Does Jesus have a unique calling for you? On one level, we would have to say “No.” Jesus’ call is the same for all. You can see this in Mark 8:34-35…

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

Your call is the same as mine, and our call is the same as that of every other Christian: Jesus calls us to lose our lives for his sake and for the sake of the gospel. This is for anyone who would come after him. I like the way that Colin Marshall and Tony Payne say this in their book The Trellis and the Vine:

The call to discipleship is…a call to confess our allegiance to Jesus in the face of a hostile world; to serve him and his mission, whatever the cost…

The radicalism of this demand often feels a world away from the ordinariness of our normal Christian habits and customs. We go to church, where we sing a few songs, try to concentrate on the prayers and hear a good sermon. We chat to people afterwards, and then go home for a normal week of work or study or whatever it is that we do, in time to come again next week. We might read our Bible and pray during the week. We may even attend a small group. But would someone observing from outside say: “Look, there is someone who has abandoned his life to Jesus Christ and his mission?”

I wonder what people would say about me. I wonder what Jesus would say. Lord, help me to escape a life filled with nothing but “normal Christian habits and customs.”

Me, my wife Heather, and our 3 children

I don’t always speak in a way that demonstrates what I truly believe. For instance, sometimes I say, “Good luck,” but I don’t really believe in luck. Do you know what I mean? And I do the same thing with more important things…like my children.

If you were to ask me, “Raymond, how many children do you have?” my first inclination would be to say, “Two…Heather and I have a 3-1/2 year old daughter and a 21-month-old daughter.” However, we actually have three children. Yes, that’s right…Heather is pregnant with our third child, and if everything goes according to schedule, that child will be born in March 2011.

My third child may be small, but he/she is still every bit a part of our family as my bigger children. My third child may be invisible to me, but he/she is still known and loved by the God who created him/her.

God said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you…” (Jer.1:5). So, don’t think I’ve gone crazy when you see me before March 2011 and I tell you that I have three children. I’ve actually gone un-crazy and I’m beginning to speak what I truly believe.

A Symbol of Commitment

Just over 4 years ago, I entered a covenant with my wife Heather. The ring that you see is a symbol of that covenant. The covenant itself is the substance; the ring is the symbol. On one level, true faith in Christ works this way as well. There is the substance of faith and there is also the symbol of that faith.

This afternoon, I was reading the gospel of Luke with some students in the commons building at VCU. One of those students was a gentleman who has yet to give his life to Jesus Christ. He has a little bit of “religion” though, so as we discussed the importance of truly receiving Christ on his own terms before we can become “children of God” (John 1:12), this gentleman made a big deal about the fact that he had already been baptized.

As the other students did a great job of explaining to this gentleman why that baptism, all by itself, could never replace true repentance and faith in Christ, I looked at my wedding ring and thought, “Maybe he will understand this.”

I took my ring off and said, “Am I still married?” He responded immediately, “Yes.” I continued, “The reason that I am still married is because I possess the substance (a true covenant with my wife) that is represented by this symbol.”

And then I asked him… “If you were to put on this ring, would you be married?” He immediately responded, “No.” When I asked him why, he said, “Because I don’t have a wife.”

I looked at him and said, “If you can understand that, then you can also understand this: You possess the symbol of a relationship with Jesus Christ (baptism), but you do not have the substance (true repentance, faith, obedience, love).”

Afterward, with him present, we all prayed that God would reveal to him what it means to truly have the substance of faith in Christ. Join us in praying for this gentleman. I believe that God will hear and answer your prayers.

Every Monday night from 8:00-9:30pm, students from various schools come together to read the Bible and to help each other learn how the good news of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection should impact every area of our lives.

We currently meet in the home of UR alumni, Dan and Dana Kleinschuster. Their address is:
214 Paxton Road
Richmond, VA 23226

For more information, contact Raymond Goodlett at: raymond@redemptionhill.org.

The cross of Christ produces true humility.

There’s an old country song with a chorus that begins like this:  

O Lord, it’s hard to be humble…When you’re perfect in every way…

Well, if you’re anything like me, you’ve discovered that our sin makes it hard for us to be humble even when we aren’t perfect in any way.  This is why it’s so important for us to begin each day in the shadow of the cross. True humility grows in its shade.

When we come to the cross, we no longer have to try to be humble.  There we are truly humbled. In his book The Message of Galatians, John Stott puts it this way:

Every time we look at the cross, Christ seems to be saying to us, “I am here because of you.  It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.”

Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross.  All of us have inflated views of ourselves…until we have visited a place called Calvary.  It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.

May the Lord bless each one of us today with the kind of humility that can only grow in the shade, as he brings us to the cross and shrinks us to our true size.

My second “Thank You” goes to people like Mark Driscoll, James McDonald, and anyone else who has helped to start the “Churches Helping Churches” initiative.

My third and final “Thank You” goes to you Redemption Hill Church.  A few weeks ago, we extended to you the opportunity to strengthen the Church in Haiti through your giving and, by God’s grace (2 Corinthians 8:1), you responded by giving $6,816.00 toward the work of rebuilding and strengthening the Haitian Church.

Please be encouraged when you remember that, although this amount of money can barely even begin to address the challenges that our brothers and sisters in Haiti face in the aftermath of the earthquake, your giving will cause the Church in Haiti to glorify God–the greatest thing any church can do.

The apostle Paul said it this way:

2 Corinthians 8:12-13

…The ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others…

Putting Feet to the Gospel

By God’s grace, we have the opportunity to use a public school building for our Sunday morning gatherings. God has blessed us by creating a space for us at Holton. However, as Christians, we understand that God blesses his people so that they might be a blessing to others (Genesis 12:2).

