Digging Deeper – Earning the Right Pt. 2: Living Sent

Avatar photo Chris Boggess on August 22, 2024

 

13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” 16 But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

Romans 10:13-17 (NLT)


EARNING THE RIGHT PART 2: LIVING SENT

We live in a highly transactional culture. You see it every day. These transactions aren’t limited to the marketplace; even in relationships, we say things like, “I’ll owe you one.” Everyone keeps score to ensure they get what they deserve, so it stands out when we don’t live that way.

If you’ve ever been in the Commons area of the NorthStar offices, you may have seen the five sentences on the wall that serve as our guidelines for how we want to function in the community.

The first one is, “We love with no strings attached.” That means we love even the ungrateful jerks. You don’t have to love back to be loved.

The second sentence on the wall is, “We choose people before projects.” That’s a hard one for many of us. The daily call to get things done and accomplish more can be a huge motivator. But we are saying that a job well done should not leave broken people in its wake.

Next on the wall is, “We believe it’s not about us.” It is 100% about God and the people in the community and the world who do not know Him yet.

Then there is, “We strive to exceed expectations.” How often do you get more than you expected? And when you do, don’t you remember it? In the book Unreasonable Hospitality, Will Guidara talks about the difference between service and hospitality as the difference between black-and-white and color: “Black and white means that you’re doing your job with competence and efficiency; color means you make people feel great about the job you’re doing for them.”

And the final sentence on the wall is, “We always ask what’s next.” We want to look for the next place where we can serve people.

The thing about these is that they are the opposite of transactional. Do we hope that living this way will cause people to notice and become curious about the church and Jesus? Absolutely! Remember “predispositional evangelism”? We want people to see that we are different from the world in a way that changes what they think about Christians and Christ. But even if they never come to Northstar or any church, we would still live this way because that is what we are called to do. These sentences are the essence of what it means to live sent.

Pray and ask God how to incorporate these five sentences into your life. Think about how you could put them to use in your neighborhood, workplace, and home. Make a list of ideas. Then live sent!

 

Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Digging Deeper – Earning the Right: Predispositional Evangelism

Avatar photo Chris Boggess on August 21, 2024

 

13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” 16 But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

Romans 10:13-17 (NLT)


EARNING THE RIGHT: PREDISPOSITIONAL EVANGELISM

I am pretty sure that Hollywood doesn’t understand Christianity. I know that’s not news to you, but the perception that popular culture projects makes it more challenging to share the Gospel. Whenever I see a portrayal of people of faith on TV shows, they seem to fall into a few categories: clueless comic relief, judgmental holier-than-thou antagonist, or life coaches full of pithy sayings. I’ll admit, I’ve encountered people in churches who might fit those categories, but what Hollywood rarely presents is that we have the best news ever and want to share it with the world! That’s a problem.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about how our brains work because I find that fascinating. Think about it: everything you experience outside your body in the world around you is being processed inside your brain (mind-blowing, right?). In The Expectation Effect, the author, David Robson, presents the idea that our brains are “prediction machines.” The brain uses previous information to process current information, and in many cases, our brain will fit new information into what it is already expecting. One example the author gives is that a mixture of isovaleric and butyric acid has an acrid odor. If the substance is labeled “parmesan cheese,” it causes salivation when sniffed, but if the same substance is labeled “vomit,” it causes a retching reaction. The same smell is interpreted in different ways through the lens of expectation.

People sometimes have negative or indifferent views toward God and the church, which can create expectations of what we Christians believe. Maybe the expectation comes from the way popular culture portrays faith, or it may stem from negative experiences in the past that have left an impression that the church is not a good place. Why would someone want to come and hear the good news if they already think they know what we have to say? And with that perspective, even if they did come to church, they would look for ways to affirm what they think they know.

That’s why what we do in the community matters. Every time we run a concession stand at a football game so some parents can see their kids on the field, we change the expectations of what the church is about. Whenever we host a banquet, sponsor a club or sport, provide gift cards for teachers, take Starbucks to chemo patients, or feed families during the holidays, we show Jesus’s love and change the expectations of what a church is and does.

