Tod Tanner's blog

A Sonic Cherry Limeaid

I have a Sonic right across the street from my office and this can be a dangerous thing as I am a big fan of their Cherry Limeaids. If you have ever had one before, you know what I am talking about. Once I had my first one, I was hooked and having one always leads me to desire another one soon. I guess a Cherry Limeaid is like a potato chip, you can't be satisfied with just one.

I have discovered that the constant pursuit of a Cherry Limeaid is not the only thing that I should continually desire. Jesus said that the constant pursuit of His righteousness is something else that I should continually strive after. Jesus' first recorded sermon is found in Matthew 5-7. In it He states, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (5:6).

To hunger and thirst for something is a continual action. After I had my first Cherry Limeaid, I knew that I would want more. After I enjoy a well prepared steak, it causes me to desire another one. As I hunger and thirst for His righteousness, I will have a stronger desire to continue down this path. The question now becomes, what is righteousness? Righteousness is being in right relationship with the Father through the Son. Jesus is calling us to hunger and thirst after a right relationship with the Father.

The amazing thing about this is that in finding this right relationship we are truly satisfied. The word satisfied in the Greek is a very vibrant word. It means to be full or overflowing. Look at it this way, I can drink 1000 Cherry Limeaids in one day and I will never be completely satisfied. I might be full, but not satisfied. The only thing that brings complete satisfaction is a continual hunger and thirst for a right relationship with the Father.

God, thank You for allowing us to find complete satisfaction in You. Please give us a hunger and thirst for Your righteousness today.

Living for traditions

If you are reading my blog, it will not take long to discover which university I attended. I had a great time at Texas A&M, and God did amazing things in my life while there. One of the most exciting things about A&M is all of its historic traditions. For example, the student body stands up throughout the football game in order to represent the 12th man and to signal to the coach ones readiness to participate in the game if needed. I don't know of another school that does something like this.

Living out a tradition can be fun, but it can also be dangerous. I believe this is true in life as well as within churches today. If a tradition is a detriment to fulfilling an overarching purpose, then the tradition must be set aside for the betterment of the organization, and yes this does apply to church life today.

I believe Paul expressed this same sentiment when talking to the churches in Galatia. He was rather upset with some of the church leaders because they had come into the churches and were leading them to embrace traditions that were not biblical. Paul, however, did not simply cast stones at them, but rather tried to lead them by relating to them. He said that when he was trying to please men more than God, he was advancing in his leadership. But his advancement and leadership was based on "ancestral traditions" (Gal. 1:14). Traditions had become more important to Paul that biblical truth.

What are the traditions of your church? As you think about the answer to this question, ask yourself another question. Are the traditions of my church built on the word of God or on personal preferences? Now, I am not advocating that you remove all traditions and label them bad. I am, however, advocating a critical reflections upon our traditions and seeking to discover if they are preferences or biblical mandates.

When we find traditions that are biblical mandates, we must hold to them with all that we are. When we find traditions that are personal preferences, we must be willing to let them go in order to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. When preferences win the day, we are communicating to those around us and to our Father, that our preferences are more important than people.

Father, give us the courage to evaluate our traditions. When we find these traditions in your word, help us to hold onto them. When we realize they are personal preferences, help us to let them go.

Be Strong and Courageous!

What is God calling you to be and do? I did not get the structure of that last sentence wrong. I believe we must be what God wants us to be, then we can't help but do what He wants us to do. Is what He is calling you to be scary? I hope so because this would mean that you can't do it without His help.

Joshua received a call that was much bigger than himself as he was to lead the children of Israel into the long awaited Promised Land. Forty years before they were to walk into the Promised Land, Joshua saw it with his own eyes and was ready to go. But, 10 men were too afraid and told the children of Israel that they should not go. The nation of Israel chose to listen to 10 people and as a result the walked around the desert for 40 years and had to bury 1+ million people.

Fast forward 40 years and Joshua is ready to go back. The Father says to the nation of Israel through Joshua, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Josh. 1:9).

The first thing that we see in this verse is that God had commanded them. Go back to my first question, what does the Father want you to be? The answer to this question is a command from God. As a result of the command that He gave to the nation of Israel and to us, we can be strong and courageous. We do not need to tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord our God is with us wherever we go.

The passage does not say that it will always be easy. If you don't think Joshua did not have to deal with some complaining, you are crazy. Can you imagine a million people asking, "Are we there yet?" If we chose to follow God's commands, we will encounter difficult times. But, we know that He is with us wherever we go. He does not promise to make it easy, but He does promise to walk with us.

