Go And Do Likewise

Jesus finished some of his teachings and parables with a command for his followers to “go and do likewise”. When he washed the disciples feet at the last supper he told them they should follow his example of servant leadership…they should “go and do likewise”. When he told the parable of the good Samaritan he told his listeners they should go and do like the good Samaritan did…loving our neighbors as an outflow of our love for God. As Christians we claim the name of Jesus and are called to literally follow his examples. Jesus said the greatest commandment is loving God and the second is loving others. His final instructions to his followers were to go and make disciples (followers). In other words, the most important things in life, according to Jesus, are loving God, loving others, and sharing the love of God with others. Elevation Church is founded on these basic principles of Christianity and we strive to live them out daily and lead others to do the same.

We have organized two great opportunities for people in our community - Flower Mound, Highland Village, Lewisville and surrounding areas - to “go and do likewise”. We will love our neighbors and share the love of God this Saturday April 28 with the Breaking Bread ministry as we serve meals to some of Denton County’s less fortunate souls at Singing Oaks Church in Denton. If you would like to participate in this incredible outpouring and help meet both the physical and spiritual needs of some hurting, hungry people please email pastortodd@elevationchurchtx.org and I will send you all the details.

Saturday May 5 we are partnering with the Town of Flower Mound to help put on KidFish, a fun family oriented event at Rheudasil Park. The park’s pond is stocked with lots of extra hungry catfish for the event and kids are encouraged to fish for fun and prizes. Elevation Church will give away free water bottles and candy, host a ladder golf game, and lend a hand to any kids or adults not familiar with fishing. Email me at pastortodd@elevationchurchtx.org for more info and to take advantage of a great chance to love your neighbors!

I cannot wait to see how God will use us as His hands and feet in these two awesome events. Let’s follow Jesus together…let’s “go and do likewise!”

According to Jim

We celebrated Easter yesterday and it was a HUGE day for Elevation Church! We saw lots of new faces and set a new attendance record! But it’s not the numbers that count…it is the lives the numbers represent. If you checked out Elevation Church, thank you for celebrating Easter with us! It is my privilege to welcome you and invite you back next weekend as we begin a new teaching series from the book of James entitled “According to Jim”.

James is a unique book in the Bible in that it barely discusses the Gospel. But James, who was Jesus’ half brother, wrote extensively about how we live in light of the Gospel. In other words James teaches how we “go and do likewise” which is the phrase we have seen repeated over the past couple of weeks. It was Jesus who issued this command when he washed the disciples’ feet and when he told the parable of the good Samaritan. We are to live as Jesus lived, loving God and loving others. James gives us instructions on living this kind of life.

So I hope you will be here next Sunday April 15 at 10 am for “According to Jim”!

Atheist ads at Easter

I haven’t seen the full story yet, but before 10 am today a handful of people had asked me about my thoughts on the atheist ad campaign coming to Dallas/Ft. Worth this Easter. I Googled the story and read it. I don’t understand why Christians get so upset about these things. We should expect them because we live in a sin stained world. And we don’t need to get all puffed up and holier than thou about this kind of thing. Here are my thoughts about the story.

It is the right of any religious (or irreligious) organization to express its views. That’s one of the beautiful things about the United States of America. Though our founding fathers were mainly Christians (not atheists as many would try to persuade you), they set up this nation with freedom to practice religion freely and speak freely. This is the same right that guarantees Christians can gather and worship as well as share our faith publicly. So I say let the atheists share their lack of faith if they want to. They have the same protection under the law as Christians or any other ‘religious’ organization.

