Meet The New Boss

Same as the old boss?

Not exactly.

In United Methodism, local pastors (like me) are supervised by what we call District Superintendents. A DS functions essentially as a pastor to pastors -- and as a listening ear to congregations who may not be enamored with their pastor.

For the last eight years, Dr. George Thompson has served as the Superintendent of the Charlotte District -- and, therefore, as my boss. Though he came into the position relatively unfamiliar with modern worship styles, he has grown a deep love for the full color nature of what we do at Good Shepherd.

George has reached the age of mandatory retirement in the United Methodist Church, and June 26 was his final Sunday in active ministry. The Charlotte Observer ran a very nice piece on him in Monday's edition which you can read about here.

So who's the new boss?

Gary Royals, the current pastor of Jamestown UMC near High Point. Gary served as pastor in the Charlotte area throughout the 90s and early 2000s, most recently at St. Andrews UMC near SouthPark.



I've known and respected Gary for years. He is a graduate of Asbury Seminary which means that we have a theological kinship. He also understands how and why a church like Good Shepherd operates.

He's new to the arena of pastoring pastors, but given his record of ministry success, I believe he'll catch on quickly.

What God Loves

According to Hebrews 11:6 . . .

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

One lesson we draw from that marvelous verse is this: God loves to be trusted.

He really does.

In fact, I believe that he loves to be trusted so much he will put us in situations where we have no other options BUT to trust him.

God loves to be trusted with your troubled marriage.

God loves to be trusted with your wayward children.

God loves to be trusted with your upside down finances.

God loves to be trusted with your compuslive behavior.

God loves to be trusted with your struggling church.

God loves to be trusted with your out-of-control temper.

Will you give God something to love today?

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five People I Ever Played Tennis With

In honor of Wimbledon, this week's Top Five list has to do with the sport that has made up so much of my life.

And in honor of the fact that I don't really play anymore, this post also honors some people I used to play with. Back when I played, that is.

So here are the five most famous people with whom I have ever stepped on a court. Note: a good number of them are famous only in the relative sense -- they are famous in the world of tennis.

5. Craig Kardon. Of all those on the list, I spent by far the most time on the court with this one. We grew up practicing with and competing against one another in the Dallas area. Sometimes he won; other times I won. Together, we won a state championship in doubles for Boys' 18-and-under. During and after college, however, our tennis careers took very different turns: while I went north and focused on academics and ultimately ministry, he starred at the University of Texas, played professionally, and then found his niche as a coach.

And not just any kind of coach. His first "student" was Martina Navratilova, who had already won eight Wimbledons. Craig coached her to her ninth. Since then, he has also coached former World #1 Ana Ivanovic and even had his own instructional show on the Tennis Channel.




4. Butch Buchholz. Butch was a highly ranked American pro in the 1960s. In 1979, he had settled in Dallas and was looking to stay in shape by practicing with an ambitious teenager in the area. Someone suggested me, and so the next thing I knew we were on the court together. I remember two things: he wore a warm up suit (top and bottom) in 95 degree heat and he used no spin at all on his groundstrokes. Buchholz has since gone on to influence the tennis world by founding and subsequently running the game's "Fifth" Grand Slam -- the Key Biscayne Masters held every March.



3. Paul Annacone. I played Paul in 1980 at a National Junior Davis Cup tryout event in Stanford, California. I had one of those days where even though I knew the guy I was playing against was much better than me, I still won, 7-5, 6-4. He later proved how much better he was than me by getting to #12 in the world and a few years later found his true calling: coaching. As you can see in the picture below, he too has coached some winners. Today it's Roger Federer and in the late 90s it was Pete Sampras. Think he ever says to either of them, "You know, that time I played Talbot Davis . . . "?




2. Chuck McKinley. Chuck McKinley won Wimbledon in 1963 without losing a set the entire tournament. And in the fall of 1978, he was in the same situation as Butch Buchholz a year later: relocated to Dallas and looking to play with a teenager who was eager to improve. My name came up. At that stage, I was as focused as I had ever been and he was a far cry from the player who won Wimbledon 15 years earlier. In fact, he was out of shape and could hardly play in the heat. I do remember thinking, "Even though it's just practice, I'm playing a guy who won Wimbledon!"



