WholeHeartedLife

Jesus Used Witchcraft?

(religious) People are so quick to judge...

 ³²While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. ³³And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."
 ³⁴But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons."

Amazing! They were accusing God of using witchcraft to do miracles. We see similar accusations so often in the stupid fights among people in churches today who have issues with anything outside of their "religious" preference; whenever someone uses a method they personally don't agree with it's of Satan. Doesn't matter to some if there really is no scriptural reference in their favor, they just decide that they are judge and it's not of God. 

You know, in another place (Luke 11) in scripture Jesus says in reference to comments similar to the Matthew reference above,

¹⁷Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. ¹⁸If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub.

This argument has been going on for over 2,000 years - people thinking they know so much that they actually condemned the One that they thought they were honoring. I believe that if we're talking about things that matter (like the message) than let's discuss - if we're talking about your preferences, likes and dislikes (methods) it's opinion and unproductive to the building of the Kingdom of God that Jesus so often spoke about. 

You know the worst part is I've been that guy - I don't wanna be him anymore. I admit that it's so much easier to condemn and go on living your sanctified church-bubble life than to be challenged to deal with the truth and confront legalistic teaching whose clear boundaries are easier to obey and much less messy than living in the freedom that Christ's sacrifice calls us to. It's easier to be the guy who points out the faults of all than to be a demonstration of Jesus to the world.  

Nothing in particular brings this on...the comment is just a random thought written in the margins of my bible that I decided to share. I do, however, get wearied of seeing people who say they love God attacking people who say they love God - what about you? 

Not Interested In...

I don't want a "waters of Meribah" in the story of my life.

I know that Moses must have often gotten tired of the complaining and doubting that came from the mouths of the people that God commanded him to lead:

(Numbers 20:2-5) ² Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. ³ They quarreled with Moses and said, "If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! ⁴ Why did you bring the LORD's community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here? ⁵ Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!"

His reaction was amazing, holy and Christlike:

(v. 6-8)  ⁶ Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. ⁷ The LORD said to Moses, ⁸ "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink."

Moses response was by doing what God told him to do:

(v. 9-10) ⁹ So Moses took the staff from the LORD's presence, just as he commanded him. ¹⁰ He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?"

But then he seems to have taken the situation into his own hands:

(v. 11) ¹¹ Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

I don't know if it was anger, self-confidence, pride or perhaps a combination of all three... but Moses DIDN'T follow God's instructions and the consequence was huge:

(v. 12) ¹² But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."

You know, how easy was it for Moses to do what he did? You know, on the surface it doesn't even seem to be that big of a deal, does it? However, I believe that Moses presumed upon the Lord's holiness. I've often thought that God could have chosen to kill Moses for not following His directions. Instead what He did may have been worse: God made Moses lead that grumbling, complaining group of ungrateful people for a long, long time until they all died. Those people never received the promise of God to them because of their disobedience. After they died God still didn't allow Moses to go into the promised land only giving him a glimpse of that place from the top of a high mountain. Those people were partly responsible for this huge failure in Moses' life. Meribah was a sad place for the nation - it was a definite turning point for these people:

(v. 13) These were the waters of Meribah, ^[a] where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he showed himself holy among them.

I don't want a "waters of Meribah" in my life. I'm not interested in people looking back over my ministry and thinking, "you know, this was their 'waters of Meribah'". I want to see God's promise to me come to fruition and I don't want to stop the blessing of God in my life and ministry because of my personal disobedience - I want to follow His call to the "t". And I don't know about you but it scares me to death that I may not be doing that.

Who am I Talking About?

In my daily study the other day I came across an interesting passage from Numbers 17. In the passage we see major "grumbling" among leaders of whom were challenging the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

In the passage from Chapter 17 we see the result of the Lord demonstrating whom HE had chosen to lead the leaders. It reads:

 ¹ The LORD said to Moses, ² "Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. ³ On the staff of Levi write Aaron's name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. ⁴ Place them in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵ The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites."
 ⁶ So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron's staff was among them. ⁷ Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.
 ⁸ The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. ⁹ Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD's presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each man took his own staff.
 ¹⁰ The LORD said to Moses, "Put back Aaron's staff in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die." ¹¹ Moses did just as the LORD commanded him.
 ¹² The Israelites said to Moses, "We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! ¹³ Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?" (Numbers 17 - NIV)