I have heard that some parents are concerned their children will be affected by the billboards and advertisements at local movie theaters. I agree. Parents, your children might be affected. Therefore it is incumbent upon you to parent your children. Too many parents take a pass when it’s time to teach their kids about life. I know…I’m a parent of 3 and have pastored for over a decade. I’ve seen lots of passive parents and have even made this error once or twice myself. It is our responsibility to prepare our kids, to teach our kids, and yes to protect our kids when we can. But many times we cannot protect them from certain things. This is one of those things. You can’t keep them from seeing every billboard and you may not know the ad is going to run during a family movie you go see. So prepare your kids. First, you have to model the faith you are trying to teach. Otherwise it’s a lost cause. So check yourself before trying to pass along moral lessons to your kids. If they hear you say one thing and see you consistently do something else, your influence is null and void.

When it comes to these ads, teach your children about Jesus and how Jesus died on the cross, paying the price for everyone…even atheists. Teach them how it breaks Jesus’ heart that anyone would choose to reject him and the salvation he offers. Teach them that some people do it anyway. There are lots of reasons why, but there are no reasons that will excuse them on the day of judgment. Teach them to love others…even those who disagree with their views, values, and faith. And teach them the Gospel of Jesus is best shared through love, perseverance, and faith in One greater than themselves not through boycotts, protests, and division.

Atheist are not our enemies. They are our mission. Jesus taught the most important thing his followers are to do is love…love God and love others (Matthew 22:34-40). He also told his followers to make disciples (Matthew 28:16-20). These 2 passages are the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. They are what being a Christian is all about. Let’s put them into practice. Let’s be the church Jesus called us to be instead of the one the world expects us to be.

Moving Day

What an incredible day yesterday! We made the move into our new meeting venue in Studio B at The Center in Highland Village. It is a great next step in our growth, giving us a launching pad to carry our mission of knowing, growing, and going into our communities and a place to gather and worship God. We are a church on the move and it is God moving us!

3Ms - Marriage (Communication)

Communication can be a sticky subject in any relationship, but in the context of a marital relationship it becomes a critical component of success (Amos 3:3). In this message we explored a few communication faux pas and how to reverse or prevent them in our marriages (and other relationships).

We discovered that pride is a major barrier to communication. Ephesians 5 gives husbands and wives specific instructions for marriage - women are to submit and men are to love. But pride pre-empts and we fail to fulfill the roles God designs for us in marriage. The solution is kicking pride aside…men love your wives as Christ loved the church, giving up everything for her. Women, submit…come alongside your husband and strengthen him.

We also talked about the role technology plays in communication. It can enhance communication, but too often it becomes a barrier to communicating with the most important people in our lives - our spouse and children. Turning off technology and turning on to the ones who are right in front of us is the solution. Communicate first and most with your spouse and with you family. Keeping communication flowing in the midst of conflict challenges even those who have been married a long time. It’s easy to slip into communication traps like going retro (bringing up the past), making it a tag team event (bringing others into the conflict), getting dirty (accusing, calling names, or saying “you always/never”), and letting conflict go bad by putting off communication. The solutions are found in Matthew 18:15-17, Ephesians 4:29, and Ephesians 4:26.

I pray this message was and will be helpful in your marriage. These biblical communication principles for husbands and wives have helped Trena and I be a better reflection of God in our 15 years of marriage. We will keep applying them as we continue to grow in our appreciation of His design for our marriage and our love for one another.

3Ms - Men (Being God’s Man in an Emasculated World)

Elevation Church just began a new series entitled “3Ms” which focuses on 3 very sticky subjects - Men, Marriage, and Money. We covered what it means to be God’s man in an emasculated world yesterday. And what a powerful day it was! I would love to cover it all again right here, but there is way too much. So we have begun working on launching the Elevation Church podcast. This will be an exciting addition to the ministries of Elevation Church and will enable you to listen (for free!) to any EC message at your convenience as well as share them with friends here in our community or anywhere in the world. Stay tuned for more info coming soon!

This Sunday we peel back the cover and discover the truth about Marriage. Just like with masculinity, there is a cultural way to view and do marriage…and there is God’s way. One leads to disaster and destruction. The other to joy, fulfillment, and growth. If you are married, hope to be married some day, know someone who is married, if you are trying to save your marriage, or even if you are recovering from a marriage gone wrong this 3 week investigation of biblical marriage is for you!

