More on Creeds

There is value in creeds if they . . .

1. Emphasize core beliefs.
2. Clearly communicate those beliefs.
3. Stand under the authority of God's Word.

There is danger in creeds if they . . .

1. Delve into perphial issues and controversies.
2. Communicate them in long, wordy, overly-religious language.
3. Carry more weight than God's Word.

I think most churches adopted creeds out of good intentions (to clarify their core beliefs about the Bible), but they eventually drifted into dangerous territory (making their creeds more important than the Bible). The same can be said for the Churches of Christ. I think our stance of not having creeds arose out of good intentions (to point people back to the Bible), but we also drifted into dangerous territory (making our interpretations more important than the Bible itself). The difference sounds subtle, but its not.

To disagree with a "creed" is seen as disagreeing with an established doctrine. To disagree with an "interpretation" is seen as disagreeing with very words of God Himself. That explains why many people in the Church of Christ get so bent out of shape when someone differs on a particular issue. They see them as forsaking the Word of God when in reality they are just forsaking the church's established doctrine of that issue.

Creeds

Growing up Church of Christ I was always taught that creeds were evil and wrong. That any church that had one didn't hold the same high regard for the Bible as our church. I later discovered that wasn't entirely true. I also discovered that we actually had a creed of our own, it was just unwritten. Which seems more dangerous than having a written one, but that's for another blog. Today I'm just wondering about the value of creeds. A creed is a statement of belief. It is intended to summarize the core doctrines of the Bible. As long as these statements stand under God's Word and not above it, are they wrong? Could there be some good in clarifying our core beliefs into a concise statement? Just wondering. Especially after reading the Apostles' Creed this morning and realizing that it affirms what the Bible teaches. Could there be some value here?

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN.

Sick Church

The Christian band Reality played this song at our "Concert in the Park." The lyrics are written by Albert Baxter. I've encouraged him to get it recorded!

From every pulpit across the land, a sermon echoes out.
It screams of how right that we must be and how wrong that they could be.
If they could only see the light that we see, they could be set free
This sermon’s not about the lost, but the church right down the block.

(Chorus)
Why do we still break?
Why do we still break?
Why do we still break Your body?

If we’re all brothers and sisters, if we’re all one in the Lord,
Then why do we kill each other with the Bible as a sword?
Is it only about your assembly or the books upon your shelf?
Is it only about your doctrine, is it only about yourself?

(Chorus)

God is on the Move, but...

Yesterday I spent some time talking with a pastor from a church up the road from us. He shared with me that the past two months had been their highest attendance in the history of the church and its summertime! He can't figure out if the "summer slump" never hit or if they just have that many new families. He also talked about a lot of people renewing their relationship with God or beginning one for the first time. The experience at our church has been much the same. Summertime has represented our highest attendance in the history of our church and we've also had many new beginnings and renewals. When I told him about our similar experiences he said, "Well, God is obviously on the move!"

His words have hung with me for the last 24 hours. I agree with him. God is on the move. But I keep having this nagging thought. God is on the move, but...I keep getting in his way. Despite the growth over the last two months I still have this feeling that it could be so much more. That whenever God starts to move I stick out my foot and trip Him up. It's not intentional. Its just that my sinfulness has a bad habit of getting in the way. It may be pride. It may be cynicism. It may be worry. It may be things I won't mention here. But whatever it is, it keeps messing things up and slowing things down. Do you ever feel like that?

To use a "driving" analogy...God and I are sitting in a car together. He's driving. I'm in the passenger seat. He promises to take me for the ride of my life. I think I'm ready. But every time he punches the accelerator, I jerk the wheel to the side of the road. He tells me to trust Him, to sit back and relax. He knows how to drive and He knows where He's going. But I can't help it. I keep trying to wrestle the wheel out of his hand. Whenever He starts to move forward I have this irresistible urge to take over the steering. The problem is that whenever I insist on holding the wheel, God takes his foot off the gas. He doesn't get angry or frustrated. He's a gentleman. He just says "we'll go when you're ready." So we sit on the side of the road. Me with my sins and God with his patience. A good Christian would tell me "you need to get the back seat." But the reality is I don't need to get in the back seat. I can still reach the wheel from there. I need to get in the trunk.

