The Journey Blog

What I've Discovered About Church Planting in My First Six Months

2012-02-06T11:34:00.000-06:00

I have been planting my new church, The Journey, for the past six months. It is something I have always wanted to do from the moment I began pursuing a call to full-time vocational ministry in 2003. I was elated when the Conference informed me last year that I would be appointed to start a new church in July. I began to immediately map out what my new church was going to look like and the strategic process that I would implement in order to ensure that The Journey would become successful.

That was in June. It is now February, and I have learned a lot. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned that may help potential new church start pastors or any pastor for that matter when heading in to a time of change or renewal.

1. It is NOT my church. When the Conference asked me to plant a church, I assumed that I would be planting the church that was in my head. God asks us to plant “His” church (Matt. 16.18), not our church. Six months in to this and I can truthfully say that very little of what I intended, dreamed or strategized in June has actually happened. With that in mind, however, what God has birthed has been far greater than anything I could have ever hoped or imagined.

2. Our ideas of success are not necessarily God’s ideas of success. The typical process of starting a new church in the US has really been more about “building” a church than it has been “planting” a church. The model that I inherited and was encouraged to follow involved gathering a group of people, creating a “relevant, cutting-edge” worship “experience” and inviting the community to come. “If you build it they will come.” This has not been my experience. The idea behind this model of church planting is that successful churches grow numerically (translation: more and more people come to our worship service) and financially (translation: those people who come to our worship services give generously to support the new church). The natural outflow of this model involves hiring professional staff, developing quality programs to compete with other successful churches in the community and building larger and more functional facilities. What I have discovered is that God is not nearly as interested in that model as I supposed. I am beginning to realize that success for a church involves authentic encounters with broken, hurting people in unconventional, non-threatening spaces within the community on a daily basis. This does not mean that we forgo our worship gatherings; it just means that we don’t put all of our eggs into that basket. On the contrary, I have come to see that success for our new church takes place every day when we connect with the community and offer Christ to them through love, compassion and grace.

3. This approach to reevaluating success obviously begs the question: how do you support yourself? This has been the biggest challenge for me so far. When we began to see that God had called us to this community to serve them and to go to them instead of focusing on getting them to come to us, we obviously faced the challenge of sustainability. What we decided to do was to open a small non-profit business. We leased space initially for small groups and offices. About a month in to the process we began to sense that God wanted us to do something different with the space. So we transformed the front portion into a coffeeshop. The Journey Java Connection is a fully operational coffeeshop in downtown Crestview on Main Street. Since its official grand opening in November 2011 The Journey Java Connection has tripled in both average daily guests and income. The coffeeshop has become a missional hub for this new church enabling us to both connect with the community in ways that we never would have by simply building a church, and providing necessary income to help sustain the church financially. In December we began to see the need to transform the back portion of the space to accommodate groups and provide meeting space for the community. We purchased dozens of toys and children’s items from a Day Care Center that was going out of business and created a play area in a corner of the back room. Soon some of the “mommies” in the area discovered that we had a space for children to play. We now have 5 “mommy groups” that use our space throughout the week. We have had to develop a weekly calendar and begin scheduling groups on a daily and weekly basis. We have also begun to see the value of the coffeeshop as a means of bringing the Church in Crestview together. Although our church is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, we see our role in this community as ecumenical. We have a college group that meets on Tuesday nights bringing together college aged students from all denominations and backgrounds. We have groups affiliated with the Baptist Church, the United Methodist Church, nondenominational churches and home churches that have been meeting in our space for conversation and Bible Study. We began offering live music every Friday night beginning in January. We have singers and musicians from every conceivable religious and secular background that come out on Friday nights for Open Mic Night, karaoke, and Christian Music Night. The fourth Friday of every month is for invited musicians and we have been intentional about trying to find local secular talent to play so that we can draw in those that are not affiliated with a local church. We do not proselytize or overemphasize our Christianity, but we also do not hide it or apologize for it. We believe that those who patronize the coffeeshop will encounter the love and grace of Christ in tangible ways and that God will be able to do what He needs to do in their lives in ways that might never happen otherwise.

These are just a few of the things I have been learning. I do believe that it is important for the Church to gather and celebrate weekly, thus we continue to work hard on providing a worship experience that will connect with those far from God or those that have been alienated by church for whatever reason. However, I am beginning to believe that the future of the Church is going to have to be more focused on planting movements organically than building churches strategically. I learned rather quickly that I needed to simply plant some seeds of faith and allow God to grow the church that He wants for this community. I do not think that all of the seeds have sprouted yet; in fact, I am certain that God has much more in store for us.

We do not have all the answers, but I do believe that by allowing God to grow His Church organically, and by planting movements instead of building churches, we will be successful at making disciples of all people for the transformation of the world. There is great hope for the Church of Jesus in 2012. We simply have to be willing to think outside of the box, embrace creativity, take some risks, and trust that God loves His Church and promises that the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.

New Sermon Series "Love Never Fails" Starts This Sunday @The Journey

2012-01-31T20:00:00.002-06:00

What direction is the UMC heading?

2012-01-24T09:59:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I posted this article from Jim Wallis on my Facebook Page.

A good friend messaged me with some concerns about the left-leaning tendencies she is beginning to see rising up within our denomination (the United Methodist Church). She asked me some pointed questions about my feelings regarding the direction that the denomination is heading. Her primary concerns have to do with abortion and homosexuality.

Here is her post

Hi Pastor Sean,

I think... I enjoyed the article that you posted ( politics ).

I have learned many things since I came to this country, and I believe that I am a Conservative Christian.

I don't believe in Abortion or same sex marriage. Although I have some gay friends! They are all soooo nice, and I really like them too..., but Marriage is for a Man and Woman....because God said so...

