Tag Archives: community

April 26, 2011

One another…

By twoznek

In eternity past God started time when He spoke the world into existence. As His crowning achievement He created mankind-in community- male and female He created them; in His image He created them.

Mankind fell into sin and so the epic struggle against depravity began. But in Genesis three there was prophecy by God of a future savior. Mankind continued to rebel against God. Cain killed Abel, and human government was established. But man, becoming vastly wicked and needed to be wiped out. So came the Flood. God was gracious, he allowed man to continue through Noah. Man, even after the flood, again rebelled against God by not going out, but instead built the tower of Babel.

God in His sovereignty chooses a man, Abrahm. And it was to be through this man that all nations would be blessed. This man’s family grew and ended up, again through God’s providence, in Egypt. While continuing to grow, God’s chosen people underwent bondage. God redeemed them and the nation of Israel was born, and God was to be their king.  It was through Israel that all the world was to know God., YHWH, the I AM.

Israel rebelled against God. And God, according to his character and justice, punished Israel and sent them off to captivity- but not without comfort or promise. There would one day be a Messiah. There would one day be a new covenant where Israel would be fully restored and the problem of sin resolved.

The Messiah did come to restore Israel, but Israel rejected him. Not only did they reject him, but they crucified him. “And I delivered unto as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. And that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Appearing to peter, the twelve and more than 500 hundred at one time. Christ conquered sin and death. But Christ did not remain here on Earth.

When the disciples asked Christ if now was the time to restore the kingdom of Israel, Christ said it was not for them to know “But you will be my witnesses.” The twelve disciples served as witnesses and the foundation of the church, something once hidden but now revealed. The church was born.  A growing community of devoted followers of Christ. The success of the disciples is evident, the church is still growing.

When God saved us through His son and sealed us with His Spirit, He placed us into the church, a community of believers. Christ’s work binds us together and it binds us together for service.

For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

Paul talks about it, James talks about it, Peter talks about it, John talks about it, our savior talked about it and lived it. God is concerned about how we interact and minister each each another. It is a responsibility that Everybody has. Church is not the same or complete with out you involved.

Ephesians 4:15-16 “but speaking the truth in love we will grow up into all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted together by what every join supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the whole body for the building up of itself in love.”

It is the work of Christ that binds us together. It is the one another’s of scripture that give us responsibility to each another and it is the growth of us as a community that God has us here. Study the one another’s of Scripture. The health and growth of the community is essential to spreading the Gospel.

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September 16, 2010

Divided

By twoznek

Avoid…. Doom & gloom… The tendency when dealing with the church division is to get all critical or guilty. The Bible makes it quite clear that one day the church will be perfected and we’ll be ok. Rather than see a mess, let’s get together and put the puzzle pieces together. We really do have all the pieces!

Divided by age
A serious division I’ve seen in church since I started attending at 5 years old is age separation. There are huge advantages to meeting people where they’re at. There are huge advantages to kids being with kids, young couples being with young couples, etc. We often go to far. The issue with 20’s and young 30’s leaving the church is an example of the division by age problem.

Divided culturally by age
Each generation in America became its own subculture. Think about it. Each generation has its own style, music, language, literature, forms of communication, etc. Given culture’s push to move people into their niche, sub-cultures grow and multiply at a rapid pace. Society is overly divided and segmented. Who is going to bring life together?

Two dangers:
Division by age results in a breakdown of discipleship. In talking with pastors, there is often a break down of discipleship post high school. A man goes to Bible college and maybe seminary afterwards, but post graduation continued discipleship is not a guarantee. It’s almost as if the churches we grew up in handed off leadership development to colleges & seminaries, seldom hearing from them during or after our training. That’s just pastors, a very small segment of our 20’s & 30’s. It is the trend in other areas as well.

Division by age results in loss of perspective & importance. The church needs the energy, ideas, enthusiasm, and I dare say mistakes of youth. Equally, the church needs its seasoned saints to offer their wisdom, be the voice to tell us when we need to slow down and let God, to make sure we don’t forget that God really is at work. Many problems could be avoided by listening to the older. Refreshing viewpoints and challenges to continue growing come by listening to the young.