Another Saying

This one supposedly comes from Rick Warren...

There are two main reasons that people reject Christianity.

1) They have never met a Christian.

2) They have met a Christian.

The Three Surprises of Heaven

I don't remember who said this or I'd give them credit, but here it is...

1. There are people who aren't there that I was certian would be there.

2. There are people who are there that I never thought would be there.

3. I'm there.

Beauty

Some of you have already seen this on garyneat's blog, but this picture captures the essence of my feelings in Belize (beauty in the midst of sorrow).

What If His People Prayed?

On Tuesday I was invited to a "prayer meeting" of some local pastors. I generally shy away from prayer meetings, especially when pastors are involved. They sometimes turn into a "let me show you how good I can pray" show. Or worse than that, a "let me show you how long I can pray" show. But I went to this one, primarily because of the respect I have for the man who invited me. I'm glad I did.

There was something powerful in the prayers I heard. They were simple, unrehearsed, unscripted, and spoken with humility. I didn't feel like anyone was drawing attention to themselves because no one prayed for themselves. We prayed for each other and for the success of one another's church. An older pastor from an established denomination prayed for the young pastor from a non-denominational church plant. A black pastor working in the inner city prayed for the white pastor working in the suburbs. A Nazarene prayed for the Church of Christ.

The only agenda of the meeting was to pray for unity. A refreshingly Biblical concept. As the person who invited me said, "we sometimes treat each other like competition and bemoan the fact that there are so many churches in our county, but if true revival came to Maury County we wouldn't have enough churches to hold all the people." I think that's true. He also said something about the fact that we don't have to agree on every point of doctrine in order to pray together. I think that's true as well. I left the meeting a little more encouraged and a little more hopeful. Paul said there is only one church. It's past time we act like it.

Belize, Day 8

We made it home last night at 9:00 PM. Our luggage didn't arrive until this morning. Mom & Dad stayed behind in Nashville to pick it up. They're dropping it off at Maury Hills for everyone to come and pick up. There are still four bags missing but the airline is supposed to deliver them. It was another interesting day of travel for me...

When I got on the plane in Belize City they had assigned my Dad and I the same seat. We called the flight attendant over and discovered that my ticket was for Monday instead of Sunday. She radioed the gate and for a little while I thought I'd be staying in Belize an extra day. Thankfully the plane wasn't full so I just found an empty seat and sat down. After a while they closed the doors and we took off. However, they never changed my ticket, so when I got to Atlanta I didn't have a seat on the plane. They put me on standby but after some fast talking by my Mom (she loves to barter), I had a seat on the plane. But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst of it was the IV, the potential emergency landing, the wheelchair, etc.

About midway through the flight I started getting a little light-headed. I assumed it was just nausea so I laid my seat back and closed my eyes. But within minutes my head started spinning worse and I broke out in a sweat. I grabbed Martin's arm (the empty seat in Belize just happened to be by a doctor) and said "I'm about to pass out." And I think I did. I'm not real sure because the next few minutes were fuzzy. Martin grabbed my wrist and said my blood pressure was really low and my pulse was thready. I wasn't sure what thready meant, but I assumed it wasn't good. That's when my medical team kicked into action. Not only was I sitting next to a doctor, but I had three nurses (Gary A, Revery, and Donna) across the aisle. They broke out the airplane's emergency kit, put ice under my arms, an IV in my veins, and started pouring water down my throat. The pilot dropped in preparation for an emergency landing. Then I started to revive a little. The official diagnosis was dehydration brought on by hot weather and a little case of "Montezuma's revenge." Once we arrived in Atlanta they had a wheelchair waiting on me and Wes wheeled me through customs.

To be honest the entire thing was a little embarrassing. I hate to have people making such a fuss over me. I like being able to take care of myself. I don't like being weak and having to depend on others. But I'm really glad those people were there for me. I'm sure there's a sermon in here somewhere.

So this wraps up the "Belize Blog." I hope some of the team will post some of their thoughts on the trip in the comments section. After that my blog will return to its random thoughts on fishing or church controversy.

