Church Life

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. I’ve had a lot of thoughts going through my mind of late. Blog reading for me has been down a bit because of the increasing stress of moving our church to a storefront and the end of the school year work I have in my college courses! Still, a few good posts have caught my eye…

Dan Edelen has a good post on the word “Avarice” using the Green Pepper Index or GPI as his starting point. (The GPI is his term..and a good one I think!). The post deals with our increasing gas crunch and how we as a nation are looking long term. Is it just me or have we seen unprecedented inflation in fuel in the past 2-3 years? You can’t tell me it’s market correction, etc.. If the Chinese are so gas hungry, let them buy the oil and let’s start drilling in Alaska. The Caribou can cope for the next decade or so while we develop alternative fuel sources but I can’t see us paying upwards of $5-6 dollars for a gallon of gas. Families will hurt and the minimum wage isn’t going up again anytime soon for those on the cut line.

Quote from Chris Elrod’s blog: “A good video, cranking worship and relevant marketing…can’t take the
place of one older gentleman speaking truth from the Word of God.”

Another good quote, this time from Ben Arment on the subject of the church planter who gets beaten up and finally comes to his senses: “Money isn’t quite as important… he gets closer to the people… he
reexamines his motives, slows down for his family… invests in kingdom
growth, not just his own church.” Been there, done that. I’m as driven as ever to see our church grow into a self-supporting work but God has used this time to really shape me as a Christian.

Jacob Riggs at “AFrayedKnot” shares an interesting story about a trip to Wendy’s for a burger and the message we as Christians send. Good words Jake!

And for the song of the day….My son comes home from middle school singing “Kites Are Fun” by the Free Design (some groovy 60’s group) and tells me his band teacher played the song for them as a novelty. Apparently somebody else thinks this song is a bit crazy too because they created a video for it on “You Tube”

That’s it for now! Thanks for dropping in and reading. Let me know your thoughts if you have time. God Bless.

I felt like jotting down a few thoughts after seeing that my blogging friend Ben Arment turned his blog comments off due to time constraints. Seems folks were engaging him in some debate and it was hard for Ben to keep up. Recently, he was fielding some comments from others about church success and his well planned “Whiteboard Sessions” one-day conference he has coming up. It seems every time the subject of church “success” is discussed, it never fails that a lively debate ensues; usually dealing with such non-essential things as music styles and bible translations. Not that those things aren’t important, but they are NOT essential in the large scheme of what the function of the church should be.

So what IS a successful church? As a church planter, I am under pressure to raise money to stay on the field. I’m also under a lot of stress to build a church that will quickly pay its own bills so that we do not have to rely on others to survive. It does take time. We began this work nearly $30,000 in the hole. That was the debt load I inherited when I brought my family here from Missouri. All of that aside, one thing I have learned is what Nelson Searcy would call RTL’s, or “Radically Transformed Lives”, is the key to success in ANY church. I simply tell folks we are in the business of “Life Transformation”. Of course, that transformation must begin with our commitment to Christ and whether or not we have truly repented and given our hearts to him. But honestly, I measure my success these days by the lives I’ve seen the ministry of our church change. It’s a work in progress and always will be.

What? I can’t believe what I’m hearing here. I can’t believe McClaren has such an extremely distorted view of hell. So God sends people to hell because he likes violence? They no longer make the choice to go there themselves by rejecting the horrific death of His Son to redeem them from their sins?

This is utterly amazing.

Funny stuff! After reading Chris Elrod’s blog and seeing a video by the same folks, I went and checked out their other stuff. Thought this one was funny too!

“We’re not about religion. Religion sucks. … And this is not your mom’s or grandma’s church.”

So ended the comment from a “pastor” after an opening service at yet another new “relevant”, “hip”, “post-modern” church. (add your own adjective). CAN WE PLEASE STOP THIS JUNK? Why is it that on the day that we set aside to recognize Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world that I have to read about yet another church that’s wiping away the sins of the old….Here’s another comment:

“If you’re looking for a comfortable place to celebrate Easter, been
wounded by old-school church and are looking for something new, or just
curious what this new, modern church movement is actually all about,
come see us.”

Mind you, I consider myself part of what many would call the “modern” church movement. (Though I eschew labels) I do not, however, consider myself separate from the historic church of Jesus Christ. It may have many different flavors, it may have many different ways of “form” as far as church goes, but the “function” of the church never should change. Why people feel free to continually knock the older churches is beyond me. Are there problems with some in the older churches hanging on to power, trying to keep a 1950’s vibe going, and refusing to consider different styles? Surely but there are just as many problems in the hip, new “modern” church. Just ask the guys planting them that really have their hearts in the right place.

I am in a situation where our church meets in a school. We are looking at investing some money in a 24/7 location but where some of these other groups get the millions they do to found new churches is beyond me. I started with a handful of families and we’ve grown by about double in the short time I’ve been here. Nothing like the stories of 400 attending on opening night at some of these other venues but I really don’t care about any of that now. After experiencing and reading about some of the selfishness that goes on in people’s hearts regarding church, I’m reminded of the words Paul wrote to Timothy…

You should also know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that. They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by many desires. Such women are forever following new teachings, but they never understand the truth. And these teachers fight the truth just as Jannes and Jambres fought against Moses. Their minds are depraved, and their faith is counterfeit. But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as happened with Jannes and Jambres. (2 Timothy 3:1-9 NLT)

You might say I’m being harsh but isn’t what I’m reading slanderous? Ripping some other person’s choice of a house of worship and talking about the wounded makes me sick. There are plenty of people who get wounded in the “new” church too but by people who wish to make no claims of piety so they think that clears them from any judgment. Even worse are those who feel “called” to pastor but yet, can’t find a church who will hire them so they go off and start something new because they are too “forward thinking” for the old crowd. (sarcasm intended). Then, they preach to unsuspecting, “wounded”, unchurched folks and spew their venom about the “old ways” while smiling! It happens all the time. If that’s not you, GREAT. But I’ve read enough of it over the past few days that I know it’s out there. That mindset will never truly succeed. Oh, they might gather a crowd, but God will not be there and his spirit will not guide the poor, desolate souls looking for a drink of water in a parched dry land.

