Tag: church

Why not Wednesday? No turning back…

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25 years ago on January 5th, 1986 I asked Jesus to save me. It is the day that changed everything. I remember sitting in my bed dreading going back to school and reflecting on all I heard at church. I knew one thing clearly: I needed to trust in Jesus.

No regrets
I have no regrets over the best 25 years. This doesn’t mean I made no mistakes. It doesn’t mean there aren’t times I could have made better decisions. It means this: The cross covers all sin. Ponder that for a moment. The moment we trust in Christ He erases all your sin, past, present and future. Instead of regrets I embrace the hope of the Gospel.

Back to being
I once heard a story where a person asked a pastor what was the difference between Christianity and religion. “Religion is do, Christianity is done.” I’ve learned it is very easy to get caught up in ‘doing’ instead of what Christ is most concerned about: ‘being.’ Our favor with God is completely based on the Gospel. A sharp focus on being will result in a more sustainable doing of good things. Busyness hinders our walk. Resting and waiting on God renews it.

Church is the hero
I believe the Church is the greatest institution for hope on Earth. For sure the Church has problems, but those problems, like regrets, the cross covers. To be a part of the church only takes two things: brokenness and the Gospel. There is no other place where brokenness is embraced with a future hope of Christ making all things new. Even though there are churches who may not get this or churches who ignore sin altogether, God is in control. He will make the Church right.

God is enough
The heart and breadth of the Gospel and existence is this: God is enough. Adam & Eve did not think so. Their actions led us to live in a world that does not make sense apart from God and His Word. God did not leave us to ourselves. He did not force us into some extreme contest to earn His favor. God provided the perfect and completely sufficient way to have favor in His sight: Jesus (Jn 14:6).

We often get confused in the craziness in life. We think what is good is from God and what is bad is from the Devil. I find God in both the good and the bad times. For in both the central question being asked is this: Is God enough? All of life is shaping us for His good purpose, and in the end we will understand fully this question. Without God, we have and are nothing. With Him, we have what is most important in life.

The bottom line:
It is so sweet to trust in Jesus. He will make all things new. He will one day perfect those who are His. But, the greatest isn’t the restoration He provides. The greatest part of the Gospel is I can call Him my friend.

Why not Wednesday? The Prayer Meeting

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The mid-week prayer meeting started early in the life of the church. While Sunday was often a day of worship with focus on God’s Word, the church reserved the mid-week meeting for prayer. For many, in time, the prayer meeting became a tradition and soon lacked its vitality.

Tradition is not a vice. Apathy is. Often the issue with tradition is not the tradition, it’s forgetting what it is about. The prayer meeting started as a way to act on the priority of prayer. The tradition becomes a vice when its reason for existence is “because we’ve always done that, that’s why.”

Apathy is the tarnish of tradition. So, how do we polish tradition so it can shine? There are three critical needs for the prayer meeting:

  • We need to realize that prayer demonstrates our dependence and focus on God.
  • We need to understand that prayer is a way we show direct access to God.
  • We need to see that corporate prayer is as vital and important as private prayer.

Corporate prayer will look different for each church, but it is an essential part to being a church. A church’s success is best measured by two things: It’s sending capacity and its prayer capacity. The first demonstrates its ability to make disciples. The second demonstrates is total dependence upon God.

The bottom line:
Corporate prayer is an essential aspect to church. The Prayer Meeting, like many things in life, needs constant attention. It is easy to let important traditions become tarnished by apathy. Keep the prayer meeting a polished and bright. Pray together because we need God and enjoy His presence.

Why I stayed in church

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I’ve constantly dealt with the question of why 20’s and early 30’s were leaving the church. I never asked why I didn’t leave. Here is a first attempt at answering the question. It revolves around one key thing: God.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 1:6

Religion is a crutch
True. We do not need a crutch, we need a savior. We don’t need help or an aid, we need something that will radically change us. The biggest thing to me about the church is the Gospel. The central message of the Gospel is death to life; sin to righteousness. This isn’t found by a right of passage or a self-help crutch. It is founded on Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.

Christians are just hypocrites
True. We’re also liars, thieves, fornicators, cheats, gossips, gluttons, drunkards, murderers, slanders, etc. Funny thing is, as I look across the human experience, I see the same thing. The church isn’t made of perfect people, and if it were, we’d at least be liars according to 1 John. Church is family. We’re not perfect, but being perfect is not the point. Again, it comes down to the central message of the Gospel. Church is filled with redeemed people not perfect people.

Church doesn’t meet my needs
True. Here is the paradox of church: If everyone comes to church focused on meeting everyone’s needs, everyone’s needs gets met. Church is not about what you can get, it is about what you can give to others. Why would someone join something that is not about them is a bit crazy. This goes back to the central message of the Gospel: Jesus gave Himself on our behalf. His focus was on our needs and the Father’s will, not Himself.