Two cures:
Retire retirement. An example: I wish every church could have a “retired” pastor who shepherds the pastor or pastors. “Retired” pastors have been there. They know what’s human nature vs a unique situation. They know the questions to ask. They have the sense to let things work themselves out or to get involved. Elder pastors can fill a need in churches: pastors need shepherding too. Retirement is heaven for saints. Until then, seasoned saints have much-needed work to do. We need them to do it!

Take seriously body passages. (Romans 12ff, 1 Cor 12, Eph 4-6) We are truly one body! We are one church. Church should be a place where life comes together. Too much division hurts the body. Brining the body together is an essential because it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that binds us together. Affinity based groups are not wrong! We need them. Having everyone together all the time is counter productive as is the division mentioned. Viewing church as body needs both.

We need to view and operate the church as one body. The danger of focusing too much on affinity is it becomes what binds vs the Gospel. The danger of too much division is you lose. Judges 2:10 There arose a generation in Israel who did not know God nor the things of God. Where did the breakdown start? It ended with not teaching children, but it did not start there.

The bottom line:
Seriously, we have all the pieces to do incredible things for the Gospel. We cannot accomplish it divided. When one part suffers, we all suffer. Growth happens by what each part supplies. At the day of Christ Jesus, we know the job is done. We or the saints after us will get it figured out. The key is putting the pieces together, and that has never been more available than today.

The ideas and energy we need is with the youth. The road map to get there is in the hands of our seasoned saints. Perhaps that leaves the rest of us carrying the middle. It gives a different sense and feel to leadership and our “most productive years.”   Think of it this way: Can We be the hero? What if We is the hero? Is We what Jesus meant in His John 17 prayer? What would happen if We, the church, became the hero?

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July 20, 2010

Simple. Community. Authentic. Fad or rediscovery?

By twoznek

I think we over-programmed ourselves. People often do not know how to ‘just be.’ We fight it. Busyness is the vaccine against relational intimacy. We are very busy people, creating very shallow relationships. I wonder if the Simple. Community. Authentic. trend is a discovery of something lost, not something new?

Simple.
In simple we over program. There are many Christians that are so busy doing good things that their faith is extremely shallow. In zealousness we forget that life is more than just activity. Some churches program their way out of the missions context God placed them in. We are the analogy of a chick-flic where the girl gets the guy and then…role the credits. (Ever wonder what happens next?)

Willow Creek discovered this. They were doing many incredible things, but they were not making disciples as they should. The leadership realized they needed a radical re-working of how they do things to focus on producing disciples. The book Simple Church deals with the same issue among many (most?) churches.

Community.
We need commonality for community to exist. The phrase “online community” is used all the time. Let us be honest with each other: we lost what community really means. Social media strikes a chord because as humans we really do crave community. Community is diverse. I disagree with the sentiment that states people are into social media because they want fame. Honestly, that is too complex. People want identity.

If churches traded simplicity for programs, it traded community for commercialism & commodity. The danger of being over programmed is we start treating issues and people as a commodity, as customers and not as they are: People in the image of God. God is infinite, which means if the church is to glorify God (show or demonstrate accurately who He is) it takes diversity. Relationships are organic not synthetic. Ministry is farm work, not lab work; a muddy or dusty field not an assembly line.

Authentic.
We know we have opinions and we know we are not perfect. I find it hilarious how academic writing requires 3rd person (as if that magically more objective) or how we can make things a production instead of just being together and worshiping. A business workshop aptly stated: If you say you’re authentic, you better be, because everyone says it. I often heard from people that: if you have to state something, you’re likely not. If something is true, it will show itself true. Here is the key question: Why do we feel we need to say we are authentic?

My English prof described a hard conversation with her parents. She wanted to know if her parents were saved. Her mom was upset. “Couldn’t you tell by how I lived?” There are eras where how we lived that was the true judge, not what we said. “We need both,” Mrs. Williams stated. “I feel as though we lost the art of our living communicating what we believe.”