After the last comment I posted in italics, I noted a message that had been left of this person’s blog by a visitor. I think it sums up the situation perfectly…

“…if a particular congregation meets the needs of a particular individual
or family and changes their heart in the way that Christianity is
supposed to, I am not going to knock that particular church because of
its institutional structure.…Faith is personal, it probably should be kept in the
personal realm. Advertise for a particular church, but don’t knock the
church of others.”

Well stated.

May God bless you as you pause and reflect on Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross for your sins. Let us use Good Friday as it was intended. For our growth and not for tearing down someone else.

“Your church is so nice and friendly…it’s just that it’s a bit small and we need something bigger…”  Those are words I’ve heard many times over the years as a church planter.  Truth is…I’m sick of them.  Our culture feeds this myth of the large church and the consumerism mindset of shallow people.  Even in Christian blogging, I’m beginning to see it.  When I entered the blog world a few years ago, I was discovering other writers, men whose churches were similar to mine.  Even amongst some of the larger churches, I found solace from friends who understood because everyone starts somewhere right?

So why all of a sudden are we seeing this alarming trend in blogging that lists the “top churches” and “top blogging pastors”?  I’ve nothing against those guys.  I’m sure many are solid, sharp folks but it appears the very cliques we disdain in our congregations are forming on-line in the blogosphere.  Don’t believe me?  Take a look at the most popular pastors (you know them…they are in your feed readers) and check out their blogroll.  I keep seeing the same 10-15 names on every single blog!  Really?  These are the only guys you get insight from?  All across the country, it’s the same “top ten” on the blogroll.  Personally, I think the creation of tags has made the blogroll useless on a site.  One can list their favorite links in a post and update the post with new links and just tag it with favorite blogs if someone is interested in searching it.  I’m likely going to do the same thing on this site in the near future.

Back to the issue of “top tens”, we now have other sites featuring blogs from the same guys.  Really?  Like nobody has heard of these fellas right?  If you’re blogging as a church planter or “progressive, missional, (insert name here), etc..” type of pastor or layman, you know these folks already.  I understand the concept of viral marketing thoroughly.  This is a small microcosm of that.  I read a lot of productivity blogs too and have been turned on to new sites by the recommendation of others.  There’s nothing wrong with it.  I guess my thought is what criteria do we use to recommend these blogs?  Is it purely church size?  Does size matter?  It appears so.  I’ve yet to see anyone list a guy whose church is running 200 and he’s “knockin’ it out of the park” to quote one of the famous blogging pastors.  How about guys under 100?  Perhaps we need to subcategorize the church blogosphere so we can identify those guys that are “nailing it” that aren’t seeing hundreds and hundreds of folks come through their doors.

The reality is, the blogrolls we see today will be gone in five years.  The churches will likely still remain but will begin to transition into another category much like the favorite sons of the 90’s are doing.  by 2013, I’ll be nearing 47 years of age and by the church planting standards in the blogosphere, I’ll be a dinosaur.  The truth is, I’ll be entering my very best years and my dream is to have my graduate degree by then and enter the sweetest time of fellowship with Jesus I’ll have ever had.

Most of my favorite reads in the Christian blogging world aren’t even a blip on people’s radars.  Many aren’t subscribed to by 100’s but the meat of their words sure beats much of the pablum I read on a daily basis.  Here’s just a few…

Michael Quicke
Quicke’s blog is relatively new.  He is the writer of 360-degree preaching and 360-degree leadership.  He’s so new to this stuff (starting in his 60’s!), that he’s just using the blogspot format to get started.  A professor of preaching who has pastored a church that was thought to be dying revived, he has great wisdom in the scriptures.

Church Matters
This is the blog of the 9Marks organization.  I don’t always agree with EVERYTHING they write about, but I do believe this blog is spot on with many of its statements.  It makes some folks a little uneasy and angers others because they don’t want to be “attacked” but taking to heart what’s written here is good for us to chew on when we want to assess what it is we are doing.  Again, multiple authors post here so I do not agree with all of them, but I enjoy reading all of them.

John Atkinson
John is the small groups pastor at Bil Cornelius’ church.  Bil is the co-author of “Go Big” lest you think I’m against the mega-church which I’m not.  John’s blog is nice because the guy is transparent many times.  “I’ve been too busy to post”, “It rained on our cookout”, “People frustrate me”, etc…This is the kind of guy that I could hang out with at a hot wings place over a ball game and enjoy learning from.  His friend G. Brandon Cunningham also blogs and heads up men’s ministry at the church.  I include Cunningham in that offer of hot wings too.  Both are enjoyable reads when they can post and both are real in the struggles they face as Christians.

Terry Glaspey
Glaspey is one of my favorite writers.  I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing him twice when I worked in the broadcast industry and he is as nice in person as he comes across in his writing.  His book “Great books of the Christian Tradition” now re-released as “The Book Lovers Guide to Great Reading” was outstanding in its recommendations of classic Christian literature.  The books he recommends are not what you see being written about in the blogosphere.  With so many new books entering the publishing world each year, it’s getting harder and harder to pick good books from today’s writers but Glaspey’s book ensures you will get the sweet cream of the crop of writing centuries old with his reading lists.  He’s written other books but “Great Reading” is still my favorite.  His blog recently went online and I am so glad.  I think it will be another extension of his creative, humble, writing self that we’ll see on a semi-regular basis.

There are many others that I need to include.  But these are some you just don’t see getting any plugs in the blogosphere.  They deserve as much kudos as any other site I’ve read in the past year.  Enjoy..and ENOUGH ALREADY!

If you or your church is looking for an outstanding Easter outreach, let me recommend “Simple” by Robert J. Morgan.  You may have read Morgan’s books on the classic hymns and the stories behind them in the “Then sings my soul” series.  You might have heard of him when you’ve used the “Minister’s Annual” that’s printed each year by Thomas Nelson but I believe this little booklet is one of his best works ever.  Why?  Because it gives you a chance to put a quality resource into the hands of first time attenders and new believers that gives them the basics of the Christian faith without being wordy or “over their head”.