1. Rod Laver. Laver should top the list of anyone who has ever hit with him. Winner of two calendar year Grand Slams (1962 and 1969), he's among tennis' holy all-time trinity along with Federer and Sampras. In the spring of 1985, I was living in central New Jersey and covering tennis for The Trentonian newspaper. Laver and Ken Rosewall played an exhibition match just outside of Princeton, and I was there to cover it. I got there very early, brought my racket just in case, and God intervened so that Rosewall was late (I'm not sure about that part). Anyway, Laver asked, "would you like to hit a few?" "No, Rod, I'm busy!" So we hit back and forth for about 20 minutes, and it was for sure the most nerve-filled warm-up I've ever been part of. I played reasonably well, though, and he was awfully nice.

Different Voices

I'm glad the people of Good Shepherd don't hear only my voice.

This past weekend is a good case in point.

On Friday night and Saturday morning, we hosted our First Step membership exploration class. About twenty-five hardy souls came out for the experience.

Except I had a prior commitment on Friday night -- a wedding in Fort Mill that turned out to be so much fun.

So Chris Thayer, our Director of Discipleship, filled in for me and taught the first segment of the class.



How do I know he did a good job? Because the entire class came back for round two on Saturday morning.

Then on Sunday morning, Ron Dozier, our Pastor of Missions & Community Impact, gave a rousing conclusion to the Comeback Kids series.



By all accounts, it was the best sermon Ron has delivered for us, punctuated with the memorable take home: Your genealogy is not your destiny; God's promises are.

I'm convinced that was a word delivered through a voice that the people of Good Shepherd needed to hear.

Comeback Kids Week Four -- Rings & Things

"

I am so glad we have spent June in the book of Haggai and in the series "The Comeback Kids."

People have seen how the bible's story intersects their own story; time and again, folks have told me that they came to church this month desperately in need of a "comeback."

I've also been grateful for the video series we put together with poignant on-camera testimonies each week.

It's all been building to this Sunday: "Rings & Things" from Haggai 2:20-23. You'll learn about Zerubbabel, signet rings, Jeremiah, family trees, and your own destiny. I like it a lot.

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

It Doesn't Get Worse Than This . . .

The Body of Christ in Charlotte is reeling this week over the tragedy at Christ Covenant Church.

In a perfect storm of teenage exuberance, foul weather, and well-intentioned adults, this happened:


Day at church camp turns tragic for teen struck by ATV
Evan Wolfe, 15, died after being struck by an ATV at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews.
By Steve Lyttle and Meghan Cooke
Staff Writers
Posted: Thursday, Jun. 23, 2011
Wolfe

More Information
Guest Book: Posts your thoughts, condolences


It was the end of a long, hot day spent volunteering in one of Charlotte's low-income neighborhoods, and Evan Wolfe and his friends wanted to have some fun.

So as a powerful thunderstorm approached Matthews' Christ Covenant Church late Tuesday, 15-year-old Evan and some buddies laid on a driveway and watched the lightning above.

Moments later, with rain now falling in sheets, 43-year-old church volunteer Patrick Keaton pulled into the driveway in an all-terrain vehicle. Everyone but Evan apparently saw the vehicle's approaching lights and jumped up.

The ATV struck Evan, who died a short time later on the way to Carolinas Medical Center.

"It was just teenagers, horsing around as teenagers do," said Michael Ross, senior pastor at Christ Covenant Church. "But it turned tragic."

Evan was among about 300 teens participating in Christ Covenant's annual Seek The City, a weeklong community service camp in which youths sleep each night at the church and spend their days helping with projects in the Charlotte area.

Evan had spent Tuesday at Jackson Park Ministries in west Charlotte, helping with a Vacation Bible School and other volunteer work.

Matthews police are investigating his death and said Wednesday they have not decided whether any charges would be filed.

Ross said both families - Evan's and Keaton's - are "taking this very hard."

Evan, of Weddington, had finished his sophomore year at Metrolina Christian Academy in Indian Trail but was transferring this fall to Covenant Day School, on the church campus. Ross said the young man had made an impact in the community.

"He was a natural leader," Ross said.

The incident happened a little after 10 p.m. A few minutes later, the teens were to gather in the high school for an evening prayer service and then go to sleep.