I also heard that the United Methodist Church is becoming liberal. One of my Baptist friend in PA was complaining about it ( she didn't know that I was Methodist ). That night... I couldn't sleep!

Is the United Methodist Church becoming liberal.... accepting abortion? accepting same sex marriage?

I have more... to say, but... I will stop here~

I just don't believe that Jesus was liberal...That's all...

Thanks for reading.

PS. _______ was adopted when he was a baby. When I met _______, he told me that he was so thankful that his Birth Mom didn't abort him.... tears... I am thankful too!!! : )

Here is my response to her

______,

Thank you for your message.

The United Methodist Church is a both/and denomination rather than either/or. The founders of our denomination firmly believed in a Christianity both personal and social. Most of my UMC clergy colleagues are theologically conservative (I am) and socially progressive (I am). By that I mean that we believe in the foundational principles of our Christian faith (the Bible, the creeds etc.) but we also acknowledge the value of all human beings and the need to express love, grace, and mercy at all times while fighting for justice and peace everywhere.

I do believe that there is a more "liberal" wing within our denomination that is more theologically liberal and is pushing our denominational leaders to amend some of our laws, specifically with regard to abortion and homosexuality. These issues will come up at our General Conference in April and we will see if the liberal agenda has enough power this time around to make changes.

As of now, this is where the UMC stands on abortion and this is where the UMC stands on homosexuality. Notice that the denomination continues to hold a conservative/traditional view on both of these issues.

I do not think that our denomination will make changes to the Discipline regarding these two issues. However, if they do, I know that there will be many pastors who will need to decide whether they will stay with the denomination (this is what happened in the Episcopal Church recently after they decided to begin marrying and ordaining practicing homosexuals).

I personally feel that our job is to love everyone (I John 4.7-8) and to trust that God will reveal his will to them regarding their lifestyle choices etc. He can forgive any sin, and desires to do just that.

I think in the end, regardless of where we land on some of these controversial issues, we will see each other in heaven if we have professed faith in Christ and have sought to serve God by loving God and loving others.

Only then will we find out who was really right ... and by that point it's not going to matter anyhow

My Monastic Retreat

2012-01-06T12:29:00.001-06:00

I have been wanting to take a monastic silent retreat for a long time, and finally had the opportunity last week.

I felt the need to get away and spend some time in prayer, Scripture reading and good old fashioned listening in order to get some clear direction for The Journey heading in to 2012.

I made the 5 hour trek to Cullman, AL. and St. Bernard's Abbey, a benedictine monastery nestled in between Birmingham and Huntsville. My experience at the monastery was rewarding spiritually, but disappointing personally. I think that (like many things in my life) I had a idealistic impression of what my retreat would be like. I had a picture of a monastery in my head that was probably more 1411 than 2011. I felt out of place and unwelcome. I was spoken to by only one monk who seemed uneasy about my presence and my intentions. I attempted to join in with the monks for evening Vespers on my first night but was unfamiliar with the liturgy and was not given any assistance in figuring it out. There was no Wednesday evening meal in the refectory so I was offered a bowl of what I can only assume was leftover bean soup from lunch. I opted not to interact with the monks any longer after that. My room was on the floor just above the cloister so I did have several encounters with monks over the next couple of days, but they were all limited to a head nod and/or a smile.

For all of that, I feel that my time of silence and solitude was extremely rewarding spiritually. I was able to read Scripture and a couple of books that I brought with me, pray and journal extensively. I felt closer to God than I have in quite a while.

Silence is so necessary BUT so difficult. I am an introvert by nature, and thought that being silent for a couple of days would be a piece of cake. I was mistaken. I am conditioned by noise. I think we all are. Even when we think we're being quiet, we really aren't. The monastery is deathly silent; eerily silent. It was kind of creepy at times. I found myself missing my phone, and my laptop and even the sound of television (which I rarely watch, but which is on in the house regularly enough for me to actually miss the sound of it). I will confess that I actually slipped out on Thursday afternoon for an hour or so and visited a local coffee house in the area. Man, I needed that!

But it was in those times of silent reflection that I actually felt that I communed with God in a deep and meaningful way. I have pages of notes that I brought home to share with my core team about the direction that I feel God is leading us as a new church in 2012. I have pages of notes about things that I believe God wants me to work on personally - things that I probably wouldn't have thought about if I hadn't taken the time to listen.

All in all, this retreat was significant and rewarding for me. I probably will not return to a monastery again. There are plenty of good retreat spots closer to home; places that would probably be more comfortable with me invading their space. I will go there next time. And there definitely will be a next time; many of them I hope.

Silence and solitude are essential spiritual disciplines as far as I am concerned, I am sorry that I have not taken more time to practice them.

But that's going to change.

See I am doing something NEW - Isaaih 43.19

The Journey Continues in 2012

2012-01-05T17:32:00.001-06:00

I have done a poor job of keeping up with the blog recently. The holidays and the busy schedule at the new church have taken up much of my time since Thanksgiving.

I intend to write soon about my adventures at St. Bernard Abbey over the Christmas break, and I also intend to write on my thoughts regarding this new sermon series I am working on for the New Year.

In the meantime, I want to share a video introducing the new series "Extreme Makeover: You Edition."

Enjoy

Thanksgiving

2011-11-18T20:04:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

Relaxing. Fun. Special.

Right?

Why I Want To Go To Verge 2012

2011-11-15T09:00:00.001-06:00

When I started The Journey in June I knew that I was going to be starting a church that was different. I knew that I did not want to plant a "service;" I really wanted to plant a "movement." Now, I confess that I stole that idea from Alan Hirsch who spoke those very words at another Conference that I attended in the Spring of 2011 that I will not specifically mention in this post because I am trying to promote THE VERGE CONFERENCE 2012 so that I can win a free trip to Austin and an opportunity to learn more about how to lead my new church in the direction that I believe God wants us to go.