Join us Sunday mornings, 10 am, at Elevation Church!

Rest of God

The Rest of God. The Sabbath. It is something everyone needs. A day to refuel, restore, and recreate. A day to be emptied of the funk and junk and lies of the world and be filled with the goodness of God. God modeled the Sabbath in Genesis 2 when He created for 6 days then rested for 1. He commanded the Sabbath in Exodus 20, telling mankind to “keep the Sabbath day holy…”. Yet few choose to enter the rest of God. Most choose to pursue a life of busy-ness and incessant activity. Somehow we’ve come to believe this is the way to accomplishment, success, and happiness. But if we go that way, we find ourselves coming up short. Stressed out. Tired out. Poured out. Nothing left to give- not to God, not to ourselves, not to others.

We need the Sabbath. God instituted it for our own good and for the good of those around us. If we are to love God and love others, if we are to be salt and light, we must be obedient to God. And we must take the time to be emptied and refilled regularly. We must rest. Then we will have the spiritual fuel, the mental sharpness, the creative energy, the relational drive to live as God called and created us to live.

In this series we learned that to institute the Sabbath into our lives we must 1) PLAN for it - pick a day, mark the calendar, and protect it from intrusion by anyone or anything. 2) We must PREPARE for it by using wisely the other 6 days of the week to get done what needs to get done and we must be ready to release the things of lower priority - let the go undone. 3) We must the PRACTICE the Sabbath by putting work to rest and rest to work. We need to draw close to God through prayer, reading, and resting. We must be still and know He is God. And we must pursue recreational rest - doing the things that empty our anxieties, deplete our doubts and fill us with joy.

We are called to be doers of the Word, not just hearers. You have heard what God has to say about rest. Now let’s do it! In my next post you will find suggestions, ideas, and strategies for implementing the rest of God in your life. I will share some things to do on a Sabbath day and some things NOT to do. I will post some of my own experiences and lessons from the past year when I have begun to take the Sabbath seriously, to implement it in my life, and to keep it holy. I hope you will be inspired and encouraged to enter the rest of God, and in so doing discover what you’ve been missing.

Living On Target - 2

In the first week of this series taken from the book of Philippians we discovered Paul’s teachings about joy in suffering. This week we focus on what Paul says in Philippians chapter 2 about joy in serving. Serving, we find, is at the core of a Christian’s life. Why? Because the word Christian means, literally, “little Christ.” In other words Christ followers are a chip of the ol’ Jesus block. As such we are made in the image and likeness of Him and called to emulate what He does. And what does Jesus do? He serves. In fact Jesus modeled the ultimate act of service when he took your place and mine on the cross and paid the price for the sins of mankind. Jesus even said of himself, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

We found that Jesus, in serving mankind, was exalted or elevated. Elevation Church exists to lead people to live elevated lives just as Jesus lived elevated. We define the elevated life as being characterized by knowing, growing, and going. Knowing Jesus personally, growing in faith through relationships, and going into the world sharing the love of Jesus. As Jesus served, we must serve. As he was elevated, we will be elevated. After all, Jesus taught that whoever makes himself last will be first.

My favorite part of this chapter is verses 12-18, specifically when Paul tells believers we are will be “like stars in the sky, shining among them (those we serve)”. The imagery I see in my mind’s eye is being out in the country on a dark, black night peering into the heavens seeing the millions of points of light that are the stars and heavenly bodies. And as I have done this many times I have thought that as I look up at all those lights, God is also peering down. And we, his children who are called to be salt and light, look just like that to him - millions of points of light penetrating a dark, depraved world. I love that thought. By serving I bring joy to the people I serve and joy to my heavenly Father who has empowered me to do so.