Click Here to visit the SIMPLE website and check it out yourself.

The video features an opening statement by a good friend, Matt Markins, who himself is in leadership at a church in Tennessee.  I know these guys personally and they will take great care of you if you choose to use this resource.  For those who might want to use this for a message series, sermon outlines are available also if you ask for them!  We used this last year with great results…so much so that I now keep a case of SIMPLE in my car along with my New Testaments, to give to people I meet.  A new study guide is available as well to help you in your efforts to use the materials in the book.

As a church planter, I review a lot of materials for use in guest follow up.  This is among the best I’ve seen.  Many of us blog about wanting to keep things “simple” in our ministries.  Well, this is a great tool to do that while still being very, very effective.

My advice?  Buy it, use it, use it again…and again…with each new guest that comes through your doors! (and no, I’m not being paid nor am I with the company.  I just endorse what I believe in.)

Check it out and let me know if I can help you by sharing with you how we used in here at our church!

Nearly a year ago, I blogged on what I called “ChurchPlantSpeak”.  That is, the “expert” voices at the time who were explaining why so many church plants fail.  You can read the post by clicking here.

With 2007 drawing to a close and nearly a year passing since I wrote that piece, I first reflected on my feelings at the time and now, looking ahead, I see even more that confuses me on this whole issue of planting a church.  Here’s why…

In just a few months, I’ve seen the complete shutdown of two local church plants and fading of a few others.  I’ve had my own growing pains this year so I can related but in both cases of the church plant shutdowns I mention, the pastors’ abrupt resignations and moving out of state brought about situations that left their fledgling congregations with little choice but to fold up shop.  Leadership had not been cultivated and therefore, the church had no direction.  This is what I meant in my piece a year ago when I said it’s easy to build a crowd a mile wide in church today but so very often this large crowd is “an inch deep”, meaning they are spiritually very immature and at the first sign of hardship, they jump ship!

I’m more convinced then ever that we as leaders need to make leadership mentoring our top priority as we see our churches begin to take on new people.  That’s not to diminish evangelism and “soul winning” as it’s been called over the years.  But it’s my job as a pastor to train up folks to do this work also so that I can pour quality time into the lives of those who will help me sustain this work.  Think of Jesus.  He took his 12 disciples and spent the bulk of his ministry teaching them.  Yes he did many miracles…but the Bible is replete with stories about his training and teaching of the disciples.

I’ve not seen as many articles on the subject of why church plants fail like I did at this time last year.  Perhaps some of these men have been humbled to see that they are not beyond struggles also.  I still see the occasional post on what others need to be doing, etc…but by and large, many of the blogs I’m subscribed to now are more encouraging and understanding.  The “ChurchPlantSpeak” of ‘06 was far more spicy than that of it’s successive commentary a year later.

Rather than focus on any one thing…Here’s what is working for us….

1.  Prayer.  We pray fervently for God to bless our work.  My wife and I open our home once a month (small as it is) and we invite the entire church to come over on that evening (Usually, a Sunday evening) and enjoy snacks, a time of devotion, and then uninterrupted prayer for as long as it takes.  The “community” we are building in doing this is paying great dividends.

2. Leadership development.  As I mentioned earlier, my focus is still on new people and gathering a crowd but I have begun to say no to some commitments to give me time to pour my life into a few others (a few at a time!) that will not only support the church, but also LEAD in it.  Doing this has been wonderful for me.

3. Let your people know you care.  I’ve seen very little written in the blogosphere regarding this area.  What I’m talking about is writing notes and calling your people to let them know you are thinking about them.  I have a great pastor friend who told me if I could touch 10-15 people a week with a note of concern and care, it would do great things for me!  He was right.  I hand write notes so the person receiving knows I thought enough of them to take the time and not “cut and paste” something.  I also make brief calls (usually, no longer than 3 mins) just to check in on others and to make sure they are OK.  Another source is email so you can see that in under an hour, you can touch all these lives with the gospel.  That’s wonderful.

I have other thoughts to share on this but for now, I’m going to close.  Those three should give you food for thought and I welcome your criticisms and comments.

~Until next time

Today kicks off the holiday shopping season.  “Black Friday” as it is known will generate a ton of revenue for the retail industry as shoppers busily hop from place to place to find that special sale item that they just will not be able to find for the next month (or at least, that’s what the retailers tell you.)

Every year I’m amazed to watch people line the doorways of places like Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Sears, etc.. by 5am or some other crazy time just so they can buy a TV for $50 (or some other similar “draw” item.)  Last year when the Sony Play Station 3 video game system was released, some poor guy got his bell rung (literally) when the mob trying to get into the store ran him into a light pole.  He needed surgery on his jaw just so he could be normal again.  I blogged about it a year ago and still am amazed at the lengths people will go to to acquire a “thing”.  I refuse to participate in such utter mayhem.  I guess if it’s your cup of tea and you enjoy climbing over people to get that “Dancing Elmo” doll sitting in the frozen food section because some other person had it fall out of their cart so be it.  As for me, I slept up until my regular time this morning, did some work on my weekend message, brewed up a cup of genuine Peet’s coffee, and finished reading my news online moments ago.  The kids would like to go out and shop a bit for Mom today since she’s working so perhaps we’ll do that later today.  I don’t mind going out in mid-day or even early evening after the madness has settled but still, I try not to buy into the madness and overspend.  There’s no sense buying it all on sale anyway if you’re going to pay credit card interest on your purchase right?  The interest will eat up any savings you made by buying it today.

On the other side of this discussion was a thoughtful post made by Dustin Wax at Lifehack.org.  Read his comments about “Teaching Kids Charity and Clarity” on his site.  It’s one of the best articles I’ve read on this topic in a long, long time.  Teaching kids to be sensible, giving, and learning good organizational skills in the process is a three-pronged vision of success!  Perhaps if we made this ritual an annual rite of passage, we wouldn’t have the excessiveness that so permeates the real joy of celebrating the holiday.