In all seriousness, I felt very strongly that The Journey was to be a people movement in our city, taking the Gospel to the people and striving for creative ways of being the church in a variety of locations and in a variety of creative ways.

I am indebted to The Verge Network and to many of the leaders within the network for their books, videos, blogs etc. which have inspired me, stretched me, challenged me and empowered me to move forward in to the unchartered waters of incarnational, risky mission.

I have had the dates for Verge 2012 on my calendar since it was initially announced and have been excited about the opportunity to attend. Unfortunately as a new church plant pastor, the funding is simply not available for me to afford the cost of registration and lodging.

As I have shared many times on this blog, I am convinced that the church must create new and innovative ways of presenting the gospel in this post-Christendom world in which we live. We have to look at the statistics and understand that simply talking about the "death" of the church is not going to do anything about the eventual demise; we have to take action and figure out what the church has to do to become all that God intends her to be for this broken world. I believe that the Verge Network is the most influential voice for the missional movement on the planet (and I'm not just blowing smoke here ... but whatever works ...) I think for me, an opportunity to sit under the teaching of the leaders that the network has lined up to speak at this year's conference would be invaluable.

The honest truth is that trying to plant a church that goes against the grain of traditional church planting models is difficult to say the least. There is very little support and encouragement, and there is a great deal of pull to simply jump on the status quo boat and simply do things that way they've always been done. I need to be reenergized, reinspired and reminded that the picture of the church that God has laid upon my heart is right and true. I think that having the opportunity to attend this conference would do the trick.

The last thing I want to mention here (and I don't like playing the denominational card ... but whatever works ...) is that I am a pastor in the United Methodist Church. As many people are aware, the mainline denominations are dying a much quicker death than most. I want desperately to be a catalyst for change within our denomination. I want to be able to show our denominational leaders that there is a chance the UMC can be the kind of movement that John Wesley envisioned. We are at a crucial stage in the life of our denomination and only by God's grace will we go forward with power to impact and influence our communities with the grace and love of Christ. I believe that the key for the UMC is helping pastors and churches to better understand our need to reenvision oursleves not as an "organization" but as an "organism" an organic movement of Christ followers unleashed into our communities to be the church. I beleive in our denomination. I believe that we have the "stuff" to truly Change the World. But we have to change. And I want to be a part of helping our denomination see what that change can look like.

And if I don't get to go to Verge 2012 that may never happen.

An entire denomination hangs in the balance.

I don't want you to carry the weight of that burden for the rest of your life.

I leave it in your hands ...

Communitas - A Poem

2011-10-11T22:38:00.001-05:00

"Communitas in the way I want to define it is a community infused with a grand sense of purpose; a purpose that lies outside of its current internal reality and constitution. It’s the kind of community that “happens” to people in actual pursuit of a common vision of what could be. It involves movement and it describes the experience of togetherness that only really happens among a group of people actually engaging in a mission outside itself." - Alan Hirsch

Communitas

A poem by Sean Peters

It is not good
So it was said
But we find ourselves lonely
More often than not
We long to belong
But we’re socially inept
Or relationally awkward
Or perhaps we just don’t know what to do with our
Hands
Or how to look in their eyes
Without feeling uncomfortable
But we try because we know that
It is not good
So we join a group or a club or a league
And we try
But our hands and our eyes betray us
And it just doesn’t feel right

But then the storm comes

And the neighborhood disappears
And we work together to search for little Patty’s
Puppy
And to restore hope
And to rebuild
We don’t have any problems using our hands now.
When we look into each other’s eyes we look deeply
And sincerely
We are comrades
Working together
After twelve hours of backbreaking labor
We sit down together
And have soup
And a beer
And someone prays
And we cry
And we encourage each other
And share what we have
And someone reads a passage from the Bible
About bearing one another’s burdens
And we nod at each other as if to say
“I will bear your burdens my brother”
“I will carry you my sister”

But after several days the discouragement

Begins to settle in
And our tears and sweat stain our t-shirts
And we are tired and sore
But there is always someone there
To offer a word of hope
Or a blanket
Or a sandwich
And always a hand on our shoulder
Or an arm around our neck
Neighbors we had never known before
Are now truly our brothers and sisters

As night begins to fall on the third day
And we all sit silently around the fire
That we have been sitting around together
For the past three nights
We hear a whimper
The hopeful sound of a puppy
And we are back to work
Side by side
The way it was meant to be

And it is good
It is very good

If you're interested in this idea of communitas, check out this excellent video from Alan on the subject

The Allure of the Spotlight: Some Thoughts on Why Being an Actor and Being a Pastor are not the Same Thing

2011-09-20T12:28:00.002-05:00

I like being in the spotlight.

I’m a thespian.

And just to be clear, I never chose to be a thespian; I was born this way.

I have been on the stage for as long as I can remember. My parents have pictures of me as the narrator in the kindergarten class production. I was in the musical Oliver in Elementary School. I played all the lead roles in my high school drama productions, at the Community College and at the local Community Theatre. For years I really had no idea who I was. My identity was completely wrapped up in my characters. If I went for long periods of time without doing a show I got depressed.

All of those years of dramatic training have formed who I am. I am a pretty good thespian.

I am also a pretty good hypocrite.

The word hypocrisy comes from the Greek ὑπόκρισις (hypokrisis) which means “play-acting.”

I am a pretty good hypocrite.

