Pastor Chris' Blog

Right Place, Right People

On the 6th of September both the Tarheels and the Blue Devils were playing home football games.  To kick off the excitement surrounding football season, the Tarheel football people made arrangements for a skydiver to parachute into the stadium with the game ball moments before the game was to start.  Exciting!  Only there was a problem.  The football stadiums of Duke University and the University of North Carolina are only eight miles apart.  Instead of landing on the 50 yard line in Chapel Hill he landed on the 50 yard line in Durham an hour before kickoff.  The Tarheels were likely wondering where their guy was and the Dukies were likely asking themselves "who is this guy and why is he here."   I just wonder, even from 5000 feet, wouldn't you be able to recognize the big "D" at the 50 yard line?

The skydiver made one key mistake.  He ended up in the wrong place with the wrong people.  How many times have we seen this happen?  People get married and suddenly divorced and we are led to conclude they might not have really been meant for each other.  Someone takes a job and realizes that their personal values are incompatible with the corporate value system.  And same struggles exist at church. 

We could sit here and debate what the core purpose of the church is all day long.  Some might legitimately say it is about eternity, servanthood, living an exemplary life, impacting social justice or any number of other supposed goals depending on who you talk to. 

What is the REAL answer you might ask?  Well.  My answer is this.   Life is a search to give and receive love and find one's place in the world?  For many of us it can also a search to be a part of something, possibly something great.  I want to be part of something great.  That's what salvation is...being a part of God's family in eternity.  Making sure you end up where you're supposed to is of paramount importance.  That's also what church is about.  Making sure you're part of the church God designed for you at this time and place in your life is vital.  Would any church do?   I don't think so.  In being a part of a church we have the opportunity to be something great. 

In the book of Nehemiah the enemies of the Lord call Nehemiah to come to meet with them.  He answered them "I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?"(Nehemiah 6:3).  Essentially, He said, "I am doing something great for God and neither I nor the Lord has time for your nonsense."  I love this verse.  He knew he was a part of something great.  This is the way we should view being part of God's work and serving others.  We should remind ourselves that we are a part of something great.

Back to the football game.  The mission of the church is a lot like that skydiving mishap.  That skydiver did not belong in Durham.  He belonged in Chapel Hill(Home of the Holy).  He ended up in a place he was never meant to be.  He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  He ended up in a place where his presence and gifts were not appreciated and valued.  In a church we should be surrounded by those who love and appreciate us, regardless of our flaws.  We should have opportunities to use our God-given gifts to be a part of something great-God's family.  The call to beling to a church family is a call be the right place and right people.  Just any place won't do.  Just any people won't do.

We should know that we are in the place that we belong.  I am excited being a part of Moores Chapel Baptist Church because I have a deep longing to be a part of something great.

Pastor Chris

Thinking Inside the Box

"Thinking outside the box."  Leadership guys love talking about thinking outside the box.  I would love to be able to think outside the box.  Boxes. Boxes and more boxes.  Everywhere I look There are boxes.  Big boxes, small boxes.  Boxes that are empty, boxes that are full.  They are everywhere.  All I can think about is moving.  Moving companies. Making sure we have enough boxes.  Getting rid of unwanted stuff before the move.   Trips to the dump to get rid of things we don't need.  Trips to the Goodwill place to donate stuff that somebody might want.  All I can think about is moving and boxes.

The boxes represent different things for each of us.  For me, the boxes represent newness, opportunity.  A new place to live, a new place to be, a new place to serve, new people to get to know, a new church family to be a part of.  I think for Sara-Anne the boxes represent a lot of work packing that she will have to do.  And although we will all pack, she will supervise the packing operation as she supervises many of the operations we take on a a family.    Without her guidance, it simply wouldn't get done.  Without her wisdom the children and I would be lost.      

For Micah and Makaley the boxes represent a plaything their imagination can create.  It wouldn't surprise me to see Micah sitting inside a box pretending to live out some some deep space super hero mission against some menacing enemy(possibly ninjas).  It would be no more surprising to see Makaley standing atop an already packed box, microphone in hand, that she has set up as her Karaoke stage.  There are times when I wonder if she doesn't think she's Hannah Montana 2.0.

The boxes represent different things to all four of us.  They represent exciting new possibilities with exciting new people in an exciting new place.  For the time being all four of us have to live with thinking inside the box. 

Pastor Chris

Turning the Page

The page has been turned.  As you read a book each page represents a potentially new and exciting development in the plot.  Every chapter represents potential plot and character development in an evolving story that is new and exciting.  The vote Sunday at Moores Chapel Baptist Church represents for the Caudles a new chapter.  It is a new chapter for the Moores Chapel Baptist Church and for the Caudle Family.  My son Micah has already begun to process what this decisions means for him; A new school and a new church.  Will He get to see his friends from school anymore?  Will he have new friends?  How far will we be from Emerald Point?   

Micah, however is not alone in asking questions.  We all are asking questions.  What distinguishes Moores Chapel Baptist Church from the other neighboring churches?  What is our strategy for evangelism and discipleship?  What does the Church expect of us in these first few months?  As I think of some of questions we have, it occurs to me me that many of you probably have questions about us too.   

The beauty of all this uncertainty is that we get to explore our relationship with one another over the next several years.  As I have said, relationships are the core of Christian Ministry.  I look forward to the challenges and victories that the Lord has in store for us.  I look forward to God revealing to us the answers to some of the questions we have.  Most of all, I look forward to serving with you.  The page has been turned.  I look forward to what the next chapter holds.

Pastor Chris

      

Anticipation

So this is the weekend that we find out if we are going to be moving and if I will be taking the new role as pastor of MCBC.  We have been praying and seeking the Lord about this for months now and my family is so excited about the possiblity of working with this church family.

As I prepare to deliever my sermon, I want to make sure that this church sees my heart, sees how much I love the Lord and how I want to serve them as pastor and partner with them in ministry.

Sara-Anne and the kids are excited as well, the kids, espeically Micah is very sad about leaving his school and moving, but we know that he is resliliant and that he will enjoy meeting new friends. 

I'm praying that the Lord will bless this relationship, that He will be the center and that together He will bring about great things.

Pastor Chris