When Ryan Hoffer and I discussed this idea, he jokingly called it “Predispositional Evangelism.” I think that’s a great description. We are preparing the field of people’s minds and hearts to receive the seed of the Gospel by changing their negative predispositions. Their expectations of what NorthStar is as a church move past those negative assumptions. Hopefully, it also inspires curiosity about why we do what we do—enough that many even become curious enough to come on a Sunday.

Today, pray and ask God if He is calling you to serve. Our community has many opportunities to serve and change how people view the church and, by extension, God.

 

Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Digging Deeper – Beautiful Feet

Avatar photo Chris Boggess on August 20, 2024

 

13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” 16 But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

Romans 10:13-17 (NLT)


BEAUTIFUL FEET

“How beautiful are the feet of the messengers who bring good news!” As Paul’s audience read or heard these words, they would likely have recognized the reference to the book of Isaiah: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7). The prophet wrote these words over 700 years earlier, in a passage pointing to the coming Messiah of Israel. Paul’s audience had waited a long time for this Messiah, and when they heard that the Messiah had come and His name was Jesus, it was music to their ears! This good news was something to celebrate!

Remember Christmas when you were a child? It seemed like you waited and waited for the day to come. Sometimes, it felt like forever. When Christmas Day dawned—or maybe even before dawn for the Boggess kids—you tore into the carefully wrapped gifts with fervor! Each unwrapping brought new delight. All that waiting made the unwrapping sweeter! By the time New Year’s Day rolled around, most of the things that were so exciting were in a closet or a toy box. The excitement faded as the items became more familiar.

We live in a time where the Gospel has always been. All our lives are lived in the “after” of Jesus’ coming. It is easy for us to take the Gospel for granted. Not only do we take it for granted in our own lives, but we also assume that others already know about Jesus. But for those first-century Jews and Gentiles, this was more exciting than getting a new bicycle at Christmas. Imagine how thrilling it was to hear that the waiting was over and that the gift of life brought by the Messiah was finally there to give them new life. How utterly excited they must have been! Christmas morning excitement would look tame compared to how they must have felt! Let’s try to recapture some of that excitement in our lives!

Take a moment and pray. Ask God to restore in you a Christmas-morning excitement about the Gospel. Ask Him to remind you of the beauty of the gift of life that Jesus has offered us. Ask God to show you the people in your life who need that gift.

And if you have never asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, why are you leaving the gift unopened? Ask Him to come into your life today!

 

Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Digging Deeper – The Gospel

Avatar photo Chris Boggess on August 19, 2024

 

Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.

3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (NLT)


THE GOSPEL

In the verses above, Paul says, “Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the good news…” I think it’s good for us to remind ourselves of the Gospel (good news). For some of you, the good news is as familiar as your name, but I don’t want to take for granted that everyone reading this is on the same page. So, if it’s all the same to you, let’s take a minute to review and resync our understanding of the Gospel.

First, we are all sinners: “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). Because of our sin, we deserve death—that is the paycheck our sin earns for us: “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23).

Second, we need a Savior because we can’t save ourselves: “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). Jesus was the only sinless sacrifice that could save us: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9). He didn’t save us because we are good; He saved us because He is.

Third, once we know that Jesus died for us, we acknowledge what He’s done: “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved” (Romans 10:9-10).

Finally, we become a new creation and live out our faith as the Bible shows us: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10).

If all of that is too much to remember, recall the answer given by the great preacher C.H. Spurgeon. When asked to sum up the Gospel in a few words, he replied, “I will put it in four words for you: Christ died for me.”

Pray and ask God to put people in your path today who need to hear the good news of Jesus. And pray that God will give you the courage to share it.

 

Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Digging Deeper – Dressed to Love

Avatar photo Chris Boggess on May 24, 2024

12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

Colossians 3:12-14 (NLT)


DRESSED TO LOVE

Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Albert Einstein all shared something in common. They often would be seen wearing the same outfit. Every day, they would get up and put on the same outfit as the day before, or one so similar that no one would know the difference. The idea is that this is a choice that you need to make every morning, so rather than spending time choosing their daily look, they would wear the same thing every day, so they would have more brainpower to put into the tasks that matter.

Paul encourages his readers to clothe themselves in the same outfit each day. Read the passage above and imagine how clothing yourself in mercy, kindness, humility, and patience would look in your daily life. How would making this your daily routine change your life and the people around you?