The problem with hypocrisy is

1. Jesus hated it

2. It drives more people away from authentic Christianity than anything else

Although I am thankful for the training that I received in the theatrical arts, and I look back on my years in the theatre with great fondness, I am a pastor now, and there is really no room for play acting anymore. God’s desire is for authenticity, genuineness, humility and honesty.

This past Sunday we held our first preview service for our new church The Journey. I have been preaching to our team that we are going to be a church that focuses on reaching the hurting and the broken with the life-changing message of hope offered in Christ. I have been preparing them to be outward focused; to think mission and community first. And this is what I want this church to be all about.

But I am a thespian.

And the spotlight drew me in. And we poured ourselves out until we all nearly fell over exhausted after the Celebration on Sunday. I have been saying for months that the church is not the Sunday Celebration; the Celebration is only a part of who we are. And then the first Sunday came, and I acted as if it was the most important thing on the face of the planet. Everything had to be sharp: the music, the lighting, the technology etc. etc. etc.

I spent more time figuring out what to wear than I did about what God was up to.

I evaluated and critiqued my “performance” before ever wondering if there were stories of transformation that came out of the gathering.

I am being really hard on myself here, I know that, but this is so incredibly important to me.

I do not want to be a celebrity pastor!

I do not want to pastor a cool church!

I want to be a servant of Christ, and I want to help hurting people find healing, and desperate people find hope, and lonely people find acceptance, and worried people find peace, and depressed people find joy.

I read a blog post from Shaun King last night that put this all in to perspective for me. He’s been where I am, and has suffered for it. I want to avoid ending up where Shaun ended up. I appreciate his honesty and advice in this post.

I do think that we can still gather and celebrate; I think that we need to.

But when we gather and celebrate, we must do it with genuine hearts of worship and a true desire to connect with God and with each other.

It is not a play, and I am not the leading actor.

If Jesus is not in the spotlight there’s a problem.

The Journey continues …

An Update On Our Journey

2011-09-19T16:05:00.000-05:00

It's been 24 hours since we wound down our first preview service for The Journey.

I resonante with the words to "Revelation Song" (which we sang yesterday): "filled with wonder, awestruck wonder ...." God certainly revealed Himself to us in amazing ways yesterday.

While we do not believe that the Celebration Gathering on Sundays is "church," it still represents for many people a portal or an entryway. It remains an important connection point, and we want to do the very best we can to ensure that the gatherings provide a variety of ways for all people to encounter God.

Our team did an outstanding job of creating space for adults and children to connect with God in a variety of ways.

Our worship team led us in to God's presence with meaningful and reverent music.

Our children's ministry team did a fantastic job of creating a welcoming and exciting environmnet for the children.

Our hospitality team went out of their way to welcome our guests and answer any questions.

We listened to God's Word from Psalm 8, pondered the majesty, splendor and creativity of our awesome God and then shared communion together.

We truly believe that God has great things in store for this community that we live and serve in. We desire to do all that we can to connect with those far from God and help them to discover God's unconditional love and grace for them.

We are off to a good start.

I will be leading a new Community Life Group beginning this Thursday night at 6PM at The Connection. We will be studying the book "When Christians Get It Wrong" by Adam Hamilton. Our Community Life Groups (CLG's) will look a little different from traditional small groups or Bible Studies in that we intend for the groups to be places of genuine community first and foremost, and we also intend for the groups to consider how to apply what is being learned in the group by actively engaging the community in some tangible way.

Our coffeehouse, The Journey Java Connection is scheduled to open to the public on October 1st. We are excited about the opportunities that we will have through this missional outpost to connect with those who may never attend one of our Celebration gatherings.

Starting a new church is a great adventure: seemingly impossible at times, overwhelmingly satisfying at other times; mountaintop one moment, valley the next; it demands extraordinary faith, blind trust, and total abandonement to the rule and reign of Christ; and blood, sweat and tears are shed daily, but are worth the sacrifice to see broken lives restored and hearts respond to God's grace.

I am so honored to be able to be a part of what the Lord is doing here, and so blessed to have the gifted, talented, sold-out followers of Jesus that I have on my team.

This Journey has just begun.

Hold on tight. It's going to get fun!

The Beauty of Sacrifice: What We Must Always Remember About 9/11

2011-09-11T21:32:00.000-05:00

The Japanese symbol for beauty is made up of two Chinese symbols: “sheep” and “great.”

Beauty is a great sheep.

Japanese artist Makoto Fujimura has helped me better understand this is his book Refractions:A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture.

In the book, Fujimura explains how in the Japanese culture, the concept of beauty became associated with sacrifice.

A banquet and feast can be a “beautiful” thing, but as Fujimura points out, in order to have a feast an animal must be sacrificed. Likewise, leaves are most beautiful just before they die in the autumn.

Fujimura, who lives only blocks from ground zero in Manhattan, began writing about “the supreme act of beauty” created in the sacrifice of the rescuers on 9/11.

Fujimura then quotes Dr. Tomonobu Imamichi, professor of aesthetics at Tokyo University who writes

In comparing beauty and goodness, I consider beauty to be the more transcendent of the two. The ideogram of “goodness”(善) is made up of two ideograms; one of a sacrificial “sheep” (羊) on top of an ideogram of a “box.” (口) To be good, it is only necessary to fulfill pre-determined (a “box”) sacrifice determined by society. Paying taxes, or participating in traditions, rituals and such. The ideogram of “righteousness”(義) is made up of ideograms of sacrificial “Sheep”(羊) on top of “Self.”(我) It means to carry the sacrifices yourself. But the ideogram of Beauty is made up of the sacrificial sheep on top of an ideogram for “Great” (大), which I infer to mean “greater sheep”. It connotes a greater sacrifice, a sacrifice that cannot be boxed in by rituals or self. This greater sacrifice may require sacrifice of one’s own life to save the lives of others. This sacrifice is not enforced by rules nor is it predetermined, but originates from self-initiative, a willing sacrifice. This is what is truly beautiful.