This passage struck me especially strong in light of God's leadership and His desire that they know His will. A couple of thoughts I had about the passage:

• God was and is not pleased by grumbling (v. 5). In the scripture God says He will "rid myself of the constant grumbling against you by the Israelites". Grumbling discourages the work of God. Period.
• It's easy for people to be deceived in their own thoughts and opinions (v.6). Did the leaders actually believe after all that they had witnessed with their own eyes that God would exalt them above Moses and Aaron? They had followed them... they saw God work through them... what had changed? Now they were more in the know than the vessels that God had continually used? Really made me think. 
• God wanted to help these leaders despite their insolence (v.10-11). Why do I say this? In the scripture, God says, ""Put back Aaron's staff in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.". God is saying (if I may), "I don't want them to die.  

I can't help but to be reminded of the words God said as He passed in front of Moses, "⁶ And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,"

"God, thank You, for Your loving kindness shown towards me, Your longsuffering attitude towards my frequent attitudes - thank You for reminding me"... because this post was a reminder to me of my shortcomings.

...and you thought I was talking about you.  

I'm Still Here...

...just in case you were wondering. This has been a pretty busy week for me as I've been neck deep in design, planning and seeking God's will for my life over the next few months.

Have you made any changes going into this new year? Spiritual? Physical? Any new commitments?

For those of you who are intent on changing some things concerning your bible study you may find this tool useful - it's called youversion.com

I'm interested in what you've changed going into 2009?

How I got "here" - Part 2

I began sharing my journey with you yesterday because today is my anniversary with you, my family at hyde park. And being that I begin my 10th year today, I thought I'd share how I "really" got here... (if you missed yesterday, check it out 1st).

• March '97 - While I was at church, John David Coxe walked up to me and asked me if I wanted to go to this thing called Promise Keepers. He said a bunch of the guys from church were going and  thought I would like it. Honestly, the thought of going off with church guys was not that appealing to me at the time, but on the other hand, for the 1st time in my life I felt accepted at church because they invited me to do something besides sit in their pews.
• Late March '97 - this guy named Brian (everybody called him "dog" for obvious reasons) got saved. Big deal? This dude was a huge construction type tough guy - he would get high and beat people up for fun (seriously). When he got saved he was crying and snot was running all on his clothes... and i'm like, "you gotta be kidding me - that guy got saved?!?" It messed me up.
• April 13th, 1997 - after service, on a sunday morning, I was hanging out. Everyone was gone except Keyna, Madison, the pastor, his wife, and myself. I wanted to get saved but I wasn't gonna walk down in front of everybody. He obviously sensed it and asked me, "mike - if you died tonite do you think you'd go to heaven?". "i hope so" was my reply because I didn't know if i was saved or not as I had been praying that prayer every sunday for weeks and trying to turn my life over to God. He said, "would you like to know so?" and the rest is history. We all, including my baby girl got down on our knees as I invited Jesus in. No tears. No feeling. But I was serious. And God immediately began to grow me.
• June 6, '97 - i went to that "guys thing". One prayer on my way to meet them - "God, take away my addictions this weekend and make me who You want me to be". I threw a pack of cigarettes out the window and never bought or smoked another - i became free that weekend of my past. One thing that happened: on friday nite, as they gave the altar call, thousands walked down the isle and when I saw that, Jesus burned within me and I knew that "THIS" had something to do with the way I would spend the rest of my life. I came home a different man.
• the next 18 months were a whirlwind of me serving, singing, preaching, teaching, learning and growing. I knew within the 1st 6 months that I was called (or at least I thought that was what god was saying to me).
• Spring '99 - I was broken. Frustrated. Confused. I knew (or at least i thought i did - i was beginning to doubt myself) that God had told me that this would be my last year at McFadyen Music and by the fall I would be serving a church in the ministry. Nothing was happening. Nothing. Matter of fact, my former pastor had given my name to a guy who was looking for a music minister but even he had never called. His name was Hubert. Hubert did nothing with the number because he figured "if the guy was worth anything he would know about him - after all, he lives right here in Lumberton." That's funny.
• May '99 - my pastor calls me one morning and asks, "did that guy ever call you?". "No." i said. "I'm gonna call Dennis - I've known him a while, and tell him he needs to call you." "NO!!" i insisted, "I'M NOT INTERESTED IN GOING TO A CHURCH LIKE HYDE PARK!". I said that because I had been pretty hurt where I was at and figured hyde park was just the same. I wanted to go to a church that was like we are now. "I'm calling him!" he said as he hung up before I could protest.
• 10 minutes later he calls me back, "Dennis wants you to call him." "Man, I told you..." "just call the man! Love you - bye!" and he hung up. So I called Pastor Dennis.

