Author: John Grisham

Publication Date: 1989

Publisher: Wynwood (original); Doubleday (hardcover); Dell (softcover)

Genre(s): Drama / Courtroom / Murder

Grisham’s first novel, A Time to Kill, is one of his best. Slow to take off with publishers, it has now been made into a full length motion picture, which I consider one of the best films I’ve ever seen.

Set in the fictional town of Clanton, Mississippi, the story begins with the brutal  rape and attempted murder of a 10-year old African-American girl, Tonya Hailey. Her father – Carl Lee – determined not to allow the men to go free, shoots the accused as they are escorted from their courtroom appearance. Sophomoric (yet talented) lawyer Jake Brigance is hired by Hailey to take on the most important case in the country in years. The odds are stacked against the defendent and the young lawyer, and if extremist groups have their way neither will live to see the end of the trial.

A racially charged, whirlwind of a novel, A Time to Kill, is an absolute must-read. You will find yourself on the other side of the bar, sitting in the jury box and weighing the facts. A life is on the line…guilty or not guilty?

I recommend John Grisham’s A Time to Kill with a 8.9 out of 10 score.

Main sessions

Thoughts…

• First of all, major kudos to the volunteer staff. They knocked it out of the park! It could not have happened without them, that is obvious.
• Perry Noble tells it like it is…plain and simple.
• It is possible that a better worship team does not exist. Lee McDerment and RoseAngela Rugiero are amazing!
• The staff of NewSpring are for real! They all buy into the one directive of God’s church: leading people to Jesus Christ.

Highlights…

• Meeting some old friends there (Heath Mulliken and Charlie Collins)
• Perry said “[fill in the blank]” HILARIOUS!
• Chic-Fil-A for lunch
• Got to check out the FUSE building!
• WORSHIP! WORSHIP! WORSHIP!
• “Our God is Love” sung by Lee McD! Sooo good!!
• “Savior King” is one of the best worship songs ever written and they rocked it out!
• Perry brought it for the final session
• Prayer time with senior pastors

Main sessions

Breakout Session 1: Communications & Web Strategy with Suzanne Smith and Josh Blankenship:

• All communication needs to reflect who you are as a church and your vision.
• Keep it simple and streamlined – don’t give so many options that it will confuse people.
• Define the win first – decide NOW what you want your communication to do
• Clear communication with staff & volunteers is key.
• “How can I help you?”
• Same team. Same mission. Same vision. One church.
• Specialization of position does not make life easier.

Breakout Session 2: Student Ministries with Brad Cooper

Ask two questions (taken from Henry Ford):

(1) What’s business?

• One directive. Many strategies.
• The church is about people meeting Jesus!
• Say no to some good things in order to say yes to a very few great things.
• A good thing is the opposite of a great thing.
• Are we proud of Jesus? Would anyone know it when they enter our services?
• Youth ministers must join with the vision of the Senior Pastor.

(2) How’s business?

• What is your succession plan? If you were gone tomorrow, who would take over? Are you putting people in position to become ministers?
• Delegate. Involve. Empower.

Four levels of student involvment at FUSE:

1. Consumer – the first-time visitor; checking things out; hooked by the fun maybe
2. Relater – someone learns their name; pays attention to them; makes them feel welcome
3. Disciple – a decision of faith is made
4. Producer – makes disciples; moved into a position of minister (even as students, because no one reaches a teen better than another teen)

There is a culture of intrigue… CHANGE IT UP!

Lastly, healthy things grow.

Breakout sessions

AM Main Session: Perry talked about three questions the church must ask, based out of 2 Kings 7:3-11:

(1) Are we willing to embrace change? (vv.3-4)

Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’-the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”

Change or die! The church in Acts HAD to change!

(2) Are we willing to work (vv.5-7)

At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, not a man was there, for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!” So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.

Something has to be done!

(3) Are we serious about reaching the world? (vv.8-11)

The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp and entered one of the tents. They ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.

Then they said to each other, “We’re not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”

So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, “We went into the Aramean camp and not a man was there—not a sound of anyone—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were.” The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace.

These terms are overplayed: Contemporary, Blended, Missional, Emergent

We just need to hit the gas and go!

PM Main Session: Perry spoke about Moses and shared four questions leaders must ask God, based out of Exodus 33:12-18:

“…and they said it was gonna be easy…”

(1) Who is with me?

Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’

• Buy into the people, so they buy into you.
• Get behind your pastor!!

(2) Am I pleasing You?

If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

• Do you please people for a paycheck? If so, you’re a prostitute. God calls prophets, not prostitutes.
• Ministry is received not achieved.
• Am I placing limits on me that God isn’t placing on me?

(3) Who will see You?

The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

• Do you want attendance or repentance?
• If God’s not there…nothing!

(4) What’s next?

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

• No monuments to what happened 20 years ago!
• “NOW SHOW ME YOUR GLORY!”

1. You just received too much change. What is the most that you would feel obligated to come clean about it..if at all?

It all goes back.

2. What is the last present you regifted?

Don’t remember ever regifting anything, but I’m sure I have :/

3. You’re puking your guts up from the flu and are delirious, who do you call to take care of you?

Jarred, for sure

4. It is 4am, you’re at Waffle Huddle House (or any 24 hour diner like establishment). What did you just order?

Crispy chicken club combo

5. You were just handed $2500 and must spend it going away for the weekend. Where are you going and are you going to ask anyone to come along?

A cabin in the mountains with Jarred [NO BRITTANY! jk], Cody [NO KINDEL! jk, I guess - die, Kindel!], Abram (and if girls MUST come, then Christi, Kelly, Amanda and Kath – who is so far away in St. Lucia right now!)

