We’re having a great time together at Catalyst 09 in Atlanta, Georgia. Nine of us WCCers joined about 12,000 other Christian leaders for a couple of days of leadership level encouragement.

Today, we heard from Andy Stanley, Rob Bell, Coach Tony Dungy, Francis Chan… It’s like drinking from a fire hydrant. We didn’t get back to the hotel until nearly 11 PM and now I’m too tired to blog much.

Our WCC team is full of vigor though. We do conferences just like we do church… first ones there and the last ones to leave. Tonight, we walked like a mile to stand in line and eat at Wendys and then rushed back so we wouldn’t miss anything. Not one complaint.

What a great team and a great conference.

“A certain moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. “When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” (Luke 7:41-43 NASB).

When my daughter was young we had a bedtime ritual that involved a competition of declaring who loved the most.

“Good night Erin. I love you.” I’d say, beginning the nightly ritual.

“Good night Daddy, I love you MORE!” She’d say, while leaning over my recliner to kiss my offered cheek.

“No, I love you the MOST!” I’d reply, quickly turning my face towards her, surprising her into kissing me on the lips (she still holds onto my face when she kisses me on the cheek to avoid this surprising possibility).

“No Daddy. I love you the MOSTEST! She’d exclaim. “I love you this much!” She’d quickly add, while extending her arms outward as far as she could reach.

Jesus once told a story about the one who would love God most. He said that the one who was “forgiven most” would love most.

According to Jesus, our capacity for love is measured by our receptivity for and awareness of God’s forgiveness. When we recognize our own great need for forgiveness and receive the gift of Christ’s atoning sacrifice for our sin, we become recipients of his great love. Receiving this great forgiveness opens our hearts to God’s love for us, and through us to others.

So, who loves most?

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13 NIV).

“You look just like your dad.” The cashier at the Sears & Roebuck in downtown Bristol said to me, while pointing at my father.

I was five years old. I was visiting the Sears where my dad worked as a department manager.

“You have big, brown eyes just like his.” She continued, as she waved at us as we passed.

“Thank you.” I said, sticking my chest out and walking hand and hand with my dad through the store (According to man-code, it’s still OK to hold hands with your dad at age five).

My mother used to say that my father “marked me.” And I guess he did. I still have his brown eyes, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed that my mother “marked me” pretty good too.

Are you “marked” by anyone?

This coming Sunday we’re launching a new series entitled: “9 Marks of Authentic Christians.” We’ll be looking at the “fruit of the Spirit” found in Galatians 5. The word “fruit” is singular, but there are nine traits or marks of this fruit.

Authentic Christianity is often defined by the following “B” words: believe, belong, behave, and become. Many disagree on the order of these and on which should come first. They’re all important, but perhaps the one that has contributed most to the accusation of “Christians being hypocrites” has come from one that is often lacking. This one has to do with character. It has to do with becoming like Christ.

You can say that you believe and belong. You can even follow the Christian rules and behave religiously. But you can’t fake the character thing. You either have your Father’s character, or you don’t. You’re either marked by the Spirit of God… or you’re not.

Love, joy, peace… these are the marks of a life filled with the Spirit of God and marked by His character.

While I’m glad that my parents marked me, I’m more hopeful that I’ll grow to become more like Jesus. I want to be marked by Him.

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:12-13 NIV).

I’m a project guy. I love dreaming up, planning, and implementing a project, seeing it come to life… and completion. I especially love it when I finish something and finish it well.

Strangely enough, that’s why I don’t mind mowing the yard. Even though its a weekly kind of maintenance, I still love doing it because I can immediately see what I’ve done. I enjoy the result. And I love showing the result of my labors to others.

“Hey Robin, did you notice the yard when you came in?” I ask my wife, while sticking out my chest.

“Yes, Honey, it looks great. Definitely the best looking lawn on the street!” She responds with wifely appreciation.

I wish I could see the results of following Christ and making disciples as readily. I labor and work and sometimes I can’t tell if anything is being accomplished. In fact, some days it appears we may have lost ground.

But I’m learning. I’m learning that it’s not my job to finish, it’s God’s. It’s His Spirit that is at work in me and in the flock that I pastor. God is doing a work in us and He will bring it to completion.

So, if it’s God’s job to finish the “Gary” project, then what’s my part?

I must yield and let Him work. I must yield every area of my life to His control, surrendering and submitting all to HIm. Asking HIm to mold and make me after His will.

Completion. In the Greek, it’s the word teleios, which could be translated perfected, finished, having reached the goal. I’m glad God is in charge of this. He is working in us to make us like His Son.

Until then, we’re under construction.

“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it” (Genesis 4:7 NIV).

Watching my nephews (Ryan #12 and Michael in blue) play football earlier this week reminded me of my younger days…

“Pick me!” I shouted at my friend, Gordon, as he surveyed the boys lined up and waving their hands for selection.