Have a happy Black Friday!  I’m going back for a second cup of coffee.

“Pastor, we need to leave because we just feel we’re not being fed anymore.”  That probably is the most overused statement in the modern day church today would you not agree?  I’ve been convicted in this “feeding” thought after reading “The Divine Mentor” by Wayne Cordeiro.  I remember a time when I was told in one week that the message I preached on Sunday was “too deep” for one family while another told me the very same week that the message was “too shallow”.  Say what?  I also remember when I used to take this personally but now, I realize it’s normal and depending on the side of the fence you’re on, one response or the other will suffice when leaving a church.

In 2008, our church is going to increase its emphasis on “self feeding”.  I’ve been reading other blogs regarding Cordeiro’s book and the challenge it lays out and see a similar trend developing.  Pastor Phil Print has put together a couple of posts on this topic, including one you can read by clicking here.  Bob Franquiz also did a nice job reviewing this book as well.  If you’d like to check out the first few pages of the book, you can read the introduction at Crosswalk’s “First Chapters” site.

Teaching people of the importance of reading their bibles DAILY isn’t a popular idea for sure.  Oh, we give it lip service in our messages don’t we?  We sprinkle in thoughts while we speak about “taking the time to listen to God every day” and “praying every day” but do we really follow up on it?  Even in a traditional Sunday School or modern small group program do we hold folks accountable for their devotions?  One part in Cordeiro’s book that got my attention was a story he shared about a staffer at his church announcing that he was leaving because he wasn’t being fed anymore.  This was someone on staff!  Cordeiro quickly countered by asking the man about his devotions and when silence was the only reply, Cordeiro willingly accepted the man’s resignation.  This is the type of accountability we need at our churches today.  People who daily meet with God will willingly put selfish desires away and much of the pettiness that we see in our churches that have conflict would be decreased dramatically.  That is not to say that we would be conflict free.  Not at all.  But increased unity would bring about quicker resolution and a peaceful congregation would be the result.

The ideal would be to have everyone involved in a daily time of devotions.  Obviously, that will not happen but we have to strive to make it a part of the church culture and stress it every time someone asks.  Part of our follow up and welcoming procedure at our church is going to include some type of encouragement to get started journaling and reading the bible daily.  It’s still in the works for us as to what that’s going to look like. I know this.  It’s not going to have to be complex.  It’s pretty simple right?  We just want to stress to our people that “self-feeding” is the only way to develop spiritual strength.  All of the other ministries of the church will flow from daily time with our Lord.

More thoughts later..

Does having a building make a difference when establishing a church?  A recent article by a well-known church planter posed that very question.  To say the least, his comments left me a bit confused…To wit:

If you are truly trying to reach unchurched people with everything that is in you, it doesn’t matter if you have a building or not. Unchurched people do NOT care about buildings, they care about the fact that they had their lives changed.

In a perfect world, these types of observations make sense.  In mine, they do not.  We’ve met in a school for 18 months now after having met in a building (a very small one) that we sold in order to grow.  In my experience, I’ve met with families who’ve told me it DOES make a difference.  Yes they crave life change but they also crave security and once they see you have a building, it tends to legitimitize what you are doing.  Another quote:

I’ve heard the argument that people burn out being portabe. The truth is that church planters burn out being portable and therefore their people follow the leadership and they burn out on being portable. If your people are burning out on being portable than you have a vision issue. When people understand the vision and buy into the vision, they don’t mind being portable as long as the vision is being fulfilled.

What can I say here other than this statement is just not true.  For this person to make such a blanket statement assumes much from the many church planters I’ve cried tears with to see their vision blossom into reality.  Can we burn out?  Surely but it doesn’t have to be a vision issue.  Sometimes, people just get tired of the endless setup and teardown routine that takes hours!  Some of the churches I see in the blogging world build extensive sets and make huge productions out of their stage presence, including the church whose pastor wrote this.  I’m not knocking it nor am I against it but if the statement I quoted earlier is true; that unchurched people only care if their lives are being changed, then the extravagance at which many go through to make an impression is merely show because the unchurched don’t care about such things…It’s only window dressing.  They only care about their lives being changed right?  Do you see how this contradicts itself?

The second part of his comment, that the pastor may have a vision issue, does have some merit but it’s not true in all cases.  Many times, volunteers just wear out.  I know from experience it’s hard to keep going when there’s no end in sight.  Yes, the vision of changed lives is beautiful and meaningful but if it’s all you have…Many of your best volunteers will still burn out.  It’s not a vision issue with the pastor…It’s the reality that people arrive hours before the service, are wore out just sitting and trying to enjoy worship knowing that in an hour or so (a few more if you’re having two services) they will be at it again putting it all away.  It can sometimes be overwhelming to even the most blessed leader…Just ask Moses!  One final thought:

I will even venture to say that those who were NOT growing before moving into a building that started growing after moving into a building are simply experiencing “church hopper” growth. Those that were growing before moving into a building will continue to grow in a building but they would have grown no matter what.

I would venture to say there is some truth in that statement but a mission church inside a school (or movie theater, etc.) attracts far more church hoppers than those in a building.  Why do I says that?  Because I’ve seen more folks try to get in on the “ground floor” of new church startups figuring they can grow with the work.  Once they see the commitment and amount of work required for such an endeavor, they will either stay for a season and move on or they will just leave immediately.  Well known church planter and author Steve Sjogren calls these people “scaffolding people” because they are there in the early construction stages of a church but just as actual scaffolding goes down once the building is being completed, so these people leave as the church grows.

His article concludes with a rundown of some very successful (by the world’s standards) church plants that are portable.  I’m not saying these aren’t solid churches but I’ve not been in any of them so it’s unfair for me to say.  What I will say is that just because the handful of churches he mentions are large in size, doesn’t necessarily make them healthy and even if they are, it’s not a sign that they have it figured out and the struggling church of less than 100 that’s portable doesn’t.  That was the impression this article left on me.  That may not have been the author’s intention but it was how I perceived it.

