JON ALLEN

No, you're wrong, this is not about my wife...

Have you ever seen the show Bait Car? It's kind of cool, but also kind of boring. It reminds me a little bit of Deadliest Catch. The same thing happens every single episode, but somehow I can't look away. Speaking of which, Jess and I have started watching the show Whale Wars and we keep saying, "maybe this will be the episode where something happens..." but it never does (sorry, squirrel). Anyway, on this show Bait Car the police put out a car, leave the keys in it or leave it running, then wait for someone to come along and steal it. They have a pretty sweet setup because after the car is stolen they can remotely shut the car down to catch the perps (yes, I just wanted to say "perps").

I am simply in awe of what God has done. I must always remember that I am nothing without Christ. As a pastor I absolutely cannot let pride slip into my thoughts. If I forget for 1 second that every gift, every passion, every opportunity comes from God I could be in serious, serious trouble. Pride has destroyed more pastors than I can count and I must always remember that this is not my church, it’s not Ray’s, it’s not Ronnie’s, it’s not Ron’s, or Brian’s, or Mike’s, or Doug’s, or Torrey’s, it’s God’s, and God’s alone. I would never have believed that God would have me in the position He has me in right now. Yet He does, and looking back now, if makes sense. It makes perfect sense. I am completely humbled at this moment. At the same time ecstatic, scared, thankful, honored, awestruck, too many things to write.

“Lord, I thank you for who you are. I could never match the greatness of Your glory. I could never live up to Your standards. I ask you to forgive me for my sins and where I have failed you. I honestly pursue Your will for my life. I need your direction. My desire is to serve you any way you see fit, so please make that unmistakably clear to me. If there is any place in my life where I need refinement, please send me the instruction and training I need. I want to be all that you need of me. Thank you for all you have allowed me to do through your strength. I am honored to be your servant. I offer myself wholly to you. Amen.”

As a pastor I think it is critical to continually be learning and growing. This requires careful study and reflection. What I am writing right now is a part of this process. I need to constantly be learning more about God’s Word and what He wants me to do about it. I have found that I don’t learn much about stuff I really don’t care about. Social Studies is a good example (sorry History buffs). Although its somewhat interesting, I really don’t care much about History books, I am much more concerned about the future. Not that history isn’t important; I’ll just let someone else study it. Understand that when I say I’m not interested in History I am not including the Bible in that, it’s not just a history book. I learn things I ascribe value to. You put something in front of me about how the interaction between Jesus and the woman with the bleeding condition in Luke 5 and how it made it possible for Jesus to raise Jairus’ daughter from the dead, now you have my attention! I love to learn, I love to grow, and I have to as a pastor.

It is one thing to want to teach, it is another to formulate your thoughts, and it is something altogether different to actually stand in front of a room full of people and say it. Not just to say it either, but to communicate it effectively. Communication requires that you be engaging, concise, accurate, collected, comfortable, organized and confident. Most of these things come from experience. I know that is why God made me a performer. I know that public speaking is one of the number one fears people have, but honestly, for me, it’s not stressful. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t important or it is easy, but all it means is that experience has made it easier. Like I always say, “If you aren’t a little bit nervosa before you step on stage, something isn’t right.” But I am comfortable on stage which allows me to let go and have confidence. It also makes it easier knowing I am delivering God’s message and not mine. Knowing that I can always speak with confidence and authority standing on God’s Word (not literally, although scripture is written on the beams under the stage…).

Something spontaneous and incredible happen tonight! One of those things you just can't plan, and even if you tried, it would happen like this.

A crucial element to a healthy Christian walk is to submit to the authority of God. I have no problem doing that because I am a rule-follower. To me it is simple, if God says I shouldn’t be sexually immoral, I won’t. If He says He wants me to tithe, I will. If He sets the rule, I will follow. I believe He has put this in me to help me communicate this concept, but also to help keep me above reproach as a man and pastor. To shield me from moral failings and temptations. I thank Him wholeheartedly for that.