Belize, Day 7

Not much on my mind right now but the computer is free. Went fishing this morning with Dad, Revery, and Justin G. We were guided by Abel (claimed to be the first guide in Ambergris). He's been fishing for 42 years and he knew what he was doing. We caught around 40 fish with 17 keepers. Abel cleaned them and the ladies are frying them up tonight. Another group went snorkeling today. They had a great guide as well--Ted. He could free dive 40 ft! Aside from that the rest of the day was spent swimming in the Caribbean ocean (a warm 85 degrees) or laying out by the pool. It's been a good day.

The defining moment I shared last night at devo wasn't really a moment, just a thought. This year I've been struck by the extreme poverty of the people. Granted there are some nice areas of Belize, but the majority of the people still live way below even the poorest Americans. Comparing the poverty of this country to the wealth of our own brings up some important theological questions...What is the responsibility of the wealthy? Do we truly understand Jesus' teachings to the rich? Why are they so content with little and we're so discontent with plenty? Why was I born there and not here? Why does the church seem more concerned with doctrinal issues than social issues? I don't have all the answers, but I'm certainly starting to ask some new questions.

Belize, Day 6

On the island now. Ambergris Caye. My blogs should start getting considerably shorter. This morning we closed out the VBS at the Belize City Church of Christ. When we arrived they had a big chalkboard sign out front that said "Muppet Show Today!" We sang some songs and did the "muppet" show. I have to admit, I didn't want to go this morning, but after I got there it was great. There were about 75 kids there, including a few who remembered me from last year. That always sends chills down my spine. It was by far our best puppet show thanks in large part to the creativity of my parents (Dad-Big Mike, Mom-Sissy). They've been playing those characters since I was 5. This afternoon everyone is relaxing. Tomorrow some will go snorkeling, some para-sailing, and some fishing. I'm going fishing of course. Tonight we will share our "defining moment" of trip. I'll try to share mine tomorrow on the blog. Right now I need to do a little mission work over by the pool.

Belize, Day 5

Today was supposed to be easy and short. It turned out to be neither. When we arrived at the clinic there already 200+ standing in line. Apparently the word had gotten out that we were coming back. Within an hour of opening we had to shut down registration because the building so full. It was as chaotic as I've ever seen it. I normally shuffle people from registration to triage to the doctor/dentist/eyes. It's usually a fairly easy to keep up with everyone. Today was the exception. If Anthony Washington, Revery, and my Mom hadn't of stepped in and helped I couldn't have done it.

I would estimate we saw around 300 people today at the clinic. Our busiest day by far. We were supposed to shut down at 1:00 PM but we stayed until everyone was seen. Our dentist (Kenny) and his helpers (Renea & Chelsey) have been very busy all week. They've pulled about 40 teeth a day and have always been the last ones to leave the clinic. The sad thing about today was that we just scratched the surface in that area. We treated close to 500 over the last two days, but I have no doubt that if we stayed another two days we'd see 500 more. The need is great.

Around 11:00 AM some of team split off and began work on the floor of the ladies' house. Last night we took up a collection at devo to pay for the materials. We collected around $500. It was used to purchase cookware, bedding, tables, chairs, etc. Jane Cherry did the shopping. It was the best "decorating" job she's had! We purchased the lumber and hardware out of our mission fund. It turned out to be pretty expensive which explains why so many struggle to have good building materials. Anthony Booker lead the construction team and several people helped throughout the day, including some of the locals. It took us about 4 hours to get the floor laid and by then we had to leave. Our drivers told us we had to get off the road by dark. We left our extra lumber with the locals and they promised to build her the beds.

It was very interesting to spend so much time in the village. We got to see how they lived. All of the children were shoeless and they spent their day making up games. The women worked. They were digging a well by hand. It was probably 4 feet in diameter and 6 feet deep. It was very hard work. For lunch they cooked two fish that the children caught in the creek. I asked if they used a net or a fishing pole and it turned out they caught them by hand! They boiled the fish with rice over an open fire. The most heartwarming event of the day took place around 4:00 PM. We were loading the van and looked back to the house. The children were dancing and playing on their new floor.