Jesus Christ – the Lamb of God slain for the foundation of the world – is the “Great Sheep.” His sacrifice for all mankind was beauty personified.

On September 11, 2001 and the days, weeks and months after, we witnessed this same kind of beauty unfold in front of us as men and women sacrificed for the sake of others.

In 1931, American author F Scott Fitzgerald sat on the roof of the Empire State Building and prophesied to a nation

From the ruins, lonely and inexplicable as the sphinx, rose the Empire State Building and, just as it had been a tradition of mine to climb to the Plaza Roof to take leave of the beautiful city, extending as far as eyes could reach, so now I went to the roof of the last and most magnificent of towers. Then I understood — everything was explained: I had discovered the crowning error of the city, its Pandora's box. Full of vaunting pride the New Yorker had climbed here and seen with dismay what he had never suspected, that the city was not the endless succession of canyons that he had supposed but that it had limits — from the tallest structure he saw for the first time that it faded out into the country on all sides, into an expanse of green and blue that alone was limitless. And with the awful realization that New York was a city after all and not a universe, the whole shining edifice that he had reared in his imagination came crashing to the ground.

The ugliness of pride has always been, and will always be the greatest enemy to beauty. Self-sacrifice and humility are foundational characteristics of Christianity, and when practiced actually create beauty.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
for the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
and to proclaim that captives will be released
and prisoners will be freed.
He has sent me to tell those who mourn
that the time of the Lord’s favor has come,
and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.
To all who mourn in Israel,
he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
that the Lord has planted for his own glory.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins,
repairing cities destroyed long ago.
They will revive them,
though they have been deserted for many generations.

- Isaiah 61.1-4

I Am A Pastor

2011-09-06T22:01:00.000-05:00

It has been dawning on me lately that I am actually “the” pastor now. I’ve been an “associate” pastor for the past four years, but now I am “the” pastor. This is a new and interesting role for me.

I confess that I have been struggling in my attempts to develop my pastoral identity over the past few months. Although I have been in training for the past four years, I don’t think I ever really thought through what this new role would look like.

I have been looking to Scripture recently and studying the life of Jesus and Paul. I went back to the letters to Timothy and Titus and looked again at the requirements set out for elders. I have even gone back to the Old Testament and looked at Moses as a type of modern day pastor.

The temptation for me is to downplay my role; to work hard to ensure that I am seen as “normal:” just one of the guys. But then I start to wonder why I spent four years of my life in graduate school working on a Master of Divinity and put myself through the strenuous ordination process set in place by the United Methodist Church.

I did it, because I felt a call to be a pastor.

And no matter how much I want to be, I’m not just one of the guys.

While I can certainly do all that I can to present myself as human, broken and flawed (which I think we pastors must do a better job of if we are going to connect with people in an authentic way), I must also maintain my status as one of the “called out ones.”

I have a specific calling to be a pastor, and that means something more than just a regular guy who gets to talk on Sunday.

It is a privilege and an honor and a major responsibility.

I am not called to be a celebrity.

I am not called to be a therapist.

I am not called to be an activist.

I am not called to be a CEO.

I am called to be a pastor.

In my denomination (the United Methodist Church) we have a picture of what a pastor is supposed to look like. I am grateful that this description was developed. It reminds me every day of what I am called to do.

¶ 340. Responsibilities and Duties of Elders and Licensed Pastors

The responsibilities of elders and licensed pastors are derived from the authority given in ordination. Elders have a four-fold ministry of Word, Sacrament, Order and Service within the connection and thus serve in the church and the world. Local pastors share with the elders the responsibilities and duties of a pastor for this four-fold ministry.

1. Word and ecclesial acts:

a) To preach the Word of God, lead in worship, read and teach the Scriptures, and engage the people in study and witness.24

(1) To ensure faithful transmission of the Christian faith.

(2) To lead people in discipleship and evangelistic outreach that others might come to know Christ and to follow him.

b) To counsel persons with personal, ethical, or spiritual struggles.

c) To perform the ecclesial acts of marriage and burial.

(1) To perform the marriage ceremony after due counsel with the parties involved and in accordance with the laws of the state and the rules of The United Methodist Church. The decision to perform the ceremony shall be the right and responsibility of the pastor.

(2) To conduct funeral and memorial services and provide care and grief counseling.

d) To visit in the homes of the church and the community, especially among the sick, aged, imprisoned, and others in need.

e) To maintain all confidences inviolate, including confessional confidences except in the cases of suspected child abuse or neglect, or in cases where mandatory reporting is required by civil law.

2. Sacrament:

a) To administer the sacraments of baptism and the Supper of the Lord according to Christ's ordinance.

(1) To prepare the parents and sponsors before baptizing infants or children, and instruct them concerning the significance of baptism and their responsibilities for the Christian training of the baptized child.

(2) To encourage reaffirmation of the baptismal covenant and renewal of baptismal vows at different stages of life.

(3) To encourage people baptized in infancy or early childhood to make their profession of faith, after instruction, so that they might become professing members of the church.

(4) To explain the meaning of the Lord's Supper and to encourage regular participation as a means of grace to grow in faith and holiness.

(5) To select and train deacons and lay members to serve the consecrated communion elements.

b) To encourage the private and congregational use of the other means of grace.

3. Order:

a) To be the administrative officer of the local church and to assure that the organizational concerns of the congregation are adequately provided for.

(1) To give pastoral support, guidance, and training to the lay leadership, equipping them to fulfill the ministry to which they are called.

(2) To give oversight to the educational program of the church and encourage the use of United Methodist literature and media.