I have heard of people praying through the armor of God. They mention each piece of armor and imagine putting it on. What if we did the same thing with this passage, clothing ourselves for the day in love and forgiveness? We could pray through each attribute, consciously adding it to our daily ensemble. Then, if you are one of those who put on the armor of God daily, add that on top. After all, armor without clothing under it would be much less effective.

Take a moment and pray through Colossians 3:12-14. Ask God to clothe you in the attributes it lists. Ask him to prepare you to show love today. Pray that all who see you will see the love of God in all you do and say.

 

Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Digging Deeper – The Only Way to Win

Avatar photo Chris Boggess on May 23, 2024

1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1-7 (NLT)


THE ONLY WAY TO WIN

There is a scene in the movie Elf (if you will indulge a Christmas movie reference here on the cusp of summer) where Buddy, the protagonist of the movie, is walking around New York City when he sees a neon sign in a window that reads “World’s Best Cup of Coffee.” Buddy immediately turns back, walks into the diner, and says, “Congratulations, you did it!” while everyone in the restaurant stares blankly at him. In Buddy’s childlike perception, he believes the sign, but we know it is just an advertising ploy.

We live in a world where winning matters. Everyone wants to be the best at whatever they are doing. I play games with middle schoolers often; they want to win no matter what we are playing! I have heard serious arguments over a foul ball in a kickball game where the only prize was winning, and for them and many of us, winning matters!

In the passage above, Paul describes someone the world would say is a winner by any measurement. The person is an intellectual polyglot who can speak with angels. They know what God is planning. They can perform miraculous acts. They give things to people in need and will do whatever for others. If you need an organ, they are your donors! This person scores on every measurement. But Paul explains that the final score needs one more calculation. Add all these things together and subtract love, and your final answer is zero, nothing! Anything minus love becomes valueless. Just doing things without loving the people is like putting a sign in the window that says “World’s best cup of coffee.” It’s meaningless – or worse – it is deceptive. Love is what gives our actions meaning.

Take time to pray and ask God to show you the area in your life where everyone would say you are “winning,” but you have missed out on the love. Ask God for help injecting his love into everything you do.

 

Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Digging Deeper – Where Should We Love?

Avatar photo Chris Boggess on May 22, 2024

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:1-7 (ESV)


WHERE SHOULD WE LOVE?

There are places where I am not good at showing love. One is my truck. It’s just that there are so many people on the road who are actively making themselves difficult to love! My dashcam proves it! They cut me off, change lanes without their blinker, or turn on their blinker and start coming into my lane even though I am here next to them in my bright red truck, which has somehow been rendered temporarily invisible. It’s easy to write people off whom you don’t know and who are separated from you by a wall of glass and steel.

But really, the truck is just a symptom. To tell the truth, I am not very loving in many places, and you probably aren’t either. Look at the list above in verses 4-7. We love that list. We read it at weddings and hold it up as an example, but it is a mirror. It shows us how far we are from being loving people.

If you don’t think that’s true, just put your name in place of love and see how far you get before you feel a bit convicted. “Chris is patient and kind; Chris does not envy or boast; he is not arrogant or rude. He doesn’t insist on his own way…” You get it, right? It gets tricky in verse 7 because of that recurring phrase “all things.” That includes the times when things don’t go your way. This passage shows us the ideal and how far we miss the loving mark.

Take time now to pray through the first verses of 1 Corinthians 13. Ask God to show you where you are falling short, and ask him to make you more loving. Ask God to show you (or perhaps you already know) the places where you tend to be less loving and ask him to help you change that.

 

Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Digging Deeper – Who Should We Love?

Avatar photo Chris Boggess on May 21, 2024

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV)

 

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:28-31 (NIV)


WHO SHOULD WE LOVE?

Commander Mitsuo Fuchida was a Japanese pilot during World War 2. He was a leader in the attack on Pearl Harbor that started the war and was active throughout. He devoted his life to the warrior culture that permeated the Japanese military. Revenge and honor were the two things that drove him. He survived the war with several near misses on his life.