“I pick Combs.” Gordon said, while pointing me out.

I loved playing football during afternoon recess in the fifth grade. But I hated the time of picking teams. It was nerve-wracking. You never knew when you might be chosen last. And to be chosen last was basically to be rejected all together.

“OK. I guess we’ll take Combs.” The boy picking might say as he realized that I was the last remaining team applicant.

I had been the “last guy” before and that’s why I was always happy to see my friend Gordon (who was a popular athelete) as one of the team captains. Gordon would always choose me first, even though we both knew that I wasn’t one of the top draft picks. He would choose me because we were friends, not because of my football skills (At 4′ 10″ and 75 pounds, I wasn’t exactly the guy you wanted blocking for you).

That’s why I’m glad that Jesus is my friend. I don’t have the skill set to “master” sin and live a life that pleases God, but Jesus does. I don’t have to be anxious about whether God will choose me or not. God is pleased with His Son. If I am in Christ, then God is pleased with me and accepts me too.

This makes me want to respond the way the prophet Isaiah did when he had a vision that the Lord was picking teams, Isaiah replied, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8)

And so, I too lift my hand and shout, “Pick me, Lord! Pick me!”

“People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them” (Mark 10:13-16 NIV).

This past Sunday I worked in the WCC children’s ministry during both services. As adults and as leaders we can sometimes lose sight of how the world looks from a child’s perspective. It’s easy to forget the kids. But I’m convinced that you can tell a lot about a person, a family, or a church by the way they treat the children.

The truth of the matter is that most of us made commitments to follow Christ before we turned 12 years old. In fact, most missionaries and pastors felt a sense of call before their 16th birthday. Children and young people are willing to make life long commitments to Christ.

We spend a lot of time, money, and effort on offering a quality worship experience for our adults at WCC. But a greater opportunity for Kingdom impact may really be with the children’s ministry. That’s why we’re ramping things up in our children’s ministry. Even though working with kids is an unseen ministry (to the adults attending), we’re convinced that Christ takes notice.

This past Sunday, we handed off the preaching responsibility to a member of our teaching team. Believe me, I don’t give up the pulpit easily. I love to preach! But I wanted to model to the church how important our kids are to us (I was actually nervous with excitement on Sunday morning to work with the kids).

We interrupted the adult worship a couple of times with video reports of how “Pastor Gary is doing” in the children’s department. Everyone seemed to love it!

Now, I have people coming up to me and calling me Mr. Rogers. Perhaps a job at PBS is in my future, if only I can find a sweater I like.

“…encourage the young…” (Titus 2:6 NIV).

This past week has been busy for us as we welcomed the Barton College students back! We joined about 60 businesses and nonprofits on Monday as we ran a booth for our church at the Wilson Chamber of Commerce’s “Welcome Back Barton” day.

We gave away PopTarts and fridge magnets (with our church info) to a huge crowd of students. It was great getting into spiritual conversations with college students and letting them know that we care about them.

Who knows what will come from this? College students are at a life crossroads. They are so open to change. I believe that it is mission critical that we offer them encouragement to follow God at this strategic time in their lives.

Later in the week, it was my privilege to speak at Barton’s Campus Crusade for Christ weekly gathering. Stephen and Daniel led worship and I spoke. In a room full of students (especially freshman) we talked about how they could know God’s will for their lives.

I love encouraging college students to give their lives to Christ and devote their future to Him!

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 NIV).

“Who’s our customer?” asked the consultant from the McKinsey Group to a gathering of top management of the Jack Eckerd Corporation.

The year was 1987 and as one of the district managers in attendance, I thought, “So, how much did we pay this guy?”

But after listening to his presentation, I realized that we needed to make some major changes in our drug stores. I guess it took an outsider to come in and get our noses off the chalkboard. Our company was in trouble because we really didn’t know the answer to the simple question, “Who’s our customer?”

We’d started the 80s at the top of our game, but some huge changes in retail took place during that decade. Customers used to be loyal. They shopped the same drug store every week. But when the “big box” centers (Walmart, Kmart, Target…) showed up in town and started selling prescription drugs too, our once loyal customers became bargain shoppers. They only shopped for deals. And the big box stores were undercutting our margins.

So, we chased “our” customer by cutting prices and running more aggressive advertising. The problem was that we couldn’t compete with the big box’s margins. High volume had never been our forte. We were “America’s Family Drugstore.”

The other huge strategic error we’d made (in addition to chasing the bargain hunters) was that our stores weren’t set up to make for easy shopping. They were set up to make it hard for shoplifters to steal (think one-way activated gates at the entrance and aisles that funneled customers past the checkout at the exit). And they were set up to make customers walk through the store, all the way to the back, to the pharmacy to get their prescriptions (So they would have to pass by all of our other fine sales items twice before leaving). In other words, we’d designed our stores to maximize benefit to us, not our customer.