Ross said Keaton, a member of Christ Covenant Church like Evan, had gotten in the ATV to ride from the high school building to the church.

"He had no idea the students were on the ground," Ross said.

Instead of lights-out, Tuesday night turned into one of sorrow for students and counselors, stretching well into early Wednesday.

Ross rushed to the church from his home and consoled those who had witnessed the incident. He said teens and adult counselors were stunned, trying to make sense of what had happened while a violent thunderstorm raged around them.

A short time later, around 11:30 p.m., he received a call that Evan had died. He brought all the students and counselors to the gymnasium to let them know.

"There was a lot of sobbing, a lot of tears," Ross said.

The church suspended community service activities Wednesday but expects to resume the camp today. Ross said Evan's parents, who were too grief-stricken to speak with the media, asked that the camp go on.

Alex Lewis, a classmate of Evan's at Metrolina Christian Academy, said Evan performed in school plays and participated in several sports, including basketball, football and soccer. He also ran track.

"He wasn't always the star player, but he was always out there giving it his all," Lewis said.

After learning of Evan's death, his friends posted memories of Evan and prayers on Facebook.

"You were a true friend, someone anybody could go and talk to and trust," wrote one classmate. "We'll all miss you, but you're in a better place now."

A teacher at Metrolina Christian Academy wrote: "Words cannot express the sorrow I'm feeling. ... Evan was the kind of student you loved having in the classroom. He was smart, funny, caring, loving and most importantly, loved the Lord with all his heart."


Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/06/23/2399438/a-day-at-church-camp-turns-tragic.html#ixzz1Q6fxxxOn

It's the kind of thing that shakes your faith in church, and in God.

As I wrestle with my faith, I'm going to be doubling up in prayers for the people of Christ Covenant and the two families involved. Will you join me?

Observing Vs. Owning

There is a major difference between observing ministry and owning it.

All too often in contemporary church settings, people do a great deal of observation.

They observe the band as it leads in music. They observe the preacher as he or she delivers a message. They observe the high quality children's programs. They observe student ministry. They even observe how warmly they are welcomed into the worship space by others.

It's a passive form of Christianity.

And it's one that all too often I have encouraged and enabled.

People who own the church's ministry are entirely different. They recognize that the New Testament teaching on the Body of Christ really means what it says: that all parts of the church are interconnected. All parts are vital. If one part is hurting -- or absent -- then the whole body suffers.

So people who get this concept own the ministry of which they are part. They show up at the nursery. They are on time to greet. They give themselves to students in their family group. They serve with their own small group. They understand that if they rely on "someone else" to help with the children, then no one helps with the children.

Last week's Vacation Bible School had about 500 children and 100 volunteers.

The vast majority of those servants owned the ministry that week.

I want to dedicate my time here to moving more and more people away from observation and into ownership.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five College Campus Buzzwords

Having spent the better part of the last two days in Chapel Hill for Riley's pre-enrollment orientation, I have now been officially exposed to all the latest jargon from the world of academia.

Riley has received orientation in how to be a college student while I have received orientation in how to be the parent of a collegian.

Regardless of the setting, however, if you listen closely, you'll hear the same words and phrases over and over . . . and over.

So what am I hearing this year?

1. First year student. When I entered college back in 1980, I was a freshman. So were all my classmates. Riley? Oh no. He is a first year. Why? Can't you tell? Freshman is an inherently sexist term.

2. Sustainability. Sustainable dorms. Sustainable food. Sustainable communities. Sustainable sustenance. A noble cause to ensure that we don't use more resources than we actually have.

3. Diversity. Diversity is a strong value here at Chapel Hill. Diversity of race, income level, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, and primary language. I like Good Shepherd's phrase "full color" better as well as the way we have a radical unity of allegiance -- to Jesus -- that supports of diversity of backgrounds. Nevertheless, there is quite a collection of people coming to this quaint college town.

4. Globalization. See Number 3, above. Yet globalization refers specifically to the interconnectedness of North America and Asia in particular, as this school is replete with students from the Far East and the subcontinent of India.

5. Pluralism. All ideas and religions are equally valid. The only absolute truth is that there is no absolute truth. Figure that one out.

An Early Experience Of Prayer

I told the people of Good Shepherd yesterday about one of my first prayers ever.