we hit it off on the phone. He asked if the chairman of his committee could call me - I said sure. When he called me I was driving so I pulled off the road at I95 exit 49 so I could concentrate on this call. All of a sudden, my heart was already changing toward this church i knew nothing about...

We hit it off also. Oh yeah, by the way, the guy was hubert (you know, the guy that blew me off! We still joke about that one!).

2 days later a meeting. Awesome. 1 Month later - a meeting with those involved with music. 2 weeks later - a tearful goodbye to a church that I poured my heart into...

...and here we are. I'm a different man. I know it. And you're different too. I love hyde park - I love serving you and I love serving with you! The things that you and I have seen and experienced are tremendous and we've seen God bless in ways that many pastors see in a lifetime. You know, I believe we've only begun to see and experience the things that God has in store for us. Thank you for allowing me to serve you and sharing this journey with me. Here's to many, many more! I love you, my friends.

                                                                                                Mike P

How I got "here" - Part One

I was thinking a little earlier and realized that it's almost my anniversary. No, not that one (Keyna knows that I KNOW my "dates"). No, Friday is my anniversary with my family at hyde park. And being that tomorrow I will begin my 10th year here, I thought I'd share how I "really" got here...

• Somewhere around '86 - a friend of mine shared with me that he had a bad dream about me and that i needed to give my life to Jesus. I didn't care. Even though I didn't have ears to hear, I remember it and to the best of my recollection this was the first time anyone ever spoke to me about Jesus in an evangelistic way. That friend was Coval Long, Pastor of "Light of the Nations Church" here in L'town.
• Early 1989 - I began attending church with my future wife, Keyna. I didn't like church at all - I thought it was terrible from beginning to end, with the exception of one thing: the Pastor preached from the scriptures and for the first time I thought God was drawing me to myself.
• Summer '89 - I quit going to church. No one cared, no one called and it's not like they didn't recognize i wasn't there. Truth is, I didn't really like their church anymore than they liked this unrepentant sinner with long hair. Maybe they didn't feel this way, however, their silence towards me leaves me with this impression. Truth is, if someone would have loved on me I would have never left and the next 8 years wouldn't be the whirlwind of sin it became...
• Summer '95 - went to an Amway convention with my dad and they had an awesome worship service on Sunday morning. I was drawn and intrigued by JESUS. I, however, had not one committed, Christian in my life at the time so it was a waste.
• Fall '95 - this guy named Eric loved Jesus. He was a chain-smoking, tatooed, cussing, recovering alcoholic/coke addict who had 2 failed marriages. He found JESUS during treatment. He was raw but I had never, ever met anyone like him. His roughness around the edges had a lot to do with a lack of Christian mentorship, as he had gone to church after salvation and they didn't accept him. When he would talk about Jesus to me (and he did) my heart would burn within me. Had he only had "the conversation" with me, I would have been saved. I doubt that he knew that he was supposed to have "the conversation" as no one ever taught him how. (by the way, I want to spend the rest of my life helping the Eric's to come to Christ, be accepted and loved by the church, so they can affect the world the way that he did me).
• Winter '96 - Keyna and I attended a church here in L'town because some friends were going. We didn't really like it... I mean, Keyna really wanted to find a church to raise our unborn Madison in, but we just didn't really feel like it was the one. They did reach out to us through a SS class, but their outreach was quite frankly unwelcome and felt forced to me. It turned me off even more to them. My friend attending, by the way, wasn't commited himself, so no loss there...
• April 20th, '96 - Madison was born last night and after almost watching her die on the delivery table I recognized Jesus, vocally, for the 1st time in years. "Lord", i said, "I thank you for giving Madison life, for saving her, for Keyna being fine. I know that YOU did it, God! And I know that the proper response is to give you my life, to allow you to save me, but I'm just not ready!". What a fool I was. I really prayed almost that exact prayer - i'll never forget that moment.
• May '96 - January '97 - it's like God removed protection from me. "OK, mike p - I'll get your attention!". My father-in-law's terminal illness took an obvious turn for the worst, baby Madison fell on her head from the changing table (!!), a trip to Urgent Care for me, a death threat letter aimed at me and naming everyone in my family including my new baby, a busted back window on my work vehicle, and my mother-in-law had a major heart attack. By the end of this, Keyna said, "we need to get back in church!". My reply: ok.

