The Lost Coin

So I have this routine. Every morning, I wake up, put on my robe and slippers, and pour a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal. I then proceed to spend the next 15 minutes or so watching Headline News with Robin Meade who if I may say is not at all bad to look at as she welcomes me to her show with her famous line “morning sunshine.” It’s a good routine and I’m happy.

Two times this week I have heard the same reporter sharing news from Washington that apparently the recession that has recently plagued the American economy has technically ended. Now this is great news, so please do not take my next words as overly cynical, however, for most of us, if not all of us, times are still pretty tough. I was reminded of this just the other day when I heard someone making a note of all the “rescue” themed worship songs that have come out in the past few months; times are hard, and we desperately need to be rescued.

One day this week, shortly after I learned that the recession had ended, I stumbled onto one of Jesus’ parables and saw it in a way that I never had before. In Luke 15, Jesus tells a small crowd a story about a woman who had ten silver coins and lost one of them. Immediately, I thought about how I might feel today if I had lost any amount of money, regardless of how small. I would imagine that we would all do exactly what Jesus says this woman did, “light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she found it” (Luke 15:8 NRSV). Once the woman found her lost coin, Jesus tells us that she called out into the town inviting everyone to come and rejoice with her for finding her what she had lost. Jesus tells his group, that the same happens in heaven when one comes to God.

This story struck me this week because it seems so translatable to our economic situations today. If we lost something that provided for our lively hood, we would not rest until we had found it. Immediately I heard the Holy Spirit calling out through the words of Jesus that we are the lively hoods of God. Our heavenly Father loves us so much that when one of us are lost, or confused, or not living up to our full potential, the economy of heaven suffers. At this point, God, in his unquenchable love for us begins a thorough rescue and pursuit of us until we are united again with him.

This parable is uttered in almost the same breath as that of the lost sheep, which growing going to Sunday school was always used to reveal the heart of God for his flock. But for now, the idea that God needs us as his coin in which he accomplishes his work in this world reveals just how important we are to Him.

So today, are you lost? Confused? Not living up to your fullest potentials? Trust in the One who loves you so much that He has budgeted his entire kingdom on your worth and will not more forward until your path is found in Him.



“He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
Yeah, He loves us.” -John Mark Mcmillan

“Rejoice with Me, for I have found the coin that I had lost” (Luke 15:9) –Abba, Father, God


ACG

A of M on Loyalty

Good words from one of my favorite blogs, The Art of Manliness on what it means to be loyal. How do you think we could apply some of these ideas to how we do Church, raise leaders, or communicate our visions, values and models?

Futures: What's Next?

First, allow me to be perfectly clear. I am Atlanta. I was born just outside the city and have been the forth generation to live on my family’s land. I simply cannot put into words the love and devotion I have for my hometown and the entire State of Georgia. I truly believe that I have been blessed to live in the greatest city of the greatest state in the union. There is no place like home.

Pride for my family’s long history in the Atlanta area has placed a desire in me to never leave. In a way, I want to wake up everyday and work the land just like those who have gone before me and spend my evenings roaming Peachtree Street. These feelings however are at a crossroad with a passion to live somewhere else and experience other points of view. While I am one of those who can truly claim to have a heart for Atlanta and Georgia, I know that I will never have anything to offer my home if all I know is Atlanta and Georgia. I must let this passion for travel and learning lead me to new experiences that will provide me with the toolbox to return to Atlanta as a leader that can bring innovative change. For this reason, I have made a difficult decision.

In the fall of 2009, Allison and I will be moving to Winston-Salem, NC so I can attend graduate school at Wake Forest University. I have chosen Wake because I feel that it will provide me with a theological education that will both comfort and challenge my own. I also feel that Wake will give me opportunities for domestic and international travel and will allow the chance to study theology in the academic context of a university and the various disciplines I long to see blended with theology.

If you know anything about me, you know that I am passionate about awakening people to the grace of God through Jesus Christ and I believe that this awakening happens at life’s most complex intersections, those between the secular and spiritual, church and state, politics and business, literature and theology. After much thought and prayer, I feel that Wake Forest will be the best place for me to explore these intersections.

President Emeritus Father Hesburgh of The University of Notre Dame once said that “the university is where the Church does its thinking.” I pray that my time at Wake Forest is just that. I see this as a chance to engage the academic and Church community and return to something that has not existed in hundreds of years: the church as an inspiration to the university, and the university an inspiration to the church. We’re all in this together!

Please know that this move will no be easy for me and Allison and I will need your prayers and support. I love my home more than anyone will ever understand. I love the humid summer nights and the sun as it sets over the fields. I love Atlanta in the winter and watching the braves in October. I know however that this move is needed for many reasons and pray that God uses to transform my own life and through time Atlanta as well. I pray that He leads me back to this place.