Now: I had prayed the Lord's Prayer many times as a young boy. I also had the occasional "God is great, God is good, let us thank him for this food" before meals.

But this one was heartfelt and urgent. I was 15 and had not yet decided to give Jesus my life. But I needed one of his answers.

The prayer went like this: "Lord, if I wake up in the morning and all my pimples are gone, then I'll believe in you."

I woke up the next morning, looked in the mirror, and the same old stuff was there.

God had failed the test.

Or perhaps I didn't understand a bigger truth: I wanted the blessing without the commitment. The favor without the surrender.

From Haggai 2:15-19, I get a different order in life. Tomorrow's blessings follow today's obedience.

How is your level of submission today? The greater your surrender, the broader is the pathway for God's blessings in your life.

Pimples or not.

Comeback Kids, Week 3 -- Time Passages

Haggai 2:10-19 does some interesting thing with the concept of "time."

So we're going to dig into this coming Sunday.

"Time Passages."

A message that many of us who major in impatience need to hear.

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

Methodism And Doctrinal Dilemmas

Having spent several days last week at the Western North Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, well, Methodism is on my mind.

One of the more common refrains heard at this or virtually any Methodist meeting is that doctrine divides while love unites. Other variations on this theme include the quote -- sometimes attributed to John Wesley & other times given to St. Augustine -- “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.”

The implied assumption is that dialog about the issues is as important as resolution of those issues.

All well and good. I'm all for both liberty and charity.

Yet the witness of the New Testament church is decidedly different. In that setting, doctrinal clarity was not only encouraged; it was essential. Look at Paul's first instruction to son in the faith in I Timothy 1:3:

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer . . .

Again, protecting the treasure of Christian truth is Timothy's first task.

I wonder how many of us local Methodist preachers see such preservation as the primary reason we are given stewardship of a congregation?

VBS Flash Of Insight

This is my Vacation Bible School crew for 2011:



We are in the middle of a program called Jump: Put Faith In Motion.

This morning, my group and I were discussing today's bottom line: Jesus ROSE again so that you would know He is GOD.

I briefly told about the crucifixion on Good Friday followed by the resurrection on that first Easter Sunday.

The face of one of the little boys in the group grew bright as he had sudden flash of insight: "So that's why we have church on Sunday! So every week is a celebration of the resurrection!"

How's that for downloading 2000 years of church history -- and understanding one of the early church's most fundamental decisions -- in a twenty minute Vacation Bible School lesson?

Jump, indeed.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Guitar Riffs

My son has helped me understand the difference between a guitar riff and a guitar solo.

A riff is a recurring sequence of notes that forms the song's signature.

A solo is longer and more improvisational. It occurs only once in a song.

I think I like riffs better.

So here they are . . . my top five guitar riffs of all time:

5. Layla by Eric Clapton. The opening moments combine power and sensitivity, boldness and pain as well as anything else in rock's history.



4. Free Fallin' by Tom Petty. Can a legitimate riff be played on an acoustic guitar? When it sounds like this it can.



3. More Than A Feeling by Boston. That first Boston album was such a revelation, and this is one track with staying power.



2. Brown Sugar by the Rolling Stones. This entire list could have come from Keith Richard riffs -- "Satisfaction," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Monkey Man," and then a true favorite from a song whose title I can't mention on this blog. Given all those, Brown Sugar's combination of electric and acoustic sounds gives it the nod.



1. Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N Roses. Ironically, I am no fan of GNR. Axl Rose was one of the first to add violence to the debauchery that already existed in rock culture. The band's lyrics add little to our cultural discourse. But . . . how cool is it when Slash plugs in his piece, hair covering his face, and launches into that unforgettable intro? It's even better when you listen for all the variations on the riff throughout the song.

The Seeds You Sow

At last Saturday's Rivergate concert, I briefly stood next to a man who struck up a conversation with me.

"You came to my house a couple of years ago to invite us to church," he said. "And I just want you to know that we've been coming ever since."


Now: that visit was part of what we call "Bless This House," a high-touch, low-threat approach to sharing our faith in which we visit newcomers to the area and give them a refrigerator magnet, an invitation to church, and, when appropriate, a prayer over their new home.

I had some memory of that particular visit from 2009.