Check back tomorrow for Part 2 - it's the part where "you" come in...

Update and This Weekend!

Just a quick update... Sorry so late!

This has been an interesting week for me. I've learned much in a lot of ways. Having never been to Las Vegas I really didn't know what to expect with the exceptions of the lights, the well-known establishments and the anything goes lives. What I have seen though is the fact that these are regular people, living in a not-so-regular place who struggle with the same stuff that you and I do at home: busyness, finances, kids and raising them right and all the other things we deal with 24/7.

I've seen a town that has people in a very confusing industry that really needs people reaching out to them and reaching them where they are. It's gonna take some grace-filled people to bring hope to a city that believes it's hope rests in the next big win...

I've seen a church that is so much bigger than us that ministers here. They do a marvelous job but the town needs a thousand more of them. They struggle with the same things that we do except on a much larger scale. The very things that we struggle with, currently and past, are things that they are dealing with. I got a lot of insight into the way that they are dealing with these issues.

I've noticed that no one speaks English here, which means that you could literally "reach the world" from here because if people radically receive Jesus here they can take Him home to their county. This could happen in our region.

A different kind of week. I've been surprised, caught of guard, challenged and homesick. I've laughed and gasped and seen some amazing things. I've prayed, read, loved, thought, planned and prepared... and now I'm about ready to worship with you this weekend...

A couple things to keep in mind about this weekend:

• Most adult classes will be learning to compose their personal story/testimony beginning Sunday. If your class is not, and this is something you know you need, you might consider going to another class for the next 3 weeks. Your leader will definitely understand because they love Jesus.
• There is a mission team service sunday nite at 6pm. Great time for "the family" to gather - don't miss it.
• I am pumped about preaching this weekend!
• Need a few friendly people willing to step up and help us by helping people find a seat at 9:51/11:11 services.
• JESUS IS ALIVE and He is changing lives one at a time!

Love ya'll - have a great, great day!

BSU Spring Conference

Mt. Airy. They say it's the "real" Mayberry. Andy, Barney, Otis (ya gotta love Otis!) and, WHAT'S THIS? Narrow Way Band?!?

Here's a SHOUT-OUT to all of my college peeps getting ready for Spring Conference!!!

I'm really looking forward to leading worship at the North Carolina Baptist College Ministry Spring Conference in Mt. Airy. Some of my friends at the UNCP BSU suggested that I be called as the worship leader for this event (and they fell for it ). Seriously though, this is gonna be an awesome weekend!

• i AM Humbled that they would choose me to lead them into the presence of JESUS.
• I love worshiping with college students! I believe that when we all get away, in a different location that God will do a special work around us.
• Looking forward to meeting college students from all over North Carolina!!!
• When I see college students I am reminded that God can use these people to TURN THEIR CAMPUSES UPSIDE DOWN! I want to see passion ignited among these students and God to do something so huge that they must give Him credit for what He does in their midst!
• I'm looking forward to hangin' with "the band" - these guys are so awesome! Something magical happens when we get together!
• Leadership Training - I'll be doing a worship leaders breakout session... May God raise up the next generation of worship leaders...
• Opportunity to meet Rick Howerton (and hopefully pick his brain! ) - If you know me, you know that one of my biggest challenges is building the Bible Fellowship Group Ministry at hp. I hope this guy will just pass some of that small group annointing to mike p!

The guys in the band are ready! We're gonna be rockin' in Mt. Airy!!! WholeHearted readers, pray that God will do a special work among us.