Alpha Mu Forem!

Billy Graham and The World's Oldest Man

Many of you might be surprised to know that Billy Graham actually is not the world’s oldest man…maybe the world’s oldest evangelist…wait no…Oral Roberts was born in January of 1918 and Graham in November of the same year. Crazy, what was it about 1918? Hopefully another inspired year of the last century will turn out to be 1986.

Anyways…My grandmother is a huge Billy Graham fan. Tonight, at her house, I noticed two articles from Graham hanging on her refrigerator door. Now I must confess that I did not read the articles however the very titles struck me in a unique way…Crazy how God does that.

Article 1: Only Christ Can Open the Doors to Heaven

No real news there. For those of us inside of Christian culture, the understanding of Jesus as the only way to an eternal heaven is no shocker. What is a shocker is how we consider this eternal heaven as something in the future. To be eternal is to be timeless. If something is out of time there can be no beginning nor ending. What’s crazy is that this is exactly what Christ has already invited us to experience. When we accept his life as our own, we also accept his history, which is eternal, having no beginning or end. The key then to mastering our little piece of heaven on earth is not our job, our accomplishments, our education, our spouse or leadership abilities but Christ. Only he can open the doors to heaven both today and tomorrow.

With that said…

Article 2: God Cares How We Use Our Time

This was like a slap in the face. I can be really lazy. In my current stage of life, I spend more time talking about and planning for what I’m going to do that I never really seem to do anything. This week I read a BBC article about the world’s oldest man, the UK’s Henry Allingham, 113. 113 years old…seriously? Here are a few of his stats: His life has touched 3 centuries, been ruled by 6 monarchs and has seen 5 generations past his own all in addition to being a WWI survivor.. I began to think about Mr. Allingham’s extraordinary life and wondered what I could accomplish in 113 years. I know it is a popular philosophy to live life like you are dying but what if you actually lived until you were 113. For some, this might allow for some extra years of college however what if someone spent 113 perfecting his or her craft. Think of the wealth of knowledge you could leave to well…five generations! Maybe, if only for a day, lets dream about what we could accomplish if we all had 113 years and perhaps even begin to strive for that goal.

Live long and prosper...

i'm alive part 2: a new beginning

I just reread my last post from 11.23.2009. Looking back it seems almost prophetic as exactly two months after the post, my wife Allison and I were in a terrible car accident that took the life of the young intoxicated driver that struck us. Although I was reminded of my life that January morning, I was also left feeling dead for many months to come. This pattern has continued until recently where I now find myself facing new possibilities, new inspirations, and even the chance at a new life. While I have failed to maintain several blogs, my mind finds itself flushed with words and I feel the need to allow them to overflow into this blog. Perhaps this will be what motivates me to finally begin that successful blog everyone is urging me to write. I also know that there is a chance that I will like a bottle-rocket launch in a stroke of brilliance only to come to a quick and abrupt stop. There is also a very good chance that I will wake up tomorrow having lost my inspiration in my dreams and wait another 6 months to acknowledge the blogging world. Regardless of the future, this is my part 2 and my chance of a new beginning. We'll call this one atlanta theologica.

I'm Alive

I'm Alive. Just thought I would let the blogging world know. Sometimes its good to remind yourself and others of this simple, over looked fact. What better truth to celebrate during a Thanksgiving holiday than the truth that each and everyone of us has life. Perhaps this is where things could turn spiritual and I could talk about my life in Christ however I will save that for another time...probably two months from now at my current pace. For now, I live, and that will have to be enough.

34 days

34 days. thats how long it has been since my last post. i must admit, i've been kinda jadded by the blogging world; especially the church blogging world. i'm not the kind of guy that sticks to a set schedule (obviously). for me, blogging is something that helps me clear my head, re-focus my thoughts and if i'm lucky, maybe have a positive effect on someones life. because i can't stick to a routine, blogging and the new religion of twitter just are not things that get me going. this weekend, i hung out with come of my cool friends who are very much a part of the first twitter church in the clogging community. they can keep a schedule. not only are they active in their post, they faithfully read the posts of others. so while i was playing with a friends iphone (b/c i'm a not a tech geek either and don't have my own) i noticed some of his twitter prophets. while reading the post of some of the pastors he reads, i almost busted at the seams with laughter. some of the things these guys say...or yell. later there was a conversation about a group of pastors yelling at another pastor beacuse of something he said, did, or didn't do. for a second, i wasn't sure if i was reading a pastor's blog or a script for mtv's "the hills."

anyways, i'm not attacking this new phenomenon, just saying that its not always for me and i quickly grow weary of it. maybe i'm too lazy, but for now lets just say i'm too busy. i will post when i post and that will have to be enough. if i wrote something daily, i would probably sound like spencer myself...