How the Best Was Won

It has been an incredible Easter season! God has been doing amazing things in our midst at my church, Bayside Church in Granite Bay, California. With already ten services from Good Friday to Easter Sunday in our Granite Bay celebration center, we have video venues also on the Granite Bay campus, Folsom, Lincoln and midtown Sacramento. We even launched a new "North Campus" on Easter Sunday. I heard all of these services were packed with people attending. I attended the new church launch at the North Campus venue at Whitney High School in Rocklin, California. Initially, the gymnasium was set up with 350 seats. The estimated number of people that actually showed up were over 1300! We had to shuffle seats around and have seats outside the gymnasium door for people to hear! A good problem for a church.

But besides the incredible number of people responding to attending an Easter service, the local news did news pieces with our pastor, Ray Johnston on Good Day Sacramento and Fox 40. On the Bayside Facebook page, there was a pastor with "Pastor" in his Facebook name making accusations about our church. It's not that he has ever been to our church, but his post says "Watching news wow sounds like its all about you guys not Jesus beginning to think you called the news up to do this story" (his actual words, no punctuations, either).

Now, I was busy with already serving at church, so I didn't see the news segment, so I really can't agree or disagree with his viewpoint. But let's think about this for a moment. A "Pastor" watching the television on Easter, one of the busiest days on the Christian calendar. And we know he's a pastor because his Facebook name says so. It's like me with the name Tech Garret or Videoguy Garret. I have many friends who are pastors, but they don't include their title with their name (except one). His grammar is poor, aside of his lack of punctuation, so what kind of "Pastoral" education has this guy accomplished? 

So in my assessment, I see a problem of spiritual pride. I've seen this before. And it was with a friend who was an Associate Pastor in one of my previous churches. He built up his position with high morals, and in turn (I think) power went to his head. He became "Holier than Thou", sometimes even being condescending.

Isn't that is what this guy on Facebook is doing? He is making these accusations because he's jealous. Probably his church is small (most are. And especially in Turlock, where he's located) and they try to discredit mega churches. All mega churches go through this criticism, however because I have been to some of these "mega churches", the criticisms are often inaccurate because the accuser usually does not have firsthand knowledge of the real facts. If they actually listened to the heart of all of our pastors, not just the lead pastor, they would better understand the leadership, direction and vision of the church. If they could experience firsthand the atmosphere of compassion and love, then they could see the Love of God.

Well, another thing transpired at church this weekend. One of my video guys was upset with the new leadership of the tech team. He made his objections known vocally. And in turn, was asked to leave and take a sabbatical. This left a vacancy in the operations for providing adequate camera positions for our Easter services. Apparently, his self-centeredness and pride got in the way of being a servant in the video ministry. 

Some positions are more fun and creative. I understand that. I was once in the control room switching and directing video presentation. But with the paid staff of Bayside, they made decisions for the team leads to direct and switch on the weekend services. I was not happy with that, but then I just did the best I could wherever I was placed. I am able to perform all tasks for all the camera positions as well as having the experience of directing and switching. Being a director, I know what kind of camera angles and shots are wanted.

But for even the resurrection of Christ to happen (the reason we celebrate this season), Jesus had to humble Himself. Jesus knew what He had to do. But in His humanness, He didn't want to go through all of the pain and suffering. Jesus had to submit to His Heavenly Father. Humility was the course He had to take to go through the flogging (the 40 lashes, as they said in the Bible Miniseries), the mocking, the bearing of the cross, the bleeding, the suffering.

But once He was obedient to bear the cross and all its shame, Jesus rose victorious over sin and death! Jesus gave His all. Jesus gave His best. We are blessed by Jesus giving His best. 

And that is how we can overcome our struggles, our pain, our trials and tribulations. We have to submit to humility. We have to dethrone ourselves from the throne of our lives. We need to put Jesus at the Center of our lives, on that Throne of our lives. Once we do that, then we won't be as critical, unloving, selfish and unforgiving. We need to trust in the One who gave His life for all of us.

Have you ever trusted in the love of Jesus? All you need to do is say a simple prayer: "Dear Jesus, please forgive me for I am sinful and selfish. God, I need you to change my life and my attitude not only towards You, but others in authority over me. I need Your Holy Love to cover me. Thank You Jesus. Come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, Amen!"