The Bottom Line:
Simple. Community. Authentic. Maybe we should take off the mask and call them for what they are: three areas where we need to repent. I hope we pursue them less as fad and more as a call to get back to what God wants us to be. I can’t help but notice what is core to each of these three things: People. Love God…Love People…Simple. Community. Authentic.

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April 7, 2010

Why Not Wednesday: Touching History…Creating Irony

By twoznek

There are few times when you realize that you’re not just seeing or reading about history, but you’re touching and hearing it in a way that is profound. I’ve had a few of those moments, but this one was unique. Not long ago I went to the Restoration Center for the Museum of Flight in Everett, Washington. I went to see a plane, but walked away with something unexpected. This event led me to believe we need more irony in ministry.

The Story

Being a plane buff, and not losing my awe and wonder aspect from my childhood, I just had to visit the center (I was afraid to fly as a child, ironic). The main reason for my visit was in having hopes fulfilled of boarding a de Havilland Comet. The Comet was the first jetliner, designed during late WW II in Britain. To actually board one was a dream come true. I remember seeing pictures of it in books or web sites about aviation. It was a beautiful plane. Amazing how the one I was on flew in 1959, ten years after the first one flew. (It was also a bit ironic to be onboard a British made plane that was used by a Mexican airliner only yards away from the Boeing factory.) So, mission accomplished, I set my mind to look at the other stuff, and then head for home.

Irony is the state of affairs that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects to find. As I interacted with some of the volunteers who restore aircraft, I was amazed by the quality of their work and the amount of time they took, normally about 10-15 years per aircraft. These guys in their retirement years seem more productive then many my age. A whole blog post could be written on their work ethic. Some of the guys took us to a photo album and shared stories about war stories, lost friends or projects they had done. This moved beyond the seeing history to hearing and touching it in a profound way. One gentlemen really stood out, though.  Ironically again, he doesn’t like planes, he just loves electronics.

This gentleman grew up in Eastern Europe and started to head West during WWII. He learned multiple skills, languages and talents to gain the “freedom” (as he put it) of the West. This eventually led to him being able to come to the New World. Feeling a lack of education, he had a passion to be a life-long learner and still pursues that, though his time is invested more in reflection now. Visiting with me at the time was a friend who works regularly with electronics. My friend stated, “This man has already forgotten more than I’ll ever know.” The gentlemen worked on technologies still employed successfully today, and is still hard at work using his skills. His story was the interaction of history, passion, family, love, pride and work. His last words to me were: “Pastor, I don’t know why God put me through all this and allowed me to go through what I did. But, I pray the Lord’s Prayer every night, in the five languages I’ve learned. This gives me great peace.”

The conversations with these seasoned men was a profound experience. It led to a greater appreciation for life, freedom, hard work, and friendship. Reflecting on this experience, I wonder how many people would actually hear and understand the implications of what these men shared. Then, I realized some would. It may be one, it may be more, and the epiphany may come years down the road. It happens at ironic moments.

Here is the Why Not:

We need to cultivate irony. Preaching and teaching cultivates and readies the ground for the ironic moments of life to take route. Learning may happen during teaching and preaching, but change, understanding and epiphany often occur in the most weird or unexpected venues. It occurs in the hallway, the older person sharing a story or comment, bed time conversations, but rarely in the classroom. Training your ministry team to cultivate and prepare for irony, or the unexpected, is just as important as training to teach well. And this thought came from a person who was scared of flying as a boy, is a plane buff… well, you heard the story. But, here is the thing: The one group of people who have the ability to fully produce irony in our ministries is seasoned saints.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Why Not Wednesday?

April 5, 2010

Book Review: Think Orange by Reggie Joiner

By twoznek

“As leaders our primary purpose is not to keep our children in church, but to lead them to be the church.” (p. 217)

Think Orange will be the defining work on Children’s Ministry & Family Ministry for quite some time. A significant discussion within the church is the relationships between the church, the family, and the various generations within both. From a methodology standpoint, Think Orange gives a road map to answer these questions. The book’s strengths are in explaining the why and what questions of a Family Ministry. There are other resources by the ReThink group that address the how.