I think that most people underestimate the amount of thought, planning, prayer, and preparation that goes into just one weekend’s message. To me there is a beauty in taking a message concept or scripture and finding a way to communicate it in a way that makes sense and takes people on a journey of discovery. God made me a craftsman to help me craft meaningful and effective messages. I take great joy in seeing a rag-tag bunch of ideas come together in a masterpiece. It is a beautiful thing and it helps lead people to real life change.

These are several pieces of the picture, but how do they fit? What is the picture? As I sit back now and look at the position God has put me in as a pastor at high Rock it is beginning to make sense! Each piece fits perfectly.

God has made me a teacher. I sincerely want to teach people. I want them to “get it”. To honestly trust Christ with their salvation and life. That means really putting Him in control of their everyday thoughts and activities. He has given me the desire to do that in a practical and creative way that will open closed eyes and soften hard hearts. The fact that He has made ma a logical thinker helps me be a better teacher. I can organize thoughts well and communicate concepts in a clear and understandable way. People often tell me that one of their favorite things about HRCC is (at all campuses) that they finally understand church sermons! Great! If we aren’t doing that, then what are we doing as teachers?

Without God teaching me to be 100% dedicated to Him, I would have no motivation to teach people to do that very thing. If God wasn’t teaching me constantly there would be no drive to teach. How can I ask or instruct people to do what I myself am not willing to do?

Do not think that you self worth is a function of your performance plus the opinion of others, otherwise the devil's got you.

Nothing like a good old fashioned mountain hoe-down.

I am a...

Loner
This will definitely shock some people, but it’s true. I have never been an overtly social person. I function well in groups and relate well to people in the moment, but I am not by definition a “people person”. Truth be told, I love being alone (which includes being with Jess and the boys). I like the peacefulness of it. Solitude and reflection are my friends. I can see this clearly now as an adult because I know I am not good at keeping up relationships with friends. I talk to almost no friends from High School or College, I talk to my parents maybe once a month (on a good month), and I struggle to call and check up with people from the church to see how they are doing. Again, not sure why this is, it just is.

I am a...

Performer
Surveys consistently show that one of the biggest fears people have is public speaking. I can honestly say that I am not included in that group. I have been in front of people my whole life. Singing in church, being in YMCA variety shows, HS/MS Chorus, Mixed Ensemble, Boys Quartet, All-County/State Chorus, NYSSMA Solos, High School Musicals, BMOC, New Grace Singers, HRCC Praise Team, you name it. I have been in front of crowds my whole life and have absolutely no fear (except the healthy kind) before stepping on stage.

I am a...

Nerd
Spoiler Alert! I’m a huge nerd. Don’t worry, it’s okay with me. It served me pretty well thus far. I am a logical, linear thinker, not a feeler. That is why when I was young I excelled in math, in fact all the way through High School I never got less than a 98 on a Math Regents Exam (or EOG/EOC as they are called in NC). Not because I am particularly smart, but because my brain is just wired that way. I often don’t do things that I consider irrational or have not been thought through (sometimes overanalyzed).

Boy, here is a doozy (SP?). This word is a little bit like the word "Blog". If you're in-the-know you understand, if you aren't it just sounds weird. Actually, if you look it up in Webster's Dictionary the first definition is "to deliver from sin". Have you ever noticed how a word can be used so often that it begins to lose its meaning and significance? It's not a problem with the word, it's a problem with the communicator and sometimes the listener. If you don't believe me, just say the word watermelon about 43 times and see if it makes any sense when you are done.

I am a...

Craftsman
Basically a fancy word to say I like to make stuff. God etched into me a little bit of a creative edge. I have found that there are two basic kinds of creativity… spontaneous and inspired. I have not been blessed with the gift of spontaneous creativity. I wish I was, but alas (yes, alas) I was not. I can’t come up with creative ideas, lyrics, images, etc… out of thin air, rather my creativity is the result of inspiration. I see an image, hear a verse, get and idea, then the creativity flows. When I was younger I drew and painted, nothing too spectacular, not exactly Rembrandt, but I enjoyed it. As I grew older and learned the guitar I began expressing my creativity by writing songs… everything from the light hearted “Yo Mamma” (a classic by the way) to lyrics that didn’t even come from my own experience like “I’m sitting on these steps and the screams aren’t fading. A tear falls from my eye because it must be my fault.” A downer, I know. As I have grown older yet, I write less music, I don’t draw much anymore, but I have taken up the hobby of woodworking. One of my favorite things to do is take raw materials, plan with them, cut them, sand them, and see something created out of essentially nothing. It is a beautiful process.