(3) To be responsible for organizational faithfulness, goal setting, planning and evaluation.

(4) To search out and counsel men and women for the ministry of deacons, elders, local pastors and other church related ministries.

b) To administer the temporal affairs of the church in their appointment, the annual conference, and the general church.

(1) To administer the provisions of the Discipline.

(2) To give an account of their pastoral ministries to the charge and annual conference according to the prescribed forms.

(3) To provide leadership for the funding ministry of the congregation.

(4) To promote faithful, financial stewardship and to encourage giving as a spiritual discipline.

(5) To lead the congregation in the fulfillment of its mission through full and faithful payment of all apportioned ministerial support, administrative, and benevolent funds.

(6) To care for all church records and local church financial obligations, and certify the accuracy of all financial, membership, and any other reports submitted by the local church to the annual conference for use in apportioning costs back to the church.

c) To participate in denominational and conference programs and training opportunities.

(1) To seek out opportunities for cooperative ministries with other United Methodist pastors and churches.

(2) To be willing to assume supervisory responsibilities within the connection.

d) To lead the congregation in racial and ethnic inclusiveness.

4. Service:

a) To embody the teachings of Jesus in servant ministries and servant leadership.

b) To give diligent pastoral leadership in ordering the life of the congregation for discipleship in the world.

c) To build the body of Christ as a caring and giving community, extending the ministry of Christ to the world.

d) To participate in community, ecumenical and inter-religious concerns and to encourage the people to become so involved and to pray and labor for the unity of the Christian community.

That’s my “job description.”

I am a pastor.

Jesus is Lord

2011-08-28T11:01:00.002-05:00

Last night I shared with our leadership team from Chapter 1 of the Book of Acts. We talked about the essential importance of placing Jesus at the heart of everything we do as a new church.

Luke begins his account of the birth of the church not by talking about the church, or the mission of the church, or even the Holy Spirit, but by talking about Jesus; reminding us of everything that he wrote about Jesus in his Gospel.

One of the key insights that I have learned from the work of missiologist and author Alan Hirsch is that Christology informs Missiology and Missiology informs Ecclesiology; in other words, we do not plant a church by beginning with the church, nor do we even plant a church beginning with a mission, we plant a church beginning with Jesus.

In their book, On the Verge: A Journey into the Apostolic Future of the Church, Alan and Dave Ferguson exhort us, “Don’t plant churches. Plant the gospel.”

The Journey will be a church that places the person and work of Jesus Christ at the center of everything we do. We have an idea of the kind of church we believe we are to be for our community. We have an idea of our mission. But we will lay our ideas at the feet of Jesus, we will read and study the Book of Acts and the Gospels together, we will learn who Jesus was and what Jesus was all about, and once we feel like we can supremely trust this “wild Messiah,” we will begin the work of determining what The Journey is going to be all about.

Here is a great video from Alan Hirsch and The VergeNetwork that illustrates this foundational principle: Jesus is Lord.

A New Command I Give You ... Have Lots of Friends On Facebook

2011-08-24T08:07:00.001-05:00

I love social networking. I am a big fan of Facebook and Twitter. I enjoy blogging. Obviously other people do as well. 750 million of us are on Facebook; 200 million of us tweet regularly; and there are over 150 million blogs in cyberspace to choose from.

While I love much about social networking, I also have some concerns.

As a pastor (more specifically a new church start pastor) one of my primary tasks is to meet people. If I do not connect with people in my community, the chances of them connecting with our new church, and more importantly, with Christ, are going to limited.

I read an article recently about a new church start that has been using social networking to connect with people in their community. The pastor blogs and uses Facebook and Twitter to connect with others in hopes that they in turn will connect their friends and followers to the new church. It has apparently worked for this church. The article mentions that it has been labeled as one of the fastest new church starts in United Methodism.

I believe that social networking is invaluable for connecting people and causes. We have never been able to connect people faster or easier in the history of the world. Millions of people can be made aware of an event or a cause instantaneously. The church would do well to utilize social networking in every way in order to communicate the message.

The problem for me comes when we replace – intentionally or otherwise – genuine, authentic relationships with virtual community.

The pastor of the new church highlighted in the article is quoted as saying, “Jesus hung out where the people were, and today the people hang out on Facebook.”

While it is true that people hang out on Facebook, does this mean that we should reduce “love one another as I have loved you” to “be friends on Facebook?”

I do not think that real community can happen in cyberspace.

I think Facebook, Twitter and blogs are safe spaces that allow us to feel connected, but give us the freedom to hide behind our computer screens, isolate ourselves, and avoid the pain that often comes along with authentic relationships.

In the beginning everything was good.

Almost.

Man was alone, and that was not good.

The triune God that we serve is by definition: relational. The Father, Son and Spirit are mysteriously, intimately, and uniquely interrelated.

While you might be able to “follow” JesusofNaz316 on Twitter, you are not going to find a personal relationship with him there.

We are created to be in relationship with God and with each other. Relationship is hard. It’s messy. It’s painful. But it is what we are created for. Anything else falls short of God’s intention for our lives.

Jesus said that he came to give us full life (John 10.10). What does a full life look like? I am not certain, but I know it has something to do with laying down our lives for each other.

And that’s kind of hard to do on Facebook.

Some thoughts on Itinerancy

2011-08-14T23:19:00.000-05:00

Today I was confronted with something that convicted me and got me thinking.

I am an elder in the United Methodist Church. One of the agreements I made when I was ordained is that I would itinerate. According to Thomas S. McAnally in Questions and Answers About the United Methodist Church, "Being part of the itinerancy means that a clergyperson is willing to go where sent. This system assures every pastor a church and every church a pastor. It also matches the gifts and graces of an individual with the needs of a particular church or area of service." In other words, I agree to go wherever I am sent, whenever it is deemed necessary.