The why question is critical
While there are many who do not appreciate or think philosophically, what you believe truly effects what you do. Reggie Joiner does an excellent job of explaining the essential role of both the family, the church and how they are combined and interact through leveraging community. A continual frustration of mine in Children’s Ministry is how programs or materials merely view parents as important, not essential. Think Orange views parents as essential! The combination or synergy of the family with church produced produces a powerful result. Reggie states: “2 combined influences make a greater impact than just 2 influences.” (p. 15) This principle, along with others, gives practical guidance to living out the truths of Scripture, in particular the parents’ role in discipling their children and the church’s role in equipping the saints for ministry.

The what question is helpful
What is needed is a collaborative model for family ministry, and not a hap hazard, random, or departmentalized one. Essential #1: Integrate Strategy, starting on page 110, is the most critical section answering what we need. A professor of mine often used the term “braiding,” getting various things to work together.  Having an integrated strategy helps all areas of family ministry to be on the same team and working towards the same goal. Said another way, it teaches children about the church by being a church. As a child grow up in the church, he or she is taken to another level at each life stage, including transitions between life stages. With society causing more and more fragmentation, the church needs to be a place that brings people together. Think Orange understands the equilibrium between families together, age appropriateness, and being one church. This equilibrium is a result from Reggie high view of community. Children are not the church of tomorrow but the church of today.

Final Thoughts
The book’s design and layout is helpful for those who are sequential & analytical thinkers, or the more abstract & random thinkers. It offers many ideas, discussion questions and insights. The book can be read sequentially, treated as a manual or encyclopedia on family ministry methodology. The charts and quotes that stand out were extremely well done and help to navigate the book.

Reggie shares frequently how the ideas translated into what was done at North Point. One should be careful to distinguish between example and what is/ what works at North Point. This is normally distinguishable, but there are times when it may be confusing. This is not a criticism, just something to be aware of. Another point that stands out and one should be aware of is Reggie’s humility. He gives permission to disagree with him, and even states that he may disagree with himself. This tone and attitude is refreshing and should be more prevalent within the church.

The Bottom Line
Think Orange is a critical work to navigate through if you are serious about impacting yours and other children to be the church, not merely attend church! Its strength is in family ministry methodology, with a close secondary strength in ministry philosophy.

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Book Reviews

March 31, 2010

Why Not Wednesday?

By twoznek

This is my redux into blogging. Writing helps sharpen and clarify ideas, generate discussion, and help expand one’s thinking. I find blogging to be a great forum because ideas can be fairly processed, and still “raw” or in their infancy.  What I enjoy about blogging is you enjoy the real-time struggle of ideas, or a person’s reflection on them. After being away for a while, I thought it was time to jump back in.

Why Blog?
I love books, classes and workshops (oh my). However, the ideas are often much more polished and removed. This is a good thing. Polished presentations are not an enemy. What I find is great works later generate into workshops which then generate books and then generate into classrooms. They are far removed from the start of their “success” or venture, often by years. Who wouldn’t like to be a fly on the wall during early discussions of great works? Blogging allows some insight into this.

The Idea
I read a quote that many great ideas were lost because they were not written down. Or, perhaps failed and did not have the resources or discussion needed to make them great. The other side of great works is they just pursued something and it happened. Success is based on two things: God and community (1 Cor. 12, Eph. 4). The advantage now of social media is the expansion of leveraging community.  I am not saying I have great ideas, or even good ones for that matter. Many have heard the cliche the journey is more important then the destination. That’s the intent of this blog. It’s my journey for better or worse.

Why Not?
“Why Not Wednesdays’ deals with creativity and off the wall ideas. It’s the drawing board, or better said the napkin. The ideas may not work, barely work, or are just out there. They can be as little as a game idea, or as big as a new methodology. Living out what we believe should encourage us to take risks, fail often, and be pleasantly surprised when God crabs a hold of something and lets it work. That is another aspect of ‘Why Not Wednesday;’ If it aint broke, break it!

The bottom line:
I’m blogging to sharpen my ideas and writing ability. I will be discussing things I’m passionate about: learning, dreams, and living out what I believe. I thought it would be appropriate to start posting on Wednesday, as that is the day I’ll deal with the dreaming and creativity aspect of life and ministry.

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