That’s why we make an effort to remember our gracious hosts at Holton. They are at the top of the list when it comes to the people whom God has brought across our path for blessing.

So, just like last year, we’re going to get involved in the annual Holton 5K Race, which will be held on Saturday March 6, 2010.  More details will follow later but, for now, there are three main ways to get involved:

1. Go to Linwood Holton Night at Qdoba (Willow Lawn) for dinner on Thursday March 4.  Qdoba will give $1.50 for every adult meal and $0.50 for every kid’s meal to support the 5K Race.  You can see the official flyer here on Holton’s website.
2. Be a race-day volunteer.  More details will follow but, if you are interested in volunteering for about two hours on race day, let me know at raymond@redemptionhill.org.
3. Register to run/walk in the race.  Why not?  Most of you look like you’re in pretty good shape anyway.  You probably wouldn’t even have to do any special training for the event.  I’ll be in the race with you if you decide to run.  

Anyway, you can get more information about the race here, and, should you decide to run, even if you come in last, you would still have been a blessing to some of the people who are first on our list from God. Thank you so much for considering this opportunity to help your church be a blessing to others.

This was the worst earthquake in over 200 years.

Titus 3:14  And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.

By now, you have probably heard about the devastating earthquake that struck the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Early estimates place the potential death toll in this city of 3 million people near 100,000.  The people of Haiti need our help.

Times like this make me especially grateful for some of the other churches and organizations to whom God has connected Redemption Hill Church.  As many of you know, we have a partnership with the International Mission Board (IMB) here in the city of Richmond for the purpose of taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the nations of the world.

That partnership with the IMB gives us a great opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ at moments like this as well, when disaster relief efforts are needed in various parts of the world.  So, for those of you looking for a way to help the earthquake victims in Haiti, here is a little bit of help from the IMB’s website:

Initial funding for the relief effort is coming from the IMB’s disaster relief fund. New contributions toward the relief effort can be made at the Baptist Global Relief’s (BGR) website. Money donated to the relief effort will be used 100 percent for ministry.

Apart from donating to the disaster relief fund, concerned individuals can help greatly by joining in focused prayer for Haiti’s 9 million people, more than 80 percent of whom live below the poverty line, said David Brown, who with his wife, Jo, directs BGR work in the Americas.

You can read more about the IMB’s efforts in Haiti here.  Thank you so much for taking the time to pray for the people of Haiti, and thank you also for any financial help that you may be able to give them.  May the Lord provide for their urgent needs through your generosity.

The Best Way to Listen to God

Here are some common New Year’s Resolutions:

• I’m going to go to the gym this year.
• I’m going to eat better this year.
• I’m going to go to church more this year.
• I’m going to treat my friends better this year.

Well, I spent some time reading through Jonathan Edwards’ Resolutions And Advice to Young Converts over the Christmas break.  So when Robert Greene started his sermon on Sunday by mentioning Edwards’ Resolutions, I felt like I was having one of those “God moments.”  And Robert was right…Edwards’ resolutions are nothing like the ones above.

Out of the 70 resolutions, the one that stood out the most to me was #63.

On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects…having Christianity always shining in its true luster…: Resolved, to act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time.

Can you imagine starting your year off with that kind of thought?  ”God, if there’s only one person on the planet this year who will truly honor you, I want to be that person.”  How do you go about trying to keep that resolution?

Well, I’m not Edwards.  My goals are admittedly a little less lofty than his.  However, like Edwards, I want to honor God with all my might.  Now, how do I go about doing that?  How can you go about doing that?

Here’s my suggestion:  Let’s start by listening to God.  Let’s go to the Bible and spend some time listening to God every day.  There’s no better way to hear his voice.  If you’ve missed the first 5 days, don’t worry. You’ve got 360 more and God’s not keeping score anyway.

May we all grow in the grace and knowledge of God in 2010, and may our times with God in the Bible help us to do so.

Pagan or Christian?

1 Timothy 4:4-5…For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

Back in the apostle Paul’s day, people who had converted from paganism to faith in Christ had lots of difficulty determining which of their culture’s customs were inherently evil and which of them could be practiced in new ways that now honored God.

As a result, many people were saying that Christians had to abstain from marriage and from certain foods “that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth” (1 Timothy 4:3). These things had been abused by pagans in their culture, and many Christians believed, therefore, that these things were now off-limits to believers.

The apostle Paul, however, reminded Timothy that the pagan abuse of something made by God should not cause Christians to reject those things.  ”For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”

An evergreen tree (or a pumpkin, or anything else that God has made) can be abused. However, Christians are not forbidden the proper use of these things if they receive God’s creation with thanksgiving and seek to use his creation in a way that honors him.  

For me and my family, our Christmas tree is a symbol of the everlasting life that God planted among us when he sent Jesus into our world.  As we decorate that tree, I reflect upon the meaning of the greater tree–the Cross–upon which Jesus laid down his life for our sins.  

I know all about Saturnalia and what many call the “pagan origins” of Christmas but, for me, the origins of Christmas will never be pagan.  They will always be heavenly, because God sent Jesus down to us from heaven, and that loving act is the origin of Christmas.  

Everything that God has created is good and we can use all of those things in a way that honors him, even the evergreen tree.  Enjoy your Christmas holiday this year, and honor God in your hearts (whether you have a Christmas tree in your home or not).  May God bless you all.