Father, thank you for calling us to be Your followers. Please give us the courage to walk in obedience and to experience You in new ways when it gets difficult.

What's up with titles?

Have you noticed how many folks seem to be getting hung up on titles or is it just me? It seems to me that when someone finds themselves in a new office, they get the feeling that they have earned a title and others should address them differently. I have to admit that this does not make a great deal of since to me and the reason is because I am not so sure it is too biblical. Let's use Paul as an example.

Paul, who was arguably the greatest missionary of all time, did not seem to be a big fan of titles. He told the church at Corinth, "For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God" (1 Cor. 15:9). Did you catch that? Paul acknowledge that he had earned the title of apostle, but I don't get the feeling that he wanted everyone to address him that way. I believe this was the case because Paul knew, "but by the grace of God I am what I am. . ." (1 Cor. 15:10). It was not the title that made Paul great, but rather God's grace and he wanted to point to God's grace and not a title.

Now, I know that some will say that we should respect those in authority and when we address those in authority by their title we are showing respect. I promise that I hear and understand that logic. I, however, have to confess that if I encourage everyone to address me as "pastor" I fear I would quickly lose my identity in my position as opposed to who I am.

Yes, I have the privilege of serving a church as its pastor. I, however, am a child of God, husband and father long before I am a pastor. If I miss being a child of God, husband and father, I will never be the pastor that our Father intends for me to be. And, if I was called pastor all of the time, I do not know if my ego could handle it.

So, if it is okay with you, please call me Tod as I strive to live out what Paul taught, "but by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10).

Church Is A Family

I believe that the church is a family and not an institution.  While I understand that a church has business aspects, its primary task is not business minded.  The primary task of the church is to fulfill the Great Commission and share the fact that our heavenly Father desires to adopt others into His family.

Given this conviction, this is one of the most difficult and exciting times in my life.  Deborah, Danielle and I are soon to move to Groesbeck, TX and become a part of the church family known as First Baptist Groesbeck.  We have enjoyed getting to know our new family via social media and look forward to locking arms with other believers in the church and community in order to share God's love with all whom we encounter.  This is exciting!

This time, however, is also sad in that we have to say good-bye for now to our church family known as Hickory Grove.  The three of us went and had dinner with some dear friends last night.  The lady of the house told me to make sure that Danielle did not forget her.  This broke my heart and still does this morning.  I promised her that Danielle will never forget her and I will live up to my promise.  I know that I will see my Hickory Grove family again soon, but it still hurts to part ways.

Why do I take the time to share all of this?  Answer, so that we can all look at church as a family.  Please, let's not institutionalize church and call it a team.  Jesus lived life with His disciples and then used them to start His church.  Paul wept with those he served and agonized when he departed from them.  We see over and over again leaders in the New Testament praying for and with the church.  The church is a family and if you do not have a church family you are missing out. 

Hickory Grove family, thank you for loving the Tanners.  Your impact is eternal.  FBC-Groesbeck, TX, thanks for adopting us into your family.  We look forward to serving our Savior with you.

It's About People

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit across the lunch table from a man who knows that God is calling him into vocational ministry.  We talked about what ministry on a full time basis looked like.  At one point he told me that he was ready to get away from his current job so that he could do ministry all of the time.  I asked him to define this and he said that his job did not allow him to share Jesus with others.  He went on to say, however, that he meets on a regular basis with his co-workers after hours in order to talk about what it means to be a follower of Jesus.  He also told me of how he was able to share the truth of Jesus with the president of the organization.

I followed his stories with, "at times I wish I could get out of the day to day grind of church work in order to share Jesus in the way that you get to."  I think my statement shocked him a little.  I tried to encourage him that he is in ministry, no matter where he gets a pay check from.  I tried to show him examples of this from the stories that he had just shared.  He responded with, "I never thought of it that way."

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ and you engage people, then you are involved in ministry.  Please hear me, ministry is not about programs and where you get a paycheck from.  Ministry is about people.  Don't get me wrong, God can use the programs of a church in order to engage people in ministry.  I have attended a host of ministry programs and seen the value that they can add.  But, at the end of the day, it is still about people.

Jesus Christ came to this earth in order to die for you and me so that we might have a relationship with Him.  This shows that He valued and still values people.  Let's all strive to value people in the same manner that He values people.