2008 Goals

Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Do you set personal goals (personal, spiritual, etc.) for what's ahead? There are some things that I am striving to do in '08. I hope that you have some too...here's what I'm serious about seeing in 2008:

Personal Goals

• Knowing God's will for my life and my ministry - My mind is so busy. I'm a hard-worker. I have a REALLY hard time to ever "turn-it-off". But in '08 I will take what developed in '07 with seeking JESUS to a deeper level. I plan to work in more times of quiet, times to discern and listen that i will be on the right kind of leader, pastor, friend, communicator, visionary, architect (you didn't know that i did that?), designer and every other thing I'm involved in. I want my understanding of scripture to be deeper - i want my walk to be closer.
• Growing as a Leader - I am constantly looking to be better at helping others to be better at what they do. I want to be an encourager, equipper and a bunch of other "e" words this year.
• Live more healthy, Keep my weight consistent. Not just work out for the weight portion but to strive to be a better steward with the one body God has blessed me with. I want to honor Him.
• To read at least 15 books. I read a lot - but, i've found nothing (outside of prayer) impacts me more than reading.
• To be a man of word AND deed - i am SO flawed and the thought of standing before people and speaking the Word of the Lord is so humbling (and fearful). I don't EVER want to lead people astray...i want to be a man that can speak with authority and power, a man who leads by example and doesn't have to be fearful because he doesn't "walk" what he talks. I desire to be righteous and upstanding and spiritually pure.

Family Goals:

• Being more thoughtful and creative as a husband - My most important human relationship is my marriage. Period. Why would I not want to do all i can to be creative and fresh here as i would in my ministry?
• Being a better Spiritual Leader as a dad - 'nuff said. No higher calling in my life than to develop fully-devoted followers of JESUS. I want my kidz to have their own relationship with JESUS.
• Have as much fun with my family as possible. I want to make great memories that last forever!
• To "turn it off" when I'm home so that I might actually BE there with them.

Hyde Park Goals:

• To stop being a micro-manager - I often feel the need to control the whole situation of areas I oversee. My goal is to allow people to find their own way of doing what they do.
• Developing Leaders in every area I oversee and handing their ministry off to them - i want them to fully function in a leadership role.
• See our Bible Fellowship Groups (BFG's) get healthy and reproduce - we will never go to the next level until we see Sunday morning attenders become a part of hyde park life. Worship Experiences are not enough.
• Make the Step Smaller - For some reason people obviously find it hard to move from the worship experience to GroupLife...We will experiment with ways to make this move less intimidating. Borrowing a quote from Troy Gramling (Lead Pastor, Flamingo Road Church), "we want to make a person's steps towards Christ as small as possible."
• To encourage excellence in all areas, all the time. Everytime that our doors open is someone's 1st visit to hyde park.
• To begin a video production ministry. Nothing impacts people more than the visual. Don't know where the money will come from, but if it's God's plan...
• Take the Weekly Production to the Next Level, Weekly - I've said in the past, the reason we don't do a lot of "special" things like singings, plays, and programs is because we try to do 52 "special" Sunday's per year. I think our Sunday's are good, but I want them to sizzle every week. There are many factors that must happen outside of me that must take place for this to happen but I am about doing my part and developing the teams to do this.
• Improve Communications at hyde park - Lack of communication creates a lack of connection. As we morph into numbers we aren't familiar with the parameters change and it's our job to find out what works in the ways of communication. We always want you to be "in the know."

Do you have any goals for 2008. What is your plan to make that happen?

Anniversary Thoughts

18 years ago Sunday, this kid who wanted to be a Rockstar married the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen... For some reason, this nice Christian girl saw something in that guy, what I'll never know. But on that day, he made a promise to her that changed his life - he promised to love her and to be with her until death. She was his foundation, his anchor keeping him from things that would ruin him BEFORE he knew JESUS... at times, she was like his conscience - he kept from making really stupid decisions because he considered the fact that the consequences involved more than just him. She prayed that he would receive JESUS - and one day, on April 13th, 1997, God answered her prayer - she knelt with him and prayed as he invited JESUS into his life and soul... Our life has been special, God has given us so much, may we take the time to savor and cherish it. You're a great wife and mom - you're my most special friend and I love you SO much.

Happy anniversary - Tomorrow nite it's just us!