More to come later…..

Why do some people make the issue of the Holy Spirit so hard to understand?  I’m finishing up a series of messages on the Trinity and my final sermon is on this very issue.  It seems so many not in church see the Holy Spirit as some entity that swoops down on a person and makes them talk funny and do silly things.  This view is so accepted (or a variations of it are) that many churches and their pastors don’t even talk about this wonderful third person of the trinity and what it is he really does.

Jesus promised his disciples that the spirit would come and lead them in all truth.  He said this to them just prior to his crucifixion so they would not feel abandoned.  The spirit itself descended on Jesus at his baptism and predicated the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  It must be important to us today right?

Quite simply, the Holy Spirit guides me daily.  In my spiritual formation, he illuminates biblical truth and speaks to me in the still small voice that spoke to Elijah when he was taken up on a mountain by God to hear him speak.  Many of us are like Elijah and want to hear God in the fire, earthquake, or heavy winds.  Many of us will not slow down and tune our ears to the quiet.  I’ve never spoken in tongues, never been caught thrashing on the floor (except when falling over my son’s skateboard), and never made it a point of contention with others.  Everyone’s relationship with the spirit is unique.  One thing I do know though is that the spirit will bring attention to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and NOT to the person.  That is how I differentiate between the charlatans and the real Christ followers.

What does the Holy Spirit mean to you?  How do you connect with Him in your own life?

This morning’s news headlines featured this story on Disney Pop Tart Vanessa Hudgens and her now famous nude photos that have been widely circulated on the internet.  The 18-year old star of the now wildly famous “High School Musical” franchise is barely an adult (and only in legal terms here) and yet, according to media wonks, this photo shoot should catapult little “Gabriella” (Her HSM persona) into the stratosphere.  Just look at this quote…

“Did anybody really know or
care about Paris Hilton before her sex tape surfaced?� a high-profile
television executive told FOXNews.com. “This scandal is making her a
household name � it will definitely elevate her into real star-studded
status.�

Wow!  “Real” star studded status.  As if being a multimillionaire in your teens isn’t enough.  Through careful marketing of not only the movies but also all the paraphernalia related with it, Hudgens has set her and her future family up for life.  Even before this scandal surfaced Hudgens and her HSM co-star and current boyfriend Zac Efron were already holding out for multi-millions for the theater version of High School Musical 3 set to debut sometime next year.

Let me tell you what I see…

I see a young girl, very immature, making a very, very foolish mistake.  She must be very insecure to have taken the time to have someone at the ready with a camera to take a picture of her nude while dressing in a bedroom and then to send those pictures across the internet.  According to credible reports, this isn’t the first time this has happened.  When Hudgens was a minor, she reportedly sent risque photos of herself to Nickelodeon’s Drake Bell of the popular “Drake and Josh” series.  This happened before the HSM series takeoff when Hudgens played a bit role as Bell’s girlfriend in one of the shows.  What is going on here?  A young girl with star fantasies badly in need of security.  A real relationship with Jesus is lacking in her life.  Another quote from the article says:

And it seems Ness is certainly
trying to undo the damage, attending church with her parents,
cancelling her Jay Leno interview and posting a message of thanks to
supportive fans on her Web site.

Well, I certainly hope her church attendance was for the right reasons and not a public relations ploy to try to repair her image with pre-teen girls across the country.  THAT has already been irreparably damaged.  My nine-year old, who doesn’t listen to the news, couldn’t help but hear about this scandal from her little friends at school.  She came home and told me she was a “Sharpay” only fan now (Sharpay is the character played by fellow HSM star Ashley Tisdale).

What bothers me most about this is that our culture largely celebrates immaturity like this.  It even revels in it.  Adults especially should be appalled at this.  A girl barely old enough to be a legal adult posing nude and having her body splashed all over the internet.  As a parent, I’m angry because my youngest daughter is now hurt by this and I’m incredulous at the overall response because my oldest daughter is just 18 months younger than Hudgens (or to look at it another way, she’s as old as Hugens was when the first HSM film was made in 2005 and debuted in January of 2006).

I pray God will give us a sense or morality about this and that parents will use this as a way to train their children to make wise choices and give in foolishly to what the mainstream says is quite alright.

I wake this morning to the crisp cool air of the coming fall season.  This is my favorite time of year.  Not very hot, not icy cold like the winter.  Just right for a good cup of coffee, my bible, and a journal.  That’s how I started this morning at about 5:45am as I sat out on my little concrete patio reading and reflecting in the quiet.  It brought to mind an old 4Him song I still enjoy listening to nearly 11 or so years after its release.  It’s called “Sacred Hideaway”.  I’ll not share the whole song with you but you can look up the lyrics and I’m sure for .99 you can download the song.  But as I pondered my day today (more on that in a moment), the quiet brought to mind the first part of the song:

“There’s a shadow I can’t see

He is watching over me”

I so much feel this cover as I wake each day.  How can I explain having all my needs met each week, each month, each year?  Soon, the quiet time of reflection ends and I must begin the task of waking my children, preparing my calendar and task lists for the day….Ahh, how good the coffee tastes when it’s quiet and it’s just you and Lord….The song continues:

“Just beneath what lies between

“I have found a secret place

“Flaming arrows deep in flight

“Still within this life

No. Sometimes like Elijah, I just need to hide under the broom tree for a while until God visits me and reminds me that there’s much worse that could be happening.  I could be in a country where my calling could mean I could die any day and never feel the embrace of my wife and children again. No…I will go.  My heart is burdened for these families.  I’m tearing up as I write somewhat cathartic this morning.  Thank you Jesus for loving me and loving our church.  Help me to be the leader you called me to be.  Amen.

As I was reading my blogs this morning I came across Eugene Cho’s excellent blog detailing the crisis in Afghanistan with the terrorist Taliban group holding Christian Korean hostages.  Already, Korean Pastor Bae Hyung Kyu has been martyred.  He was leading a group from his church into this dangerous territory to help people and died a martyr for his faith.  I hope the Taliban understand what they did by killing this man who by all reports was a good man, pastor, father, and leader.  The South Korean people are not easily bullied and their Christian conviction is admirable.