If you prayed that prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family of God! You have been forgiven and restored like new. Find a good Bible believing and teaching church so you can grow in your faith and walk with Jesus. The church should be a refuge where you can be comfortable to share your struggles of life without judgment or condemnation. I pray that you may find that church.

Blessings,
Garret

Conflict Resolution?

Most of us know the recent events involving a national fast food chain and a special interest group. It created controversy, defamatory comments, untrue allegations, hundreds of thousands of people in the mix (myself included) and "taking sides". Well enough of being vague and speaking in generalized terms. Let me just put it out there: the LGBT community was outraged at Chick-fil-A for having a president who has Christian convictions. That's really it!

Think about it. Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays. You can't get chicken on a Sunday, a Sunday, a Sunday... at least at a Chick-fil-A restaurant. So what makes one think their no Sunday company policy would be any different than a typical Christian perspective that homosexuality is a sin? They just wanted to make a ruckus over their gay agenda (and it is a gay agenda that propagates "tolerance" through TV shows, movies and now restaurants)! And in doing so, they perpetuate lies about the Chick-fil-A company and restaurants.

First of all they say Chick-fil-A discriminates against homosexuals. The truth is that the official statement from the Chick-fil-A clarifies: The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena. 

Denny Burk

The other distorted fact is that they say Dan Cathy made an anti-gay marriage statement. But in the interview they were referring to he never uses words like "homosexuals" or "gay marriage". My source is the link: www.dennyburk.com/two-lies-about-chick-fil-a-perpetuated-in-the-media/ .

 So as the controversy continued, mayors of cities got caught in the mix. I heard of many mayors of cities that don't even have a Chick-fil-A restaurant not wanting them to build in their cities. The one that caught national attention was the mayor of Boston, made by the former Governor and Presidential candidate, now talk show host Mike Huckabee. That started the Chick-fil-A appreciation day on Wednesday August 1st.

Mike Huckabee

So on August 1st, hundreds of thousands of people went to their local Chick-fil-A restaurant. Well, perhaps the "closest" Chick-fil-A restaurant they could go to. I heard of a couple from Oregon come down to the Sacramento (or Elk Grove) Chick-fil-A.

Rick Warren

 

The scene at the Alta Arden (Sacramento) Chick-fil-A

Friday, August 3rd was to be the gay day where they staged "kiss-ins" at the Chick-fil-A restaurants. And thus dividing the debate, rather than coming to compassion between the groups and cooler heads prevailing. But I saw some people at the restaurant I was at with stickers saying: "I support equality in marriage AND freedom of speech". I think these supporters of the restaurant get the message. Although I was there to support the restaurant for their conviction of traditional marriage, I commend those that believe in true freedom.

"Our culture has accepted two lies: The first is that if you disagree with someone's lifestyle, you must fear them or hate them. The second is that to love someone means to agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate." -- Rick Warren

I love what Pastor Rick Warren says here, because it is true. Because we are all human, we are all going to have our own opinions. In a room of ten people, there are going to be ten opinions. Like my Pastor, Ray Johnston says, "If the two of you both agree on everything, there is no need for one of you". What that means is no two people are going to agree on everything. That's why God created diversity.

Especially where there is much diversity in cultures, ethnicities, and even sexual orientation, (as we do have in Sacramento and throughout California) we have to RESPECT each other! We will never agree on everything. And that's what makes this country so great. We have to have the freedom to love, express ourselves and to be ourselves. Please respect each other, whether or not we love or even like each other.

I know they always proclaim freedom of the church and state! But as believers and followers of Christ, we need to love the sinner, hate the sin!

This quote from my pastor, which he posted on Facebook was eloquently put:

"As Americans we live in a diverse country which means... that there are going to be people that occasionally express an opinion different than yours. In my view that is a very good thing because it adds richness and tapestry to our culture. It becomes a bad thing when those disagreements are expressed in hostile ways. Immature people love to pour gas and enjoy watching the destruction. As a culture we need two things: (1) Strong convictions, and (2) Civility. Maturity is walking hand in hand when you don't see eye to eye."   -- Ray Johnston

Ray Johnston

Simply put, Ellen De Generes, who is openly gay always ends her talk show by saying, " Be kind to one another".

Or even simpler is the old saying by Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

 Love and respect is all I'm trying to propose here. We cannot be the hands and feet of Jesus if we're turning those who need Jesus the most away from the Truth of the Gospel.

Blessings,

Garret

Elen De Generes

Rodney King