The Gospel
I did not quit because I believe Jesus died and rose again. Believing this means being a part of a community of people who also hold that belief and seek to proclaim the message of death to life. The Gospel is central. Church is not about what I get, but as Jesus modeled, church is about what I give. The hardest principle to get is realizing the church is not about me, it’s about Him.

The Church
I embrace the church because it is Jesus’ most prized possession. In pursuing Christ and helping others, ultimately our own needs get met. In getting the focus off ourselves we gain depth and a spirituality that can only come from the grace of the Cross. In church we realize the greatest need of all mankind and the only solution. We’re messed up, and knowing that fully, Jesus still reached out to us.

The bottom line:
I did not quit church because Jesus did not quit on me, those in the church, or those who still have not heard the Gospel. The church isn’t perfect and neither am I, and that’s ok. Christ is the one who makes us complete and perfect. The problems of church become less and when I pursue God and help others more.

Runaway Bride…

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Marriage paints a vivid picture of Christ’s love for the church. Paul’s uses the marriage relationship to teach about the church at the end of Ephesians 5. Too often this passage is addressed to marriage. While Paul agrees and consents to this, it is not the point he is making! Paul is describing the passionate unity between Christ and the community of those who believe and follow in Him.

I do not believe Song of Songs describes Christ love for the church, but the book describes what marriage love looks like. Love is not a feeling or a vain emotion. It runs deep.

“Put me like a seal over your heart, Like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, Jealousy is as severe as Sheol ; Its flashes are flashes of fire, The very flame of the LORD.” ~ Song of Songs 8:6

Church is not trivial
Jesus died for His church… We forget this. While he died for you and me as people, He died for his church. He loves His church, and in giving Himself up for her, the church became a key purpose. Church is not a club, program, theological sub-point, intangible philosophical idea or a spiritual option. The church is the center of Christ’s attention. He gave Himself up for her.

Church is not ready
Jesus purposefully gave Himself up for the church. Paul describes the process of cleansing, purifying and readying the church. Getting ready with an aim for perfection is not an overnight task. Jesus’ sacrifice aimed at perfecting the church, and presenting the church blameless. Put another way, Jesus is aware of what is going on, but He isn’t giving up until the bride is ready.

Church is not leftovers
Jesus views the church as He views Himself. We do not have the mental capability to wrap our minds around this. Jesus is not drill sergeant Bob with a cigar in mouth shouting at us to drop and give him 20 as He pushes us to become a fine sanctified unit. Jesus doesn’t worry about His glory and, oh yeah, also the church. Jesus cherishes and nourishes the church. It is a picture of love and tenderness.

Church is Christ’s
Jesus will become one with His bride. What or how this will look, I do not know. Paul states that “this mystery is great.” Jesus paid for the church, Jesus purified the church, and Jesus will be with His church. Jesus did not, does not, nor will He treat the church as trivial or as leftovers. Jesus knows there is still work to be done, but He hasn’t given up. Love runs deep.

The bottom line:
Rather than runaway, maybe we need to wash up and finish getting ready. Church is elusive to us. With the alarming number of young people leaving the church, perhaps we need to look back at what the church is and should be as a starting point. For sure, we need curb the criticism of church. I’m not saying we ignore things, but the tone needs changing. We need to view church as Christ does. To claim following Christ, but harbor disdain for the church misses the mark. Perhaps people and culture treat the church as trivial, as dirty and leftovers because we do. Perhaps its time we medicate on what Paul is actually communicating via marriage in Ephesians 5.

Manic Monday: Wasted

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One of the most wasted resources in the church is the Sunday Morning Sermon. (Did I just hear a class break?) While some of my friends might be gasping for breath, hear me out:

A good pastor wrestles with what to preach
He must meet the needs of the church, but in doing so making sure it’s God’s timing, true to the Bible and clearly communicated whether popular or not. The time invested in this is massive, days, not hours. Sometimes even weeks. Praying, reading, researching, etc all goes into this.

He digs into the text and then has to deal with his own depravity and fallenness at the same time. This is extremely hard when the sermon is about something the pastor is just starting to work through. While preparing people come to mind that the passage will address. The point isn’t to preach at those people, but feed the whole church. In speaking truth to actions, one must let the Holy Spirit be the Holy Spirit.

Then Monday hits
Being a young idealist, I disagreed with an elder pastor that said to me: “You’ll preach a sermon on Sunday and then on Monday someone will be in your office needing counseling on what you just preached on…and they weren’t there, or weren’t listening.” My first Sunday Morning Sermon (on John 4) I got the usual “nice sermon” pat. On Monday, I get the call… Sure enough, The elder pastor was right. And as years past by, he’s proven right more and more. At times, I’m the Monday guy.