We hear this word all the time. Jesus was crucified. Several years ago now the movie was released "The Passion of the Christ" and with its release came a renewed sense of appreciation for the agony that Jesus went through. There were stories of people having heart attacks during the movie because of its graphic nature. I can tell you two things for sure about that movie... It was the most accurate depiction of the crucifixion we have ever seen on film, and it is still nowhere close to conveying the pain that Jesus experienced. Movies are fake, actors are protected, sets are guarded, the government has regulations on what can be shown. It was far more painful than that. So painful in fact that they had to invent a word for it... excruciating, which means "out of the cross".

I am a...

Teacher
I find it interesting that my whole life I have wanted to be a teacher. I have always respected my teachers that would lead us to concepts and understanding as opposed to cramming material for tests. In fact, as a freshman in college I had a major in Education with a minor in Mathematics. My aspiration was to be a math teacher. Math has always come easily to me and I thought I wanted to teach. My mother always use to tell me what a good teacher I was as I showed her how to use the delete button on our computer, maybe that’s where it came from. Turns out that Calculus isn’t real math unfortunately (at least in my book). It deals more with concepts than actual numbers and I didn’t handle that well. I gave that three shots and realized that math, and consequently education, were not for me. I changed my major to business management for the supposed moolah, but was never able to shake the fulfillment I got from teaching people new concepts and seeing their “light bulb moment”.

I am a...

Perfectionist
You may not be able to tell it by looking at my life, but I sweat the small stuff. Actually I find that in many areas of my life that is true, and in many areas it is not. I typically like things symmetrical, orderly, even, square. Yes it’s true, when I am at a restaurant and see a crooked picture I get up and straighten it. I am that guy. Even when it comes to folding laundry, there’s a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. I do it the right way. This shows up a lot in graphics I create for the church. My graphics tend to be more logical and less artistic. I will work on a graphic for way too long to make it as close to perfect as I can get. I also see this a lot in formatting notes and outlines. To me thought organization on a page is an art in and of itself. For me, good enough is never good enough.

LORD

You might be thinking… Lord? I know what that means, it means God is in control right? Sort of. It must be, just think of the lord of the house, the lord of the castle, and the lord of the rings! The key words used in the Bible that translate to Lord are YHWH (Yahweh), Kurios, and Adonay. Definition of these words? Lord.

Perhaps you have heard somewhere along the line that it is easy to make Jesus your Savior, but much harder to make him your Lord. I have to agree. Jesus as my Savior benefits me, Jesus as my Lord benefits Him. I know there are benefits to putting God in control, but they come at a cost. There are a lot of people who say “Lord Jesus” or “Jesus is my Lord” and don’t mean it. Often they don’t even understand the gravity of what they are saying.

Lord Jesus is in complete control.
I submit to His will no matter what it takes and what it costs.
Lord Jesus determines my steps, He guides my conversations, He holds my heart in His hand. Lord Jesus owns me.
Lord Jesus loves me.
Lord Jesus controls me.
He is my Lord. Is He yours?

What is my picture? What is God forming me into? What does He want me to do?

LOVE

Have you ever noticed that we have certain trigger words in church? Sometimes when we hear something over and over it can begin to lose its significance. Perhaps a simple rephrasing can breathe some life back into these significant words. I thought it might be interesting to take a look at a few of these and recognize the depth with which they should be regarded. Here are the first that came to mind...

In the message this weekend I referenced a book my dad sent me years ago called "Why Men Hate Going to Church". Basically the premise of the book is that church has been designed for women so it doesn't appeal to men. It got me thinking, what are some of the less significant reasons a man might not like church? Here's a few I thought of...