But I had no idea it bore fruit.

That's the way it is with a lot of ministry, I think. You scatter seed, hope to do some small things well, pray that the accumulation of small things will lead to big things, and then leave it to God.

Many times, the results are negligible.

But every so often, grace breaks through and it gives you the encouragement to do one more small thing well.

Rivergate Concert Series -- Saturday From 6-9 PM

In 2008 and 2009, the Good Shepherd band played a series of concerts at the Rivergate Shopping Center.

Under the name of "Thrive Alive," here's what it looked like:



Well, Rivergate has asked us to come back and we've said yes.

So this Saturday, June 11 from 6-9 p.m., the Good Shepherd band will host the first of its two summer concerts at Rivergate. While we're no longer calling it "Thrive Alive," it will still thrive. And will be alive. Good Shepherd Summer Concert Series at Rivergate.

Bring a lawn chair, some friends, and ice cream money. It'll be a blast.

-----------------------------------

And The Comeback Kids moves into his second round on Sunday with a message called "The Power & The Glory & The Story" from Haggai 2:1-9. See you there!

Twenty Seven Years On

Here's what Julie and I looked like on June 9,1984, in Princeton, New Jersey.

That day was hot, the preacher was sweating, the reception was crowded, I was nervous, but we were married.

In the intervening years, we've lived in Hamilton, New Jersey; Georgetown, Kentucky; Monroe, North Carolina; and now, of course Charlotte.

We've aged in some ways; not so much in others.

Best of all, we've had two children who don't take themselves too seriously. Here's what we all look like now:



All in all, there's not much I'd change.

You Can Now Watch It On Video

We've recently added a new feature to the www.gsumc.org website: you can watch a video of the sermon from the preceding week.

Here's out you do it:

1. Go to www.gsumc.org.

2. Click on the "Media" tab at the top right of the home page.

3. You'll see a screen full of messages choices. This week, click on "Comeback Kids 1 - When The Zoning Commission" 6.5.11

4. Click on the television icon.

5. A screen will come up and you'll see a man wearing an orange shirt starting a sermon. That's me.

We don't yet have live streaming and due to copyright issues we can't post the music portions of the worship on the site yet.

But we pray you'll be strengthened by what is there.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Sports Comebacks

In honor of our Comeback Kids series, I want to post on that area of life in which comebacks are the most vivid and immediate: sports.

Here are five of the most sensational comebacks I have seen. In some cases, they made me leap out of my seat for joy. In others, they made me bury my head in my hands and cry.

5. Philadelphia Eagles 37, New York Giants 31, December, 2010. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Giants led 31-10 in what looked to be a ho-hum regular season game. Not so fast. Led by Michael Vick -- no stranger to comeback stories himself -- the Eagles tied the game with just moments to play. This one makes the list because Philadelphia's win came on the most improbable final play of a game I have ever seen:



4. Ivan Lendl defeats John McEnroe in the finals of the 1984 French Open 2-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5. McEnroe was undefeated up to this point in 1984 and for the first two and a half sets was at his most brilliant, beguiling best. On clay. It was probably the best serve-and-volley tennis ever on clay. Except the match was best three out of five. McEnroe became distracted by some courtside microphones, Lendl found his first courage and a second wind and came roaring back to win in five. Lendl's joy upon winning match point is wonderfully unrestrained.



3. Dallas Cowboys 17, Minnesota Vikings 14, 1975 playoffs. The original "Hail Mary" pass. Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson . . . did he push off or not? We'll never tell. Much celebration in the Davis house on this day; many tears throughout Minneapolis. The Cowboys had no business winning this one. But they did. Heh.



2. Buffalo Bills 41, Houston Oilers 38, January, 1993 playoffs. The Bills were down 35-3 in the third quarter, their starting quarterback Jim Kelly was knocked out of the game, AND THEY WON. They WON. Backup Frank Reich engineers the comeback for the ages. Trivia: did you know that Reich was for a time the president of Reformed Theological Seminary here in Charlotte?



1. Mets over Red Sox in Seven Games, 1986 World Series. The Mets were down to their last strike in Game Six, and the Red Sox had already begun celebrating. Keith Hernandez of the Mets had already retired to the dugout and lit up a cigarette! Then it all broke lose. Ironically, this was the conclusion to the one year in my life when I followed baseball closely. My team that year? The Mets.