We also sent a team to the prison for the second day. This time we sent a small medical team. Tiffany, Gary A, and some others. They saw over 75 patients! The need is great there as well. They almost had a riot when the prisoners discovered they were leaving and there were still over 100 in line. You could probably spend a week at the prison doing medical work and still not see everyone. I also heard a little more about the trip the men took to the prison yesterday. They got to do some personal studies and also got to preach in the chapel for about 15 minutes. The prison had a baptistery but it was empty so they baptized the men in the pond in front of the prison. With the baptistery woes at our church we're thinking about going to pond baptisms as well.

We had a great devo tonight in Old Belize. Bill set up dinner, a tour of the museum, and a little room for our devo. As usual, the team has grown really close. It's neat to see so many people from such diverse backgrounds come together as one. On the van ride today we figured that among us we represent 9 different churches and 7 different cites (from Tennessee to California). I'm sure all our churches are a little different, yet we were all able to work together because we share a common faith in one thing that matters--Jesus.

Tomorrow part of the team will go the Belize City church to do a puppet show. A group from Indiana has been doing a VBS there all week. They asked to us to come do the puppets for their final day. After that we're all headed to the island for a little R&R. Half will fly the little bush planes over and half will ride the boat over. More tomorrow...

Belize, Day 4

Long day today. We set up our first clinic at Belmopan (the capital city of Belize). We used the Belmopan Church of Christ as our staging area. They have a nice building that their sponsoring congregation built for them. It sounds like a great church. They have a lot of young people and Jason (the preacher) said sometimes its standing room only on Sundays.

We had a good clinic today. Treated around 200 people. There seemed to be more health needs than the previous village. Several cases of diabetes, one with a blood sugar of 500+. Also a lot of Spanish speaking people today so Rachel Jones (our translator) got a workout. When we arrived this morning there was no one waiting so we went out in vans to tell people about the clinic. Within a few minutes we had more than our vans could hold.

Throughout the course of the day we tried to get everyone to visit the village closest to the church. Once again it was extreme poverty. It's hard to describe some of the living conditions. One lady walked to the clinic with her 7 kids. Once there Brooke Hinson discovered that the family had no food at home. Her husband had died three to four months earlier and she had no source of income. Brooke went around and got people to donate their lunch to the family. Melvin (the preacher at Belize City) gave her a ride back to her home and discovered that there was no home. Bill Amason (the leader of the mission) pulled together several people to discuss what we could do to help her. We were talking about taking up a collection and giving it to her when someone said "What she really needs is a house." So Bill said, "Let's build her a house!" He truly has a heart of gold.

So we took a small team out the house to see what was needed. I got to go with them. We traveled down a dirt road for about an half mile. There were countless kids running along the side. Then the driver stopped a spot where there were no houses. He lead us down a small footpath, across a creek, and into a little clearing. She did have shelter, but it I wouldn't call it a house. It was a 16x18 structure built out of scrap lumber. It had a tin roof but no floor and no furnishings of any kind. There was a hole dug out back for the "bathroom" and a small place for a cook fire. Tomorrow we plan to install a plywood floor, build 8 bunk beds, and provide her with some cookware, blankets, and clothing. You could spend every day doing this kind of thing and still not address all the needs.

One other story. Gary Anderson went out with a team to pick up patients. When he returned I went over and asked him what he thought of the village. He couldn't talk and there were big tears in his eyes. When walking through the village he'd found a 7 year old boy with severe infections on his arms and legs. I forgot what Martin called it but he said if the boy was in the States they would probably send him to a burn unit for treatment. Martin gave him a shot of antibiotics and a two-week supply of medicine, then Beverly Hobson had the difficult job of cleaning all his sores.

That's all for now...the van is leaving for dinner and I'm starving! Team members, add your thoughts in the comments...

Belize, Day 3

Correction. Yesterday I said the team traveled on "rough roads." Today I traveled those same roads. They are very, very rough! It was a fairly miserable ride. They were single lane, half-dirt, half-pavement, with tons of potholes. The kind you have to slow down to a crawl in order to get through, only our drivers didn't slow down. Plus the van is smoldering and you're shoulder to shoulder with sweaty people. I was elated to finally see the clinic site today.