After the war, many Japanese went on trial for war crimes because of the mistreatment of American POWs. Fuchida assumed that the U.S. had treated the Japanese POWs just as severely. When he spoke to a friend who had been a prisoner, his friend relayed a story of the kindness of an American woman, Peggy Covell, whose missionary parents were killed by Japanese soldiers. She showed compassion instead of taking revenge on these men who were her enemies.

Fuchida became interested in Christianity because of the actions of this one woman and eventually became a believer, preaching around the world and leading many to Christ.

Most of us are mindful of the passage above from Mark 12. After all, we hear it every Sunday, “Love God, love people, live sent.” But Jesus had a more difficult call than just loving our neighbor. The “love people” part of our challenge includes people who are actively opposed to us. God calls us to love our enemies because that is not the world’s culture. Loving our enemies stands out.

Take a moment to pray and ask God to show you who you need to love, not just your neighbor and those who are easy to love, but also the tough ones. Maybe it is someone you work with or perhaps someone from a different political party. Maybe it’s a family member who gossips behind your back or someone whose lifestyle differs from yours. It will be difficult, but it is not beyond what the Holy Spirit can do in your life, as Jesus says at the end of the passage in Matthew, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Pray that God will perfect your love.

Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Digging Deeper – What is Love?

Avatar photo Chris Boggess on May 20, 2024

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

Colossians 3:12-14 (NLT)

 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

1 John 4:7-10 (NLT)


WHAT IS LOVE?

What is love? This seems like a straightforward question. I mean, we all know what love is, right? I love my wife, I love my job, I love my neighbor, and I love… pizza? We throw around the word love a lot. But what do we mean by love? Pizza isn’t a genuine rival for my affection for my wife. That would be weird. I know what I mean by love in those examples, but if you didn’t know my definition, you might not understand who I am. You need to know what I mean when I say love, and if we want to understand the scriptures above, we need to know what they mean by love.

God wants us to love like he does. In 1 John, we read that God is love. It’s not that He is good at loving or even the best at loving, but he IS love; it’s part of Him. So we can learn to love from Him. The prime example of God’s love is Jesus dying for us.

The verse from Colossians tells us to “clothe ourselves” in love. What we wear is a choice we make, just like the kind of selfless love that Scripture suggests we have toward others. In the same way, earlier in the verse, it tells us that God chose us to be his holy people whom He loves. He loves us, not because we are worthy of love, but because He chooses to love us. Then He calls us to love others similarly, not because they are worthy, but because we choose to love like God.

Take a few minutes to pray and ask God to show you the people today who need to see the love of God through you.

Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Digging Deeper – Coyotes in the Neighborhood

Avatar photo Chris Boggess on February 23, 2024

“Now go; I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves.”

Luke 10:3


COYOTES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

 

I saw a coyote in my neighborhood. I pulled out of my driveway early one morning, and as I slowly moved down the street, he came out of the trees like a ghost. He was a big boy. Not a wolf, but I wouldn’t want to meet that creature in the dark. He was slightly bigger than a German Shepherd (some of that might be the bulk of his winter coat). His long snout and loping stride gave away his wildness. He was not a dog or someone’s pet. He glided across the road through the beams of my headlights and disappeared into a tree-filled space by a creek that ran through our neighborhood.

Seeing him has caused me to think a little differently. I know he isn’t interested in me as prey, but seeing that lupine form in all his fluid grace made me a little warier when I take the trash out at night to the lightless lower side of our house, the side closest to the woods.

Wolves are made to hunt. And in their own territory, they are extremely dangerous. A full-grown ram would have his horns full with wolves around, but a lamb would be easy prey. So, when Jesus tells those he sends that they will be like lambs among wolves, that is a dire warning.

How does a lamb protect itself against wolves? First, keep the flock nearby. Having other believers around you to lift you up is essential. And it is even better when you give them the license to correct you when you stray. Accountability gives you protection from the wolves in your life.

Second, Keep the shepherd in sight. We must take time each day to “lock eyes with Jesus.” In my personal life, I can tell the difference between when I take the time to get myself into the right relationship with the Good Shepherd and when I don’t. It makes the difference. If you don’t take time to run to him, then you might just spend your day running from wolves.

What are the wolves in your life? The things that are too big to handle on your own? Lift them up to Jesus and share them with other believers you trust.

Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.