We have a large Korean contingent here in Denver and my hope as a church planter is to soon be in new location where we can house not only our church but to plant a Korean work inside the place also.  The Korean people have a beautiful culture and I pray that we as a nation stand with them in opposition to this brutality.

Thank God for the blogosphere also for providing better coverage of this event that the news organizations we see every day which seem to want to focus on Lindsay Lohan and the partisan infighting in the U.S. government.

My day yesterday was full.  In addition to visiting a pastor in a neighboring town who’s going through a trial, I have been going through my own private hell of late.  We had our largest crowd of the year this past Sunday but I’m also losing a key family and the issues, while few, are enough to make my stomach churn.  I know leaders go through this all the time but it still doesn’t make it any better.  I just finished reading a cathartic book of sorts called “O Shepherd, Where Art Thou” by Calvin Miller.  After I finished with it, I decided I needed to go for a ride to visit some folks..

I started first with an elderly lady in our congregation who’s granddaughter just passed away.  In the past few months, this deal soul has had to endure the following: Her town home caught fire and it took months to rebuild, while living in a hotel between places she fell and broke her hip, her blind son had a stroke a few weeks back, her grandson got blood poisoning from a spider bite a week after that, and this week her granddaughter dies.  Spending time with her over an ICEE at a local sandwich shop put some things in perspective.  She hugged me and assured me all would be well with our current crisis.  She’s brave and much better at handling pain than I am that’s for sure.

Later in the day I came home and spent some time with the kids before running my son over to a friend’s house.  While I was in the city where his friend lived, I decided to travel to another family’s home not too far from where I was.  I wound up there until 9:30 last night sharing concerns with both the husband and the wife.  We talked about our kids, their future, the man’s job, and the woman’s fears.  She’s still new in the faith and learning.  As I left, they both hugged me and thanked me for my concern.  They said spending time with them was the best gift they could have had because nobody really comes to see them these days.  They are not much older than my wife and myself but it’s amazing what an investment of time will do to heal a person’s wounded spirit.  I came home at 10pm last night tired, worn, but refreshed.  This is what pastoral ministry is about.  This is why we plant churches.  Because the number of wounded outnumber the seats in a church.  If we build churches just to provide them a seat but never get to know them, we are doing them a disservice. 

I was told how blessed others were by my presence but it was the other way around.  I was blessed by their graciousness in a time when I seriously have doubted my competence to do the work I’ve been called to do.  I know that’s crazy since God gives us the heart for it but I think you would agree we’ve all been there.  I still hurt a bit today but I’m doing better.  Pray for me if you’re so inclined.

I just don’t know about this blog thing sometimes!  I know the rule is to post frequently but somehow, I just can’t seem to manage the time.  Oh well, for those of you who do stick around, I appreciate you checking in and commenting so I know I’m not just typing into the nether reaches of cyberspace!

Our worship guy is quitting.  I’m bummed.  He turned in his resignation Tuesday effective July 8.  He’s been a great help to our work in the past year since we’ve launched.  There was nothing personal in his resignation.  His secular job is promoting him to a new position and with the new position comes increased hours and responsibilities.  He just didn’t think he would have the time to devote to our work and his new job.  I don’t blame him.  Family should come first and he was stretched pretty thin already.  Now the task of finding someone new begins.  I have a few resumes on my desk but I still need firm commitments from those folks that they would be able to start in a couple of months.  Pray for me!

Sometimes it’s discouraging when you don’t see much response from people.  It makes you go back and re-look at what you’re doing.  I’m confident we’re on the right track but Satan has a way of getting in your head and messing things up.  It’s amazing how easily he can make you feel like a failure when you’re not up to your own standards.  I just need to go back to God’s standards first.  People need to be saved.  I think we’re so afraid to say that sometimes in our “don’t offend anybody” world that we’re just content to use the PC terms like “life change”, “committing their lives to God”, and “taking the first step on this God journey”.  Those types of phrases all sound great to me but I also sometimes wonder what’s behind them?  People need to get saved and have a real encounter with Christ.  I think then I’ll be encouraged.  I talked to my pastor (Yes, I still call my old church pastor MY pastor–he is!) today and he awoke this thought in me when he was telling me about an older man he led to Christ in an auto dealership back in Missouri yesterday.  To hear the old phrase “He needed to get saved” sounded good in my ears for some reason.  It’s been a while since I heard it.

I’m reading a book on prayer by one of my favorite authors, Terry Glaspey.  Terry and I met when I was in the broadcast business and I interviewed him several times on my radio show about his work in the literary field.  Terry is a committed Christian and one of those guys who challenges your thinking.  His books have never been best sellers but in today’s marketplace, deep thinkers rarely get the publicity they deserve.  Anyway, this book is nearly 10 years old now and I’ve read it before but felt the need to pull it down from the shelf again since it dealt with prayer.  According to today’s rankings on Amazon, you can pick it up new and used for $0.63!!!  That’s a bargain by any stretch.  The book is a collection of thoughts regarding the nature and power of prayer.  Quotes from great Christian authors and closing prayers in each section by Glaspey himself challenge you to go ever deeper in the power of prayer to God.  I’m preparing myself to write a devotional that our church will use in the month of September for 30 days of prayer.  I’m hoping that when I’m done with Glaspey’s book, I’ll be ready to write my thoughts down in earnest for the booklet.

I was thinking today about all the new methods that are available to us to attract more people to our church.  Depending on where you turn, you find people walking “across the room” (Bill Hybels), going to “fish” (Andy Stanley), washing cars for free (Steve Sjogren), or finding a “purpose driven” life (Rick Warren).

So what works?  What doesn’t?  How do we know what’s best for us?  The answer is they all do and they all do not.  What?  That’s right.  None of them work but all of them do.  Same goes for the recent trend of playing secular music in our worship venues, dressing down, being “missional” (I thought all churches were missional?), or being the Jesus version of Starbucks. (I prefer Peets as you all know).

