this process of going we are sanctified.

As in the “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” we show believers how to serve, relate, and love the body of Christ. As the local church we grow in how we deal with other people.

As we “20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you “we are sanctified as we learn how to teach others, “you learn far more and at a much deeper level when you teach others.”

But what if I make a mistake, don’t know what to say, where should I go, how do I do this? God has given us His Word, and “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” “ we have Jesus beside us every step of the way.

The gospel is not a ticket that we leave behind and use later to get into heaven, “ the gospel is Jesus’ command that we follow and it stays with us our entire lives as we grow in Him. It gives us salvation, purpose, and a means to grow in Christ.

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This past Sunday I ran in a marathon in Orlando and afterward we walked around Disney and they encourage you to wear your metal. Honestly, I didn’t want to wear it, but my family were like, “dad you have to wear it.” So I said, “Why don’t you guys take turns wearing it.” So all throughout the evening, people would make comments to my kids, asking them their time, if they met any Disney characters, etc. to which they loved.

But as people were making comments to them, I found it enjoyable, even though I had run the race. My kids got to enjoy the rewards of running a race that I had endured.

Jesus went to the cross and bore the weight of mankind’s sin. He died in our place. We get to enjoy the rewards of being forgiven of sin, even though Jesus ran the race to Calvary. I get the reward, He gets the punishment, “but it brings Him joy to see His creation” bring glory to the Father.

Prayer

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[1] Ronald F. Youngblood ed. The Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, Tennessee; Nelson) 1126.

Why Would Jesus Not Want Others to Tell What He Had Done? Protecting Your Identity and Calling

defineWe see throughout the gospels that at certain points Jesus was very guarded in letting others know who He was. For centuries the promised Messiah was anticipated. Also along with this anticipation were also traditions and false understandings of what He would do and what He would be like that crept up over the centuries. Some thought the Messiah would be a military ruler and overthrow the Roman Empire. Others though he would act a king. Jesus was working against hundreds of years of false expectations and ideas of what the Messiah would be like.

Matthew 8:29 “And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.”

Matthew 12:15,16 “Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all 16 and ordered them not to make him known.”

Mark 1:34; see also verses 24,25 “That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.”

Mark 3:11,12 “And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.”

Mark 5:42,43 “Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.”

Luke 4:41 “Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.”

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Even Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends said “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you,” when Jesus was explaining how He would have to die on a cross. And Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” (Matthew 16, ESV) He would not let the disciples dictate his mission, instead he would direct the mission through them. They just didn’t get it by Matthew 16 – but they eventually would understand.

Along the way people had preconceived expectations and understandings of how Jesus was to be “the Messiah,” what he was to do, to not do, and how He would “save mankind from their sins.”

It seems that it is important to Jesus for him to define what it means to be the Messiah and for Him to define His own mission (as it came from His Father). As He would go about ministry (healing, teaching, raising the dead, etc.) there would be times when His actions would be misinterpreted or used against His mission, so he forbid people from telling others. He would define things himself.

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Identifying Your Mission

There is only one Jesus (Savior, Messiah, Emmanuel, etc.) who lived a sinless life in order to lay it down on a Roman cross for the salvation of mankind. His mission was unique, but Jesus has also given His followers a mission to make Him known to the nations (Matthew 28). In that Great Commission to all believers there is also a unique mission in how you will carry it out.

We all have different life experiences, talents, skills, spiritual gifts, etc. that God uses in seeing others led to Him. When the gospels were written by the apostles, God used their life knowledge and skills and weaved them into their writings (Luke as a doctor with medical references, Matthew as a tax collector with money references, etc.) God will take you as you are and use you to His glory.

But just as Jesus guarded his identity and mission we have to do so as well. The leader must not allow others to dictate how they lead, or what they do in their leadership capacity – let the Lord give you a vision and direction and lead with that orientation. If you are in a traditional leadership position (pastor, associate pastor, youth pastor, children’s pastor, worship pastor, etc.) there will be set expectations. You were hired as a pastor to perform certain tasks that are needed within the church; I am not talking about going against these things.

But with every position and every organization there are expectations that creep in, that really have nothing to do with your mission and what you are doing for the church. Jesus guarded against these things because they would have taken Him away from His calling. Watch out for anything that will pull you away from your calling. Don’t allow others to dictate who you are and what you do.

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How Do I Keep This From Happening?

We do not have the authority of Jesus to “tell no one about him” or to command others to do anything. But we follow His example of being aware of encroachments to our leadership and take tactful and thoughtful actions against it. Consider the following:

1. A Written Job Description – When it is in writing it becomes much harder for others to dictate what your job should be and how you should do it. When it is not is writing anything goes and you will constantly find yourself fighting the slow encroachment of additional “duties” and responsibilities that were not part of the original picture when you were hired.

2. Regular Evaluations – I know, this doesn’t sound like fun, but when you and those who have the proper authority to evaluate you sit down and talk (regularly) it leads to a peaceful relationship because everyone is on the same page with regard to expectations and responsibilities. If this relationship functions as it should there should be no surprises and you should know exactly how you stand in relationship with the church and your ministry.

3. A Defined Mission Statement – If your church functions as silos (as many traditional churches do) then each ministry may even have their own separate mission statement. But if you define yours then it will direct the course of where the mission should go. If everyone who is apart of your ministry has his or her own understanding of where the ministry is (or should be) going then conflict is inevitable.

4. Regular Communication – If you are like most churches you wonder if anyone actually reads the material (bulletin, newsletter, blog, etc.) that you put out – but some do. By communicating what you are doing, where you plan to go, and how they can help, you are well on your way to keeping the expectation encroachment at bay. As a leader stay in front of the battle with communication and direction, so others will not dictate where you go.

How do we find God? Matthew 2:1-12

For Moses it was a burning bush in the wilderness. For the Wise Men it was a star that guided their way. God does things to get our attention because He desires for us to know Him and to have a relationship with Him. Listen to Matthew 2:1-12 as we ask the question, “How do we find God?”

"For by grace you have been saved through faith." Ephesians 2:8

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