So on Monday…
We need to learn to listen to our pastors. It’s really not about the them. It is about what God wants us to hear. Sometimes the pastor’s sermon is what the pastor needs to hear as much as those in the audience. None of us are perfect, but we can all do a better job listening. If the Sunday Morning Sermon ends with a “Nice job, Pastor,” then we are wasting a valuable resource God gave us. On Monday, chew on the message. Wrestle with it. Some sermons will be more profound than others, but we must not leave the sermon to just Sunday. (Some sermons we may wrestle with for a lifetime.)

It’s not about the pastor. It’s about us and God. We can all do a better job of listening and pondering what He is trying to get across.

(especial on Monday)

Divided

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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?

The bride is not ready yet…

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Jesus said the meek shall inherit the Earth. I feel as though we are not always meek, for sure I am not. It seems we are awfully arrogant, more than we would care to admit. This is not bad in the sense of being overwhelming to us. It just means God is not done perfecting us yet. Here are a couple of examples:

Jesus: Whoever is not against you is for you.
I remember sitting in class and the prof started to list out different movements in evangelism, their proponents, and the ensuing criticism. The discussion fascinated me. There wasn’t a linear progression of understanding. It was a cycle we were already repeating. The realization went like this:

“How many of you thought big-ten revivals were a good thing? Uh-huh. And the seeker sensitive movement? Not so many hands this time? In about 150 years evangelism in America came full circle and is now repeating the cycle.” Ouch…

Rather than criticize form we should learn from each other. A large part of a method’s success is its context: both historical and cultural. Granted every method, movement and church carries problems. The problems may be significant, but it doesn’t make them completely wrong nor completely right. We need to listen and discern better.

Paul: Instruct men not to teach strange doctrines…
God really does care about solid doctrine. Paul did not tell Timothy to remove, separate, ignore or burn the men of Ephesus at the stake. Throughout his writings Paul told Timothy to use love and patience, to instruct as a son to a father or a brother to a brother. Said another way, Paul sent a young guy in to help, clean up and correct the church by leveraging humility. Not exactly a quick, authoritarian method to clean up what was a doctrinal mess.

I sense as Christians we speak right past each other. We are great at making straw men and even better and beating them. Confidence of one’s doctrine and humility are not mutually exclusive. The elder professors I had in seminary were very confident in what they taught, but their humility was excessive. They listened and asserted, held firm but still learned with open minds.

One day I purchased a large number book and proceeded to move them to my car. One of the elder professors put his stuff down on the floor and helped me. He taught none of my classes at that point during seminary. I saw and better understood the relationship between confidence, faith and humility when I did have him as a teacher; all based on this event. We need to pursue humility as a path knowing God and truth.

The bottom line:
Other than Christ is it seems the other thing we Christians have in common is our arrogance. We all to easily forget that it is Christ who wills and works in us. It is He who will carry our work until the day of perfection. Christ washes and purifies the bride. In the arrogance we all have in common we can continue to act that way, get overwhelmed, or we can rest in the fact that God isn’t done with us yet. We call can improve in listening, discernment and humility while also laying aside our straw men.

I wonder if we lack peace in what we do because we don’t follows Paul’s instructions if Philippians 4. We are a very anxious people. Yes, there are differences in our churches. But, we can still be thankful and pray for each other. Yes as Christians we disagree on points of doctrine. We can still learn from each other. Christ leveraged humility in leading us, and we should do the same when interacting with each other.

Simple. Community. Authentic. Fad or rediscovery?

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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.

Why not Wednesday? Embrace constraints

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Need means that which is essential. It is surprisingly small. In ministry you only need three things: Bible, People, A place to meet. That’s it. If necessity is the father of invention, then constraints is the mother of creativity.

The little camps that do
Camp Hickory Hill embraced creativity. Its speakers were largely the staff, mostly college student. Its activities and adventures made up with minimum supplies and resources. I have interacted with well resourced camps, seen them in action. But, their leadership development and problem solving skills do not even come close. There is a quality to “lesser” camps that cannot beat, and they are the qualities you’d want you kid to have. I have heard this statement from camps like Hickory Hill: “They don’t have ___________, but the ministry here is incredible!” Bible, People, A place to meet.

Engaged impact as best
When all was falling apart, I made the call to just pray. Prayer is an essential. This move was bigger, though. Prayer cannot just be an easy fallback. While it was in the first instance, it was intentional on the others. Why? Because a seemingly boring and less than sparkly event had the greatest impact. (Note to self, play towards child-like faith.) The kids engaged in prayer with greater passion and focus than most adult prayer services I have been too. Engagement is best. Entertainment is fleeting. Bible, People, A place to meet.