Understand, I use many of the newer methods of outreach, discipleship, and worship in our church plant here.  I’m not opposed to any of these methodologies but I see a real danger in building our churches on them.  What ever happened to working it out for yourself?  Finding what works FOR YOU in your context, with your gifts, in your worship setting, and doing it with excellence should be our goal.  Our people are uniquely gifted to do what it is God has called them to.  Do we spend enough time with them to allow them to excel in their calling (training them for the work of ministry) or do we just plug them into a pre-determined program with pre-determined results?  Does that work for everybody?  No, it doesn’t. 

I see the benefit of figuring out what our outcomes should be and setting up a simple system of ministry flow designed to achieve those outcomes.  This is basically the method espoused in Thom Ranier’s latest book “Simple Church” which I thought was one of his best works.  I totally agree as I’m sure many other church plants and existing churches do as well.  The real danger I’ve seen in several circles is the steps within the ministry flow.  Programs if you will.  Many are just replicating the above mentioned programs which all have merit but may not work within a specific context.  Perhaps they all do and they are just being led by leaders who are letting the material run itself.  BIG DANGER.  You know what I’m talking about.  Step One says this so we do it until Step Two and then we do something else.  But what about the person who’s found Step 1 1/2?  Whoops.  That’s not in the book so it must not be right.

I see a great benefit in using others’ successful material if church leadership takes the time to personalize and change it to fit their methods.  A Christian Church in my area did this recently with their takeoff on Warren’s “40 days of service”.  They crafted their own logo, banners, cards, etc. for everything.  They based a sermon series around it and they had many new families come to visit and many stayed and enlisted in several service projects they are having here in the late spring.  I asked the youth pastor who is a good friend of mine if anyone caught the similarities between the two and he said nobody even broached the topic with him.  I think this is a great example of how a church took material and made it work FOR THEM in their context.  I know of other churches who’ve used the same material verbatim out of the package with the same 15-20 people who’ve always helped doing their jobs again.  No success!

It’s the people who are going to make or break these ideas.  How are they gifted?  Are you crafting an action plan designed to maximize their strengths while avoiding your inherent weaknesses? (Marcus Buckingham anyone?)

I pray your outreach to the lost is blessed and that lives are being changed in the process.  Otherwise, we’re just drawing a crowd.

Our church is moving forward as we look for another big day on Easter Sunday.  We’ve chosen to structure a series around the book “Simple” that you see referenced on my page.  I really like Robert J. Morgan and his books are always first class.  Check out the site and see for yourself.  I am in the process of designing custom invites that will be 3 x 5 size and easy to stuff in purses or pockets.  Our people are being encouraged to invite their friends and loved ones starting that week and we will begin a five week series based around the five points of the book.  In addition, we are launching a new small group based on the book and tying in some evangelism training with it.  One thing I’m noticing from my people is the need they’ve expressed to have additional tools in their hands to answer the tough questions about how to lead a friend to Christ.  Many folks tend to shy away from this since it seems politically incorrect in today’s church structure but we’ve chosen to tie in Bob Fay’s book on “How can I share my faith without an argument” as part of the class.  Our goal is to see changed lives and that can only happen with a genuine commitment to Christ.  God is already moving me into a new frame of mind as a leader and I believe this year will be our best yet as a church plant.  I also expect additional struggles since we are boldly moving forward to claim some new ground.  Pray for us.

My sermon this morning was based on James 5:19-20.  It dealt with bringing back those who’ve strayed from the faith.  We all know people like this.  They may very well be saved.  They may even have served faithfully in a church for a while but now, for whatever reason, they are no longer involved in a church or ministry at all.  We have an obligation to share God’s word with these people if we have the chance.  Statistics say it’s harder to reach these type of people than any other but James tells us if we can reach them, we will save them from death and cover a multitude of sins.  What an awesome word for us today.  I know that when someone I know of who’s been straying gets the fire in their lives re-ignited, it helps me also.  Perhaps I’ve grown a bit weary and cold at times and moments like this bring me back to what God truly had intended for us when he told us to go and make disciples.

My church family agreed!  We had many raise hands for boldness in this area at prayer time.  May God continue to grow and shape us as we strive forward for Him!

My blogging friend Ben Arment has written about worship times and what is the ideal.  He quotes from Nelson Searcy’s new book “Launch” in mentioning 60 minutes.  Steve Sjogren also advocates 60 minutes in his book “The Perfectly Imperfect Church”.  Most churches I talk to hover in the 75 minute range give or take a few minutes.  So what’s ideal?  How long is your worship service?

I’ve never been one to be a slave to the clock but I also see the benefit in maximizing the time.  Just because my friend’s church service is running 90 minutes doesn’t mean I’m any less spiritual because I’m trying to shorten our service to 60 minutes.  Like my church friends, our service was at about 75 minutes but at the first of the year, we made a commitment to shave time off the clock to make us a bit more efficient during the worship time.  A few things we’ve done include:

• Mentioning “plugs” for various church activities in “headline” format.  We direct our people to the worship folder (nee bulletin) and encourage them to review the details there.  We also have slides running before service with the same information (time saved, about 2-3 minutes).
• Transitions are tighter.  We plan our transitions a bit more than we did previously and move from one element to the next.  People who are involved in the service are given a “cue” and they need to be on time to move ahead. (Time saved, about 1-2 minutes)
• We actually start ON TIME.  This was a biggie because we encourage fellowship but what happens is we have many people in the hallway of the school we use eating snacks and refilling coffee and many times, we were starting 5 minutes late (Total time saved in the these three areas, about 10 minutes!)
• I decided to try to tighten up my messages as well.  I love Steve Sjogren’s statement about not feeding the sheep too much since they will puke.  Over the last few months, I’ve tried to sharpen the focus of my messages and by the first of the year, my goal was to shorten my preaching time by 5 minutes or so.  I purchased a handy little tool from the Toastmasters speaking clubs called a “pacesetter” (Again, this was recommended to me by Sjogren) and I love it.  The pacesetter is a small timer that you clip to your belt that can be programmed for up to three intervals during your speech or sermon.  It has the option to beep or vibrate (obviously with preaching, I’ve used the vibration mode) and will gently remind you to move along as you preach.  I’ve set mine for an introduction, sermon body, and a close.  Once your time is up, the device vibrates twice to let you know you’re done and starts timing up so you can see how much you went over your prescribed timing.  The first few times I had to get used to feeling a vibration during my message (Some thought I had gotten the spirit! *G*) but now, I expect it and it has helped me to sharpen my speaking skills.  I’ve taken about 7 minutes off my sermons and we’re now finishing on time in about one hour give or take a few minutes.