Bruce Springsteen, PTL, and Haggai

So we started The Comeback Kids yesterday.

Along the way we discovered some common threads between Bruce Springsteen, PTL, and the prophet Haggai.

Springsteen's haunting "My City Of Ruins" describes so well a land and a people in desolation:



So yesterday John Pavlovitz sang it, backed by Chris Macedo and the GS Band. It was terrific.

Then the sermon opened with a photo of the yet-to-be completed Heritage Tower on the campus of the former PTL club in nearby Fort Mill. Construction on the tower stopped in 1987 and hasn't resumed since.



Just like the unfinished Jerusalem temple in 520 B.C. Haggai is charged by God with motivating the people of Israel to begin their own "comeback" and finish construction on the building that had been halted 16 years earlier.

Cities in ruins, buildings half-finished, and Bruce Springsteen in church.

Sounds like a good way to start a comeback.

Comeback Kids -- Origins & Launch

"

I think the story of how our new series "The Comeback Kids" came to "be" is an interesting one.

After all, it's not often that a church will do a series based on the Old Testament book of Haggai. Yet that's what we're doing.

In the spring of 2010, I enrolled in a class offered at Good Shepherd but taught by Steve Klipowicz, a professor and friend from nearby Gordon-Conwell Seminary. The class was called "Hope For Troubled Times" and focused on a group of books known as the "post-Exilic prophets."

Haggai is one of those prophets.

As Dr. Klipowicz reached that particular teaching segment, he taught us that Haggai's purpose was to "rally" the people of Israel to rebuild their temple. As part of the class, he had us brainstorm on all the "rallies" we had been part of.

My mind immediately went to "rally caps," a phenomenon in Major League baseball just a couple of years ago. If your team was losing a game, you adjusted your hat as in the picture below, it became the "rally cap," and of course the headgear change would make your team come back. So I thought, "that will preach."



So my original title for the series was "Rally Cap." We even toyed with the idea of giving away painters hats as a promo.

Yet when I tested the title on people around the church, it had no connection. Apparently only die-hard baseball fans -- or people like me who even though we don't care that much about baseball DO watch SportsCenter at least twice daily -- are aware of the phenomenon of rally caps.

So back to square one.

Yet while mowing the lawn one day, it hit me. The Comeback Kids. Better title with a more universal appeal. The content of the messages wouldn't change much, but the metaphor became much stronger.

As an added bonus, we'll have "comeback stories" from the people of Good Shepherd throughout the series.

It all starts this Sunday with "When The Zoning Commission Votes You Down." To prepare, take a look at both Ezra 4 and Haggai 1.

And then come prepared for your own comeback.

Sunday. 8:30. 10. 11:30.

Praying When You're Not Praying

My most powerful times of prayer have not come when I was praying.

Instead, they've come in the middle of counseling sessions.

I've had a number of counseling situations arise which were obviously beyond my capabilities or wisdom.

So with my eyes still open and with my voice still engaged in conversation, I entered into fervent prayer.

Lord, let this person see love and not fear on my face!

Lord, give me words to say that come from your mind and not mine.

Lord, bring that balance of truth and love that only you can provide.

And the answers have come. Sometimes I don't recognize it until much later -- "hey, that went better than I thought!" -- and other times I sense it immediately: "I know those words came from somewhere else because I never would have thought of that on my own."

It makes me wonder what other areas of my life might improve if I would only pray when I'm not praying.

The Cosmic Christ

My favorite verses in Scripture are those that describe the reality of the incarnation of God in Christ.

The concept is such that human language is frankly inadequate to describe its power and beauty.

Nevertheless, the New Testament authors do a remarkable job of scaling some literary and theological mountaintops. Here goes:

John 1:1-2, 14: In the beginning was the Word and the Word as with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning . . . and the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

Philippians 2:9-11: Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Colossians 1:15-17: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Colossians 2:9-10: For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

Hebrews 1:3: The Son is the radiance of God's glroy and the exact representation of his being, susatining all things by his powerful word.

Whew.

Biblical faith has no room for a Jesus who is merely role model, teacher, or revolutionary, or ethicist.

Jesus is Lord. And there is no other.