So the challenge we must all rise to is this…living as servants of God. That means serving Him by serving others, making much of those around us and little of ourselves. It starts at home, builds into our community, and takes off across borders and around the globe from there…joyfully serving all along the way!

Living on Target - 1


In the first week of our series “Living On Target” taken from the book of Philippians we gained some important insights from the Apostle Paul’s words. He wrote this letter to the church in Philippi while he, himself, was imprisoned in Rome. Yet throughout his writing Paul constantly speaks of joy. In chapter 1 we find Paul joyous in the midst of his imprisonment because it has given him a fresh new audience with who he shares the gospel of Jesus. And he is joyous that some are preaching Jesus as a way of persecuting Paul. They thought they could make it worse for him, but Paul is pleased because regardless of their motivation, Jesus is being preached. And Paul wrote that all followers of Jesus should rejoice at the privilege of suffering for Jesus. It is through our suffering that we may draw closer to our Savior, experiencing what he experienced and understanding him so much the more. It is through suffering that God often refines us, making us more like Him. And so we, like Paul, must learn to be joyful in suffering!

The catch to experiencing true joy even while suffering is counter-cultural to most Americans. At the center of our national identity is the pursuit of happiness. Yet this pursuit is often the roadblock that keeps you and me separated from the joy God has in store for us. The pursuit of happiness is an emotional roller coaster…a never-ending track of emotional ups and downs. That is because happiness is dependent upon what is happening in our lives. Good things happen - happiness! Bad things happen - unhappiness hits. And the cycle repeats itself over and over, leaving people wondering if there is more to life. There is! Joy, unlike happiness, does not depend on happenings. Joy depends on Jesus. It is through a relationship with Jesus that men and women find the strength to experience joy even in suffering. And joy supercedes happiness any day!

Follow along as we learn to exchange the pursuit of happiness for the joy found only in Jesus. Discover the life Jesus spoke about when he said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). This is a life lived “On Target.” A life filled with joy!

Love Wins

Yesterday we commemorated the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. People all over the world paused and remembered where they were that day. In the midst of remembering God has something to say about where we were and where we are. Many of us are in conflict with where God wants us be today, ten years after the attacks.

This is the conflict God brought to Elevation Church on 9/11/11. How to reconcile the emotional response of many Americans…”never forget & never forgive” with our faith in Christ. Romans 12:9-21 compels Jesus followers to love even our enemies. To love an enemy we must first forgive. To forgive we must understand forgiving and forgetting are not linked, as many of us who learned the phrase ‘forgive and forget’ have been led to believe. That phrase is not biblical. In fact we are told throughout Scripture to remember important things…moments both good and bad. Remembering is a way to honor the past and protect the future. So we don’t need to forget 9/11 to forgive the enemy who pepetrated the attack.

Another barrier to love and forgiveness is vengeance, the emotional response when we are wronged. Romans 12:19 teaches that vengeance is God’s to deliver, not ours. That is not to say we cannot pursue justice, not that we cannot protect ourselves and our nation. Scripture is filled with examples of righteous warfare and of defending one’s nation and life. And in verse 21 we are told to love our enemy in real, tangible ways instead of visiting vengeance upon them. And in so doing it says, we will overwhelm their evil with good.

This is what God says, not what Todd says. It is a hard truth and one I find personally convicting. The right response of believers in Jesus is to love and forgive our enemy. It is to carry the love of Christ to them even as we deliver justice. God is calling out to His church to love those who persecute us, to pray for our enemies, to go to them and meet their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. And in Romans 12:21 we are compelled to not be overcome by evil but to overcome evil with good. When we forgive, when we love, the terrorists lose. They lose their hold on our emotions, they lose the leverage of fear in our lives, and the evil they pursue is overcome by the love we deliver.

Go be God’s church today…never forget the evil done to us on 9/11, but forgive those who perpetrated the evil. Do it for your own good…to be free from the weight of unforgiveness…and to be in line with God’s purpose.

Love. Forgive. Win.