In “History of Itinerancy” we are told that “United Methodism has a unique system of assigning clergy to churches which dates back to John Wesley and which is different from any other denomination. The system by which pastors are appointed to their charges by the bishops is called itinerancy. The present form of the itinerancy grew from the practice of Methodist pastors traveling widely throughout the church on circuits. Assigned to service by a bishop, clergy remain with one particular congregation for a limited length of time. All pastors are under obligation to serve where appointed.”

John Wesley explained his reasoning for an itinerant clergy system by stating that "We have found by long and consistent experience that a frequent exchange of preachers is best. This preacher has one talent, that another; no one whom I ever yet knew has all the talents which are needful for beginning, continuing, and perfecting the work of grace in a whole congregation."

I think Mr. Wesley was right. And I believe in the itinerant system.

But, I came to a sober realization today. A good friend who cared more about sharing the truth with me in love than worrying about whether I would be hurt or offended confronted me with something that is, in my mind, directly attributable to itinerancy and, I believe, a serious disadvantage of the system.

First, a bit of history: I have been an associate pastor at a large UM church for the past four years. I inherited a 6 month old contemporary worship service when I arrived and was asked to lead it. This year I was appointed by the bishop and cabinet to start a new church 30 miles north. My senior pastor asked if I would stay on in an advisory capacity for two months to help the transition of the new pastor. This has been a very good process and I think that more healthy transitions could be made if churches would do this kind of thing more often. I have been beginning the new church and preaching alternating Sunday’s at my former church while staying loosely connected in other ways. I have been pouring a great deal of time and energy in to the new church and have been taking my off Sunday’s to visit other new churches. Naturally, my primary focus has been on the new church. This coming Sunday will be my last Sunday at the old church. I was telling my friend today that in hindsight I almost wish we would have made a clean break at the end of June like all other churches do. I said that I would have liked to have said goodbye and moved on to begin this new adventure, and I told him that I was looking forward to giving my final sermon and moving on.

His response was honest and to the point.

Essentially what my friend told me was that it seemed to him and many others that I had said my goodbyes; that I had already moved on. He told me that many of the folks at the old church need to have closure, and that I needed to allow them to have that closure and that I needed to experience it myself … no matter how hard it may be.

There are two things that I learned from my friend today.

1. Itinerancy creates an invisible boundary between clergy and congregation. Itinerancy says to the pastor and the congregation “this is only temporary.” Because of this, the congregation and the pastor oftentimes develop a relationship that is surface at best. I have often wondered why so many of my former pastors were so guarded. It’s because they’ve learned not to get too close to people in their congregation. They develop a practice of loving the people without really getting to know them (which I am beginning to think isn’t actually possible). I bought into this and have been able to make a clean break from this church family because I thought that everyone understood the rules and would just play along.

2. Most of those attending the congregation that I have been leading don’t understand itinerancy. Most of the people who have begun attending the service that I have been leading are not Methodist and thus do not understand how things work. They have come to love me and my family, and they have felt hurt and abandoned by me. While I was busy moving on – like a good itinerant pastor – my congregation was left wondering what in the world was going on.

Here is what I learned today: although I continue to believe in the connectional itinerant system of the United Methodist Church, I have to realize that many people do not understand it and thus must be educated as to how it works. I also think that I have to figure out a way to truly love the people that God has placed in my care and refuse to keep distant for fear that I might have to leave them someday. Pastors still have a unique and very personal place in the lives of the parishioners who attend their churches; we become like family to many of them, and we can never forget that. While we may be focused on moving on, many who we are leaving behind are grieving and confused. We must deal with that, no matter how hard it may be. The honest truth is that much of my disconnection over the past several weeks has been self-preservation. I am grieving the loss of my church family as well, and my default mechanism for dealing with grief is to avoid and move on. I cannot do that. I must face the grief that comes with the loss of a very deep and loving relationship with people who I have shared life with. That is the least I can do for them. These folks are a part of my life, and I cannot just move on and forget about them because that is what we Methodist pastors do.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism ... Oh My!

2011-08-09T22:49:00.001-05:00

In a recent book, sociologists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton have posited that the primary expression and understanding of Christianity in America today (especially among teenagers) is what they have termed “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” or MTD for short.

The five primary beliefs that make up MTD are:

1. A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.

2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.

3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.

5. Good people go to heaven when they die.

Based upon the popularity of such books as The Purpose Driven Life and Your Best Life Now I am not surprised at the authors’ findings.

Many Christian writers, pastors and theology professors have attacked MTD as anti-Christian and call for pastors and teachers to raise the bar in order to help our young people appreciate theology and sound doctrine once again. They rail against pragmatic teaching, insisting instead that we view God as a jealous and angry God who hates all forms of sin and brings judgment upon the non-repentant. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do believe that God hates sin, but I do not believe that God hates sinners. On the contrary, He loves sinners. And being that the Scripture teaches that ALL have sinned and fallen far short of the glory of God (Romans 3.23) that includes us. We are no better than anyone else. The sooner we realize that, the greater impact we are going to have in sharing the Good News of the Gospel with a broken, hurting world.

Now, I don’t entirely agree with the beliefs espoused by MTD; however, I am not altogether convinced that they are heretical either.

Most theologians would agree with number one. God is creator and He watches over His creation. But He is much more than that. That’s where the teaching needs to occur. Yes, God is watching over His creation, but He is also very involved in creation as well. The doctrine of the Incarnation must be preached. God became one of us. He resides with us. He is actively engaged in our lives and the lives of every person on this planet. Through prevenient grace He woos those far from Him and “would that none would perish but that all would come to repentance” (2 Peter 3.9).