Singspiration
I attended a singspiration event on a missions trip that took a joyful noise to a whole new level. Wanting to howl like a dog, the singing was so bad, one could not help but notice the passion in the room. A quote from a Civil War documentary said “Abraham Lincoln was so ugly there was a beauty to him.” That described the singspiration. It affected the students more than anything else on the trip. Bible, People, A place to meet.

Captain Kirk
“I don’t believe in the no-win scenario.” Ok, this may not be the most spiritual example, but watching the creative exploits of Captain Kirk and crew always got me thinking about how to be creative, to problem solve. It developed a key skill, how to take what you have and use it to communicate and carry out what is most important. Creativity far outweighs any teaching style or method. Bible, People, A place to meet.

Constraints means faith
Embracing constraints means utilizing faith in what you have instead of praying for what you don’t have. Bible: It is the central message we are communicating. That God wants to be known and to know us. People: The Holy Spirit empowers His people. Jesus died for people. People can pray, people can sing. People make ministry happen. A place to meet: Ministry is not a solo business. It can happen anywhere, in anything. Grassy field, tent, building, house, underground catacombs… The church never runs out of space, it just needs to plant to other venues. Space issues are often paradigm issues, and a paradigm is a self-imposed constrain on a non-essential. Bible, People, A place to meet.

The bottom line:
All you need to make ministry happen is Bible, People, A place to meet. I say this because in many parts of the world that is all the church has. I love technology, good music, sound systems, great architecture, books, toys, gadgets and gizmos galore. But, those are not essential. Ministry constraints are often self-imposed from a foundation of non-essentials. The only thing that can block church growth is no Bible, no people, no place to meet. Embrace constraints, they force you to focus on what is essential.

Millennials: Hey world, I have a soul!

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Millennials are about the rediscovering of the human soul. I read lately about “Millennials.” Depending on what definition you go by, I am one or I am not one; I consider myself one. Time tables are largely arbitrary. What amazes me about Millennials is the focus on significance and impact. There is more to life and its purpose then mere existence.

I am more than my parts
The problem with modernism and the industrial revolution? They reduced everything to a mathematical formula or chemical equation. Reason was supreme, science was king. Under this onslaught of reason on steroids I cannot help but notice- things got worse not better. Reason & science can build you a bomb, but it cannot tell you if you should use it. The atrocities of modernism should cause pause about being enlightened.

Here is what I mean: Technological progress and the acquisition of knowledge does not equate to human progress. Such ‘progress’ lead to events like Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, abortion on a grand scale, pollution on a grand scale, the break up on the family, drug abuse, etc. Modernity forgot something. I am more then my parts. I have a soul.

My soul is fallen
Anyone who states a person is inherently good never worked with children. People, by nature, are depraved. I often get tirades of pessimism when I state this, but it is the truth. If people are naturally good and education the silver bullet, then things should be getting better. They are not. Again, I cannot help but notice how things got worse or at best remained the same.

Millennials focus on social justice, significance and impact may be the realization of something far more critical: We have a soul and it is fallen. The human soul often craves justice. This sense of freedom and justice demands action. They are foundational to the meaning of life.

The law has failed
The rule of law and the destructive nature of religious fundamentalism did not solve the problems. Millennials crave spirituality, but often reject religion. It points to the argument Paul made in Roman’s 7: The law is good, but it cannot save nor sanctify us. (Romans 7 is debated passage. My take is that human nature is not the focus, but the role of the Law (Torah) is.) Milennials want to cut the fluff and get to the real answers.

The Gospel really is the main thing
The Gospel really is the answer to the questions Millennials are asking. Granted there are problems at home, in the work place, etc. We need help in learning how to handle our money, our relationships, our conflicts. The Bible teaches that it is the role of older generations to teach and pass on that wisdom. Millennials are a generation of wanting listeners. But, that wisdom is not the answer they are looking for.

Theology & exposition of the Scripture stands ands as the answer. For this gets to what should be the root voice and foundation for the church: There is a God who wants be known, make Himself known and the Gospel is the only way that can happen. God doesn’t want us to know about Him, in such case general revelation would be sufficient. God wants to be known in community with us. God is active and involved. The story of Jesus Christ is pivotal to the questions Millennials are asking. The answer results and demands action. The Gospel really is the main thing.

The Bottom line
Millennials are reminding human history that we have a soul. The best response to the questions being raised is the Gospel. Teaching theology as about God, or  teaching pragmatic & practical formulas misses the mark of what is asked. One is mere reason against questions of decades past, the other a softer form of legalism, both neglect that God created us with a soul. The Millennials questions bring us back to the main thing: That change occurs best from the inside out, and only the Gospel can produce that change. It’s as if with one voice they are shouting: Hey wold, I have a soul!