6. Who shared your first ever romantic kiss and do you know where that person is now?

Wow! That is some private stuff! But yes, I do know where she is…

I ain’t taggin’ nobody…

This is one of the most memorable stories of the scriptures, but it starts much further back than this. It begins in the same place, much earlier in Christ’s ministry. Our first Encounter is Mary of Bethany.

Mary had heard Christ’s words

In Luke 10:38 and ff, the story of Christ’s first visit with Mary, Martha and Lazarus is related. Martha opened up her house to Jesus. The story continues as we first meet Mary: [she] sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

First we see that Mary heard Christ’s words. She sat at His feet and soaked up His wisdom. Picture it. Mary took the time to hear. She would not waste a moment of time with Jesus.

Martha, upset that Mary wasn’t helping her complained to Jesus. “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus, responded so well by saying, “Mary has chosen that…which will not be taken away from her.” Martha was slaving over a meal – something temporary. Mary was listening to everlasting truth.

Mary had seen Christ’s power

Mary had heard Christ’s words and she had seen Christ’s power. The scriptures seem to imply that Jesus had built up a very strong relationship with the Bethany siblings. When Lazarus fell ill, the sisters sent word to Christ to come and see the brother. But Jesus waited. Lazarus passed. This is a long passage, so bear with me, but I’d like to read it in its entirety.

John 11:17-44: So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.” Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

When He finally arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already been buried for four days. Why four days? Jesus referenced an answer a few verses earlier in John 10:14b,15: “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.” Why in the world would He be glad that He wasn’t there?! His friend Lazarus had died and He missed it. He could have healed him and saved everyone the pain of a friend’s death. Oliver B Greene states that “their faith would be strengthened and they would be made better witnesses through the raising of Lazarus.”

Back to Mary…she was at home when Martha informed her that Jesus was calling for her and when she arrived, she fell at Jesus’ feet and cried her heart out to Him and they wept together.

But then Jesus does what she cannot expect. He calls Lazarus out of the tomb. Imagine her emotions. Imagine what changed inside of her at that exact moment. She moved from exasperation and anguish aimed at Jesus’ seeming lack of concern for her brother to absolute love and adoration for the One who called her brother from the grave.

Mary gave Christ her very best

Mary had heard Christ’s words, she had seen his power and then she gave her very best. Fast forward and Jesus is back in Bethany. This time Lazarus and the sisters have Jesus over for dinner, most likely to celebrate the recent raising of Lazarus.

John 12:1-8: Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

Halfway through the party, Mary interrupts everything. She stoops down and begins to anoint Christ’s feet. Over and over , we see Mary at Jesus’ feet. When we first meet her, she drinks from the fountain of wisdom at Jesus feet. At Lazarus’ tomb, she pours her heart out at Jesus’ feet. And finally at this meal, we find her again at Jesus’ feet. Is there something we are missing? Have we lost the compulsion to spend time at the foot of our Savior? Listening to Him speak…crying out to Him with our prayers and our pains…worshipping Him with our best.

This last action of anointing his feet in itself was a sign of absolute servitude. No one of any status would dare touch another’s feet. The feet were the dirtiest part of the body. Not only that but she poured what the Bible calls pure nard over his feet. This was a perfume used to anoint the dead during or after burial. And it was NOT cheap! Judas Iscariot raved when he saw her pouring out the perfume. He claimed it could be sold for 300 denarii. A denarius was one day’s wage. This was no Wal-Mart perfume. This was a lifetime investment. Mary gave her very best!

Principles of worship that we can learn from Mary:

1. True life worship involves our time – listening to Christ

2. True life worship involves our money – her perfume was very expensive

3. True life worship is noticeable – the fragrance filled the room

4. True life worship requires our very best – nard was a lifetime investment

5. True life worship gets labeled as crazy – people might say it’s too extravagant/ too expensive

Encounter

Have you heard Christ’s words? His words confront us each time we read Scripture. His words enter our lives as we take time to pray and meditate. His words challenge us when we sit in these pews and hear a sermon.

Have you seen Christ’s power? His power saves us. His power changes our lives and the lives of people we know. His power heals even today.

Have you given Him your very best? Does your tithe and offering speak to the change Christ has brought to your life? How do you spend your time? Do you dedicate yourself to His service? Does true life worship identify you as someone who has had an encounter with Christ?

When the throne of grace seems so far away, and all I see is yesterday;

When I’ve forgotten how to pray, create in me a song of faith.

When my cold heart is turned to stone, when fear and doubt are all I know;

When all my scars have come unsewn, my body aches for you alone.

Here’s my heart, Lord, I don’t want it.

Here’s my life, Lord, can you use it?

By Your blood there’s healing now.

By Your blood there’s no guilt now.

There’s no guilt now.

When I am haunted by the future, and I have no place to go;

When all my friends have cursed my name, come and be this orphan’s home.

Here’s my heart, Lord, I don’t want it.

Here’s my life, Lord, can you use it?

By Your blood there’s healing now.

By Your blood there’s no guilt now.

There’s no guilt now.

And I know You are my Father, You call me Your kid.

Fought and laughed with You for hours, You are my closest Friend.

But now I see You as a Lover, feel Your heartbeat once again.

Lay down with You in flowers, come burden me with a kiss.

In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor. ³⁷About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. ³⁸Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

³⁹Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

What will you be remembered for after you have left this world?

Will it be your job? Your position in your church? Your money?

Or will it be a piece of clothing that warms a homeless person?

Or a meal when there’s no food on a family’s table?

Will you be remembered for granting hope where none could be found?

Who will cry at your funeral?