Number two is not so far-fetched either. The sermon on the mount is primarily a moral treatise on how to treat each other, is it not? Jesus’ new command – the one that provides the foundation for the entire Christian moral code – was to love one another. God does want us to be good, nice and fair to each other. The Golden Rule as spoken by Jesus in Luke 6.31 says “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Like number one, however, we need to take it a step further. Why are we to be good, fair and nice to each other? Because God requires of us to “act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6.8). We are good to each other because God is good to us, and because Jesus was good to those who didn’t deserve it. And because we are called to be like Jesus. That’s why.

I wouldn’t say that the central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about ourselves. After all, Jesus said that “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9.23; however, He also said “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10.10). While I do not agree with John Piper on many things, I do think that he was on to something when he wrote Desiring God, Meditations of Christian Hedonist. Piper unpacks the statement in the Westminster Shorter Catechism that says “(m)an's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.” In the book, Piper argues that enjoying God requires us to enjoy the life that we have been given here and now. I think he is right. Our aim should not be to find happiness however; our aim should be to serve God, endure trials, face suffering and difficulties through prayer and faith, and to extend grace to those around us. In so doing, I believe that we will find the kind of happiness that we are truly seeking. The belief is not wrong, it just needs to be tweaked.

Numbers four and five are very problematic though. Number four can be deconstructed and essentially eliminated by instilling the doctrine of Incarnation into our teaching. We have to remind all Christians, young and old alike, that God is not disengaged or uninvolved in the world. We have to teach on uncomfortable topics like sufferings and the problem of evil. It’s easier to imagine a God who is uninvolved and who only comes to us when we need Him. One of the challenges of Christianity is attempting to reconcile the brokenness of our world with the message of a loving God who is actively involved in it. But we must face the challenge. Christianity is not deistic, and we must rescue it from this misunderstanding. Number five is simply untrue and is the most dangerous of the five. No matter how exclusive it may seem, Jesus said ““I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14.6). We must preach that message and we must believe it. Do I know what that looks like in God’s eyes? No. But Jesus said it and I cannot minimize His words by reducing it to a statement about subjective morality. Could God have a gameplan that enables those of other religions to encounter Jesus in ways that I know nothing about? I’d like to believe that is possible. Believing that God could have a plan that we know nothing about does not excuse willful sin however. We cannot shy away from preaching and teaching about the reality of sin and the variety of ways that our disobedience to God separates us from Him. Goodness is a fruit of the Spirit, and it is a quality that many of us would do well to cultivate, but it will not ensure us a place in God’s eternal kingdom. We have to be clear on this. None of us wants to imagine a God who sends people to hell because they never had an opportunity to hear the message of Jesus, but we cannot alleviate our discomfort with that idea by simply stating that all the good people will get in.

So maybe MTD isn’t quite as horrible as some writer’s think it is. Perhaps we just need to be a little clearer from our pulpits and in our classrooms with regard to the message of the Gospel. Some may consider Jesus’ words to be “hard teachings” (John 6.60) and “turn back and no longer follow him” (John 6.66). I certainly hope not. But I also know that we have to find ways to move past the relativism that postmodernity has forced upon us and find ways to help Christians to embrace the demanding principles of Scripture and live them out with love and grace in this broken and hurting world in which so many are searching for hope.

Thinking About the Future of the Church in America from a New Church's Perspective

2011-08-08T16:06:00.000-05:00

As a portable church, we recognize that there are many challenges that we will face that established churches which own property and have their own buildings may not. One of those challenges has to do with meeting space. Although we have not run in to any major hurdles with regard to meeting in a school, we are aware that this is becoming more of an issue in our country. An article in the USA Today recently explored some of the issues that church planters are facing when they approach school board officials about meeting in local schools. The article mentions that around 20% of new church starts meet in portable locations like schools and if the option of meeting in these public places is taken away it will become quite a challenge for new churches to find suitable locations for worship gatherings in the future. One of the things that we most appreciate about this community is that the local schools seem to be very open to allowing churches to meet in their space. It seems to me that a partnership between a school and a church has the potential of being beneficial for both parties in a number of ways. Along with bringing money into the school through our weekly rent, we intend to serve the school where we will be meeting by offering our services to help improve the grounds and facilities as well as serve the students, teachers and administrators in any way that we can. One portable church that we visited recently has helped the high school where they meet by painting walls, making repairs and doing groundwork around the property. They have also been able to purchase new equipment that they allow the school to use during the week. The school would most likely not be able to afford the kinds of improvements that the church has made to the property otherwise.

New churches like The Journey have a wonderful opportunity to be a part of the community by holding worship gatherings in local schools. We are also well aware that a missional focus is crucial if the Church is going to have any influence in society any longer; we must be visible and actively engaged with the community if we are going to reach those far from God. The courts would like us to get our own buildings and keep ourselves separated from the world. This is not an option for The Journey, and it is not an option for the Church of Jesus Christ in America today.

The primary concern I have with all of this is that certain influential government officials and agencies could press the issue enough to force legislation that would make it illegal for schools to allow churches to meet in their facilities. If this occurs it could potentially open the floodgates of persecution against the Church in numerous other ways.

Scripture teaches that perfect love casts out fear (I John 4.18) and with that in mind, the Church must not allow fear to control us. We must be people of love who continue to serve, witness, minister and care for those around us. No matter what happens, we know from the miraculous stories of the underground church in China and elsewhere that nothing can stop the Church of Jesus from accomplishing what it is intended to accomplish.

Please be praying for the churches that are being forced out of the schools. Please be praying for strong Christian leadership in our government to take a stand. Please be praying for those who wish to shut down and disable the churches in this country. Again, I am reminded of Scripture and the words of Jesus: “… on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16