Day 3 -- Faith and Fear

A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" -- Mark 4:37-38

Haven't you ever felt that way when life's furious squalls come your way? The waves begin to break over your boat and you realize that you're probably not going to make it out of this one without some major damage. Do you every wonder, "Jesus, don't you care if I drown?"

Jesus is in the boat with his disciples. It's been a long day of teaching, preaching and healing, so he's catching a few winks before they get to the other side of the lake. Galilee was famous for it's sudden squalls. The sky would go from bright blue to gray to black in a matter of minutes and before you could do anything about it the wind and the rain were beating down. That's what happens to the disciples and it must have been pretty bad for these experienced fishermen to feel afraid.

That's what happens to us in life. We're experienced with stress. So when trials come we think we can handle it. Until it's a little too late. The thing is overwhelming us and we're about to drown before we admit fear and are willing to concede that we CAN'T handle it.

The thing about the disciples (an us) is that they had Jesus in the boat with them. Mark has worked his first three chapters to brilliantly establish the identity and authority of Jesus. Now he'll place the exclamation point on his work. Jesus wakes up and yells at the wind and the waves, and in an istant the lake is like glass. He looks at the disciples, and rolls his eyes as he says, "Where's your faith?"

The other day when we had a thundestorm, the lights in our house went out for about an hour. We scrambled for candles and flashlights. We have an entire collection of flashlights, but no batteries. I finally found one flash light that had tired, but working batteries. The light was strong ... at first. But as time went on its ray weakened and towards the end of the hour of darkenss it was flickering, sometimes on, sometimes off.

My faith tends to be like that flashlight. Sometimes piercing the darkness with a light whose strength surprsises even me. Other times weaker, but still working. And sometimes, when the darkness lingers as black as a starless, moonless night in the country, I find my faith flickering, sometimes on, sometimes off.

But here's the thing: No matter how weak (or strong) my faith shines, Jesus is always in the boat with me. The one who has power over the wind and the waves (and the darkness) is in my boat. And even when my faith is too weak, he will arise and act.

That's all I really needed to know ...

Ask God to give you a sense of HIS light shining in you even when your own faith is runing out of batteries.

Blessings,
Pastor Ellis

Day 2 -- No Moving Targets

There are several things I want to accomplish in my first 100 days as your pastor. One of the most important is to clarify our expectations. If you ask 1000 Baptists what they expect their pastor to accomplish you'll get about 1500 different answers (some Baptist are a little schizophrenic). Add to that the human tendency to change our minds ... and the end result is alot of moving targets. I'm pretty good at hitting targets. I think I hit them about 90% of the time. But when the targets start moving my accuracy plummets to 40% or less. Put 1000 moving targets in front of me and I go a little insane. Believe me ... you don't want an insane man preaching to you every Sunday (I've heard a few of them on TV and it's not pretty).

Hitting 40% of the targets may be good enough for some endeavors, but it's unacceptable when eternal lives are at stake. I want us to be able to hit the target atleast 90% of the time. In order to do that we need to nail down those targets. By the end of my first 100 days I want us to be clear on what targets (goals, initiatives, and expectations) we are going to hit in my first two years at FBC Richardson. I have a very specific method for discerning what those should be. I'll be sharing more about that over the next few weeks ... so keep in touch.

Until then ... reflect on these two questions:
1. What one thing would you want to preserve about FBC Richardson?
2. What one thing would you want to change about FBC Richardson?

You can answer in the comment section of this blog ... or, if you prefer privacy, you can email me your answers. Just click on the CONTACT button on the menu bar above for my email address.

Ask God to give you a heart that daily turns to Him and is able to discern the moving of His Spirit. Ask God to cover you with his Spirit of love and give you a hunger to be a part of what HE is doing in HIS Church.

Blessings,
Pastor Ellis

Day 1 -- First Impressions

I want to thank everyone for a fantastic first Sunday. Firsts are important because you never get another one. First steps, first words, first birthdays ... we celebrate them because we know they are special. Here's another one ... first impressions. Jesus made quite a first impression on Nathaniel (John 1:45-49), as well as a number of those on the recieving end of his miraculous touch. Well ... first impressions are important.

Allow me a moment to reflect on my first day as your pastor and give you my first impressions of the First Baptist Church of Richardson, Texas.

I see a church that is excited about the future. It is refreshing to see a church full of people who believe in the power of God and know that God has something special for their future. I want us to ride that wave of excitement into this New Beginning God has set before us. A few might say that the excitement will die down after awhile. Some would reason that everyone is just excited to have a new pastor. My first impression from most of the people I have met is that, although they are excited to have a new pastor ... more than that ... they are excited that God is doing a new thing in the life of their church. The excitement seems to be centered on the fact that God has brought me here, and that God is doing something new. If that is true ... if the excitement is centered on what God is doing (and not on Ellis) ... then it will not die down ... in fact, it will only grow stonger as we allow God to have his way with us.

I also see a church that is highly committed to the Lord and ready to love each other. This is the most powerful force on the face of the earth ... a body of Christ that knows how to love God and love each other. It is absolutely unstoppable. I believe that we are on the brink of something very special. Nothing I will do can make this happen. Only God can do something this special. It is an honor to be a small part of it. It is a glorious thing to stand in the shadow of the almighty and watch him move mountains.

Finally, I see a church that desperately wants to be a part of what God is doing to save a lost world. We may not always know exactly how to help. We may make a few mistakes and take a few missteps, but I believe that, in the end, God will honor our hearts as much as our feeble attempts and we will see Him do great things in our midst. I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe that will all my heart.

Just a few first impressions ...

Pray today that God would show you the marvelous things he is doing all around you and what part you might play, if you would just join him.

Blessings!
Pastor Ellis

The First 100 Days

Since the days of the Great Depression and the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt presidents have reflected on how well they have done in their first 100 days in office. Some historians claim that this tradition goes back as far as Teddy Roosevelt. Whatever the case, most presidents since Roosevelt have carefully planned their first 100 days in office, knowing that thousands of Americans have always been more than happy to assist them in the evaluation.

I have no desire to be the President of anything, but I do agree that the first few months of a new leaders tenure are extremely important. Most will be listening very carefully and first impressions are always difficult to erase.

In light of that, I want to call upon all of us to work diligently for a great first 100 days together. Transitions are rarely easy, but with our eyes fixed on God, we will find pure joy in any and every situation.

To that end, I make the following commitments:

1. I commit to listen to the hearts of people.

2. I commit to 100 days of focused prayer.

3. I commit to work diligently alongside you to expand God's Kingdom.

4. I commit to blog every day for 100 days so that you will know what God is doing in my life.

The church at Corinth was in a leadership transition. Paul started the Church and left it in the hands of several leaders. At some point Apollos became the pastor, but some folks didn't want to let go of the past. They were still clinging to the days when Paul was their pastor. Paul warned them, What, after all, is Appollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe -- as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. Leadership is important, but inconsequential when standing next to the Sovereign God who wields all power and all glory and all majesty, and who alone is worthy of our complete devotion.

With that in mind ... let us commit ourselves to planting and sowing and watering. Let us keep our eyes fixed on the only One worthy of our adoration and the only One able to make anything grow. Let us commit ourselves to 100 days of prayer ... 100 days of getting to know each other ... and 100 days of loving God. After all ... it is all for the honor of HIS name!

Pastor Ellis

Scripture Reading

"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commmanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Matthew 28:19-20

Scripture Reading

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does propsers."

Psalm 1:1-3

Scripture Reading

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

-- Joshua 1:9