At Maskall we set up the clinic in the same one-room school. There was a line of people waiting when we got there and shortly after an old school bus pulled up with loads of kids. There were lots of families today. I met one lady who was 28 years old with 8 kids (10, 9, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1)! The clinic had three triage stations, an eye clinic, dental clinic, three doctors, two nurse stations, and a pharmacy. At several times there were more than 5 to 6 families waiting in each area. We probably saw another 100+ today. We started counting but gave up after the first hour. Everyone worked very hard. Most people were so busy that they couldn't stop for a break until around noon. At 1:00 PM we put on a VBS for the kids. The teen girls lead the singing along with Mom and several of us did puppets (including Gary Anderson who has a great "little girls" voice). Jackie V. also showed off some great moves during the singing.

One more note on the clinic site...aside from no air conditioning there is also no indoor plumbing. The "bathroom" was a little shack with no seats. Just two holes in the ground. The poverty is fairly amazing. Many people have a perception of Belize as a "luscious, tourist spot." The government has done a good job with PR. There are some nice tourist locations on the islands off the coast, but the farther inland the worse it gets. Most families live in single room shacks, maybe 10X15, with floors of concrete or dirt and little to no furniture. The "beds" are usually hammocks that are suspended from the rafters and tied up during the day. There are a few nice houses scattered throughout but nothing like you see the states.

Some of the team split off from the medical clinic today and visited an orphanage. They delivered the "prayer bears" that the Maury Hills children made. They were a big hit! It was neat to explain to them that there are kids in the states praying for them. They also did a VBS and spent time with the kids. These are kids that rarely have a lot of adult interaction and love. One of the little girls clung to Claire Tidwell's leg, crying and calling her "Mommy." That will rip your heart out.

I'm headed to devo so maybe I'll pick up more stories there. If any of the team are reading please leave your thoughts/experiences in the comments section...

Belize, Day 2

(Still reporting in "third person" because I missed all of today. More on that later) The team held their first clinic today in Maskall. It's about an hour and half north of Belize City over very rough roads. One of the vans had a blowout and that caused about an hour delay. They also had a big rainstorm to kick things off today. Once the clinic got going they saw around 100 patients. The dentist even had to turn a few away. The people of the village live in very poor conditions and have little (if any) access to basic health care. Everyone worked really hard and it was a long day. Especially with a long ride home over the same roads. They had a short devo and sent everyone off to get some rest. Tomorrow we head to the same village.

Concerning my travels...I spent 14 hours getting to Belize today. When I checked in at the Delta station in Nashville they told me my flight was delayed and they had no other flights going from Atlanta to Belize. They rerouted me through Dallas via an American flight that didn't leave for another three hours. Then once I was in Dallas we went through three different planes (mechanical problems) and then a delay for thunderstorms. I was supposed to arrive in Belize at 11:00 AM and didn't get here until 6:30 PM. Then I had a cab driver who drove 70+ to the hotel weaving around bicycles and pedestrians because he was trying to get back to the airport and pick up another fare. I thought, "welcome to Belize!" More tomorrow.

(FYI--I probably won't be able to post each night until around 9:00 or 10:00 PM)

Belize, Day 1

I finally heard from the team around 8:00 this morning. My tech-savvy Mom said she lost my email and tried commenting on the blog but couldn't figure it out. The team arrived safely in Belize. She said there was a quite a bit of security in the airport due to some visiting dignitary from Mexico and apparently he's staying at the same hotel as the team. She said they settled in the room and spent about an hour and half singing around the pool. Then a little impromptu karaoke in the hotel bar (go ye into all the world right?)

This morning they attended worship at the Belize City Church of Christ. Thomas Frierson taught the Bible class and Anthony Booker preached. This afternoon the team planned to get in a little rest before the clinics start tomorrow. Some of the team will be going "cave tubing" in the jungle. There's a big river that runs underneath the jungle. They arm you with a head-lamp and inner-tube and send you off. Others will probably stay behind to repack the meds and get things together for tomorrow. She told me the name of the village they're going too but I can't remember it. It's about an hour and half inland across less than ideal roads in poorly air-conditioned vans. (poorly air-conditioned as in "rolling down the windows")

I head out at 4:00 AM tomorrow and will be able to give some "first-hand" accounts. I'll investigate the karaoke incident as well...