Those are some ideas we’ve used.  I’m sure there are others.  We do mention that we are beholden to this method.  If the spirit leads, we will go on if we feel led but overall, it’s helped us to shorten our service times without losing any quality.

I was gone over the weekend to raise money for our mission work here in Colorado.  The people in my home state of Missouri are so good to us here.  I was able to preach in two different churches Sunday before flying home Monday morning.  I had a full altar at the evening service as I shared the vision of our church plant and what God has done in our midst.  To say the least I was excited since this church was my former home church.  Many of the same faces I’ve seen over the years were there and it was good to be with them all.   They also raised a substantial amount to help in our expenses here to keep us on the field.

My entire theme was based on getting new people saved.  So many churches are inward focused and even many church plants are very good at drawing and keeping a crowd but when it comes to the time of confrontation, many shy away because it’s not politically correct.  What’s needed is a return to basics so God can do his transforming work in the lives we meet every day.  I’ve seen this first hand as I’ve challenged myself to be bolder in asking about a person’s spiritual condition.  Many are open to answers but want to be asked and spoken to with respect.  That’s where I think the term “saved” got such a bad rap over the past few years.  So many confront but with little grace.  The key is to find the balance and ask the tough questions from a concerned but knowledgeable standpoint.

May God give us all the grace we need to confront a lost and dying world in need of a savior.

Are we winning the lost?  How about discipleship?  Are the new Christians being trained as they should be?  I’ve considered this as I move forward in 2007.  Our church plant is still young and in its infant stages but already, the focus for many of our families has been on other things.  They do this without really knowing that they are.  Our mission is clear and is always being taught but now I wonder, is it not being that well?   An example…We focus a lot on fellowship.  We should.  It’s important.  Without fellowship, there’s no community and with no community, connection never happens.  But I asked some people in our church what the reason is for fellowship?  Why do we get together to eat, talk, enjoy coffee, or work out together?  Is it the goal or a means to the goal?  If it is a means (which it is), what is our progress towards the goal?  That last question always throws people (unless of course, I’ve had that conversation with them before!).

In today’s church culture, we’re all about relationships and creating the perfect environment.  Sure there are many churches who point to numbers but how many to salvation decisions and the discipleship that must follow?  Very few actually.  I’ve read blogs, magazine articles, and snippets in newspaper columns about changed lives and many coming to Christ.  I won’t doubt those but I want to see some numbers to back it up.  I really want to see the changed lives on display since that’s how the gospel will be spread.  I hope to visit some new churches this spring and summer to glean ideas from them but, ultimately, what it all boils down to is: are people being saved?  Once they are saved, are we moving them through a measurable process that directs them to discipleship.  We measure what’s important and for many, that means simply measuring worship attendance.  But there’s more to it than that.   How many are in Sunday School or small group ministries?  From there, how many are serving?  Who’s on the ministry teams?  Is it the same five folks or are new families getting involved?

I battle this weekly as I look for new people to come visit our work.  We’re not flashy with all the latest bells and whistles.  We invested in a great sound system and AV projector with a large screen but that’s about it.  Our money needs to be invested in SD’s (Salvation Decisions) and how to bring that about.  With so many churches focused on light shows, stage props, funny sermon series titles, and other funky things all the churches are starting to look and sound alike.  It’s getting harder for people to find a church that fits them.

We decided to pursue quality and excellence in those areas but our focus, our driving passion, is to see new people receive Christ as their savior.  If that isn’t happening, then it’s time to jettison some things and try new ones while staying focused on the goal.

What is your experience in this area?  Share if you like!

“There is no revival apart from repentance. That’s not a popular
message. It’s not an easy message, but it’s the only message that
brings about an outpouring of the Spirit of God and it’s that
outpouring of the Spirit of God is our only hope as a nation today.”

That quote comes from a story on the “Christian Today” web site.  The full text of the story can be found by CLICKING HERE.

I’m so glad our God is so much bigger than all of this.  The local media in Denver has been relentless surrounding the events of the past week.  I mentioned last week that for so many of us, life goes on and the pronouncement of the gospel continues.  Already, I’ve had the chance to witness as a result of all of this.  While enjoying some coffee in a bookstore, an aquaintence stopped me to ask about my take on all of this.  We had discussed faith before but I’m sure this person wanted to see my reaction.  I simply stated that Haggard was a man, and one that needs healing and prayer.  We all do.  I mentioned Romans 5:8 and told the individual that God loved us while we yet sinners and that through true repentance, we can be restored.

Living a life for Christ requires that our lives be put under a microscope at some point.  I’ve made my share of mistakes as I know each of you has.  Being honest about the struggles and joyous about the victories is the best way to share the truth of the gospel with a doubting individual.  I pray that my witness, however flawed, struck a chord in this person’s heart.

Which Way?

It appears this video from “Way of the Master” is getting beat up around the ‘net quite a bit by supporters of Rob Bell. For the record, I’ve watched several Nooma videos from Bell and like what I’ve seen but I don’t get the backlash that this is getting from those who would condemn this man for trying to share Jesus with others.

Methods and preferences may differ but the gospel message doesn’t. Addressing sin in our culture, it’s consequences, and God’s plan to save are the essential elements in presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ. I fear we may be slipping into a vacuum of believing that people will just figure it out for themselves if we just leave it alone. Untamed Faith sees the eternal consequences and boldly steps into the void to make a difference for eternity.

Have a great week!