Have you ever had one of those moments where you could feel God speaking to you as plain as day? Maybe not in an audible voice, but almost like he turns on the faucet in your mind and you just can’t seem to turn it off? I am having one of those moments right now. Sure it is 2am and every sane person is tucked cozily in bed right now. But I just can’t help it. I feel God speaking to me about who I am and what He wants me to do. Honestly, I don’t get in moods like this often, but when I do, I feel the compulsion to write my thoughts down. Somehow I feel like if I don’t record the thoughts I may miss or forget something significant. Typically I would sit down at the computer (being the huge nerd that I am), but this time I couldn’t resist the simplicity of putting pen to paper and allowing the flow of thoughts in my head travel through my arm, then my fingers, and out the end of a good old fashioned pen. Never to be backspaced, deleted, or cut.

Before I was a pastor I don’t know if I ever honestly thought about who God had created me to be. Sure I thought about what I was good at, what I enjoyed, what I wanted to do, “when I grew up.” But never really looked at the big picture and realized the mosaic that God was creating. To see that He had orchestrated every piece of my life to lead me where He wanted me to be, and that He is not even close to finished. Part of me wishes that I had seen it sooner and could have taken steps to prepare myself more fully for my purpose… and yet part of me realizes that perhaps the veiling of my purpose was necessary to lead me to it. The process of discovery has been and exciting one and there is a sense in which I feel like a child who is learning that he can swing, or run, or stack blocks. All of these things seem run-of-the-mill to us now, but when we are still young they are significant revelations. God is teaching me very specifically who He has designed me to be. As He is doing this, He is revealing to me events and experiences from my life that He has (unbeknownst to me) been using to shape me for this day and the days to come. It’s almost as if He has been creating each piece of the puzzle and He is just now putting the edges together. Not to dissimilar from one of my favorite movies of all time “Magnolia”. It is a strange movie for sure; in fact most people don’t get it. But I see my life in that movie. It tells the story of several different people living very distinct and separate lives. All with their own seemingly disconnected circumstances and issues. Yet somehow by the end of the movie every single story interconnects and you can se a larger picture that is greater than the sum of its parts. That is my life. I also believe that if everyone would truly seek God’s purpose for their own life, they would see that it is theirs as well.

What is my picture? What is God forming me into? What does He want me to do?

God has really been teaching me lately. About His Word as always, but specifically who He has created me to be and what He wants me to do. A few weeks ago I had a night where I couldn't sleep. Thoughts were rushing through me head like a whirlwind and I knew the only way I was going to get some rest was if I released those thoughts. Originally my plan was to blog them, but I backed out. I thought, "who will care about my ramblings about who God made me to be?" A few days ago I reconsidered and I started transcribing them into the computer. Why did I change my mind? I hope that this can be an example for you. I hope and pray that if you take the time to read these thoughts you may begin your own process of self-discovery and more accurately picture what God has planned for you. I also believe that as a pastor I need to be transparent and authentic. I feel that the better you know me as a person the more confidence you will have in my leadership. Take it or leave it, read it or not. I will be putting a piece of it up every couple days as it is quite long, so here we go...

I was pulling in the driveway tonight and I looked at our yard. Have you ever noticed that grass always looks perfect at night? However, when the sun rises in the morning you will see the brown patches, bare patches and evil gumballs. Life isn't all that different. When we live in the dark it's easy not to see the imperfections. But when we live in the light we see the spots that need work.

This is without a doubt the greatest musical production I have ever seen. It's Northpoint Community Church's Christmas opener. They have four campuses and they jump LIVE to their different bands doing different parts of the song in different styles. Incredible!

You HAVE to watch this...
http://www.npccproduction.org/blog/2009/12/29/december-20-opener/

Kick Him Out! from Jon Allen on Vimeo.

Guess you will have to watch this one to figure it out... here's a hint (Nehemiah 13).

Glad God is Who He Is from Jon Allen on Vimeo.

What if God was only one piece of who He is?

You Teach Me! from Jon Allen on Vimeo.

Separation of Church and State? from Jon Allen on Vimeo.

What a funny phrase! It makes me giggle. The only way this could ever happen is if we separated Christians from the country. As Christians we have an obligation and opportunity to be involved in our government. We should take it very seriously and make sure that our representatives stand on Godly principles.

Why? from Jon Allen on Vimeo.

One of the most important questions we can ask as a Christian is "Why?" It leads to a deeper understanding of the scripture than just the surface level.