The McKinsey people helped us see our true customer and how we could meet their needs. We decided that our niche customer (in contrast to the big box bargain shopper) was female, hi-touch (wanted help from a sales person when needed), valued convenience (wanted to get in and out quickly), and wanted value (was willing to pay a little more if you were clean, instock, and offered excellent service).

So, unlike some large corporations (and some institutions) we changed. We redesigned our stores, putting the cosmetics departments near the front door (female). We retrained our staff (hi-touch) for better service. We reset our stores and removed the gates and traffic funnels. We even relocated from malls and strips to free-standing stores on street corners and added drive-throughs (convenience). We cleared our aisles of stacked cases of sale items and focused on always being in-stock on the basics (value).

The result was that the company rebounded and grew again, becoming the number two drugstore in the nation for a time. Of course, some 17 years after I’d left the drugstore business, Eckerds was bought out by another retailer. Every successful business has to keep asking the question, “Who’s our customer?” My guess is that it only takes a decade or so to lose track of the answer to that question again.

Who’s our customer in the church? Is it the church members? Is it the attenders or visitors? Or is it… God?

Here’s a related question… do you think that a church “service” is the place where you come to serve or be served?

“If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you’ll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment’s notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me” (John 12:26 Msg).

I would do anything to just be around the three men in this photo. From left to right they are my maternal grandfather, Walter Dillon; my uncle, Basil Dillon; and my father, Claude Combs. These three men were major influences on my life.

I learned early on though, that if I wanted to be with them, I had to follow them. You really couldn’t be with these kind of men without working shoulder to shoulder with them. They did stuff. They didn’t just sit around.

So, I followed them around asking questions…

“Daddy, can I drive the Buick?” I would ask at the age of eight.

“Sure, just climb into my lap… there you go. You’re driving.” My dad would respond.

“Hey Uncle Basil, how do you play that chord again?” I’d say, while stretching my fingers across the guitar’s fretboard.

“Put your index here and your ring finger here…” He’d say, while placing my fingers where they went.

“Hey Papaw, can I help?” I’d wonder, as I watched him drive his mule team through a field of brown dirt.

“Here you go, Son. Take the reins like this. There now, steady… that’s right. Just don’t tell your Granny I let you do this.” He’d respond, punctuating his answer with a spit of tobacco juice.

I had to follow these men to be with them. And they did things, so I had to do things too.

As a pastor, I often hear people say that they want to be with me. People want to hang out with me. Surely not because I’m so attractive, but more likely because I’m the guy up front on Sunday.

I try to explain to them that the best way to be my friend is to follow my Friend. You see, Jesus is at work and I am following Him. Jesus is at work and so am I. Jesus is on the move and I’m pursuing Him.

If we want to be where Jesus is, then we have to follow and serve Him.

The three men in the photo are with Him now. I’m still here, but I’m following.

“…Follow me,” Jesus said to him” (Luke 5:27 NIV).

We American Christians love that Christ calls us individually. What we don’t always appreciate is that following Jesus means hanging out with his other disciples. We prefer an individual religion. One that we can follow alone. One that caters to our individual needs.

I wonder if Simon Peter ever felt this way?

“Yes Jesus. I want to follow you. But do I have to hang out with Judas?” He may have asked.

The three years he spent following Jesus were also the three years he spent hanging out with the other eleven disciples. There were the “Sons of Thunder,” James and John, with their fiery tempers and pushy mother wanting junior thrones for them. There was the skeptical Thomas, always questioning everything. And Judas Iscariot pestering them to turn in their receipts with their monthly reports (definitely a “bean-counter”). Even Peter’s brother, Andrew, could get on one’s nerves with his naive faith (“Here’s a boy with a bag lunch, Lord!” … when there were thousands to feed.).

Following Jesus for Peter meant becoming one of the Twelve. It meant becoming one of Christ’s disciples. It meant becoming part of his body.

Following Jesus today still means the same thing. We must reject our rugged individualism. There is no place for it at the Lord’s table. We enter into his body individually, but having entered we become a member of his family.

We know that Peter learned from the Lord during those three years. I’m sure of that. But I suspect he also learned a lot from the other disciples too.

There are surveys, books, and websites these days discussing how people in this generation love Jesus but hate the church. I understand much of what they mean. There are things about the church that need correction.

But there is also much in this generation’s individualism that needs correction. We are a splintered society. Fatherless and divorced, we struggle forward alone without spiritual direction. We prefer a buffet religion with a plate of this and a side of that. While what we really need are spiritual fathers and mothers, spiritual brothers and sisters. What we really need is to be part of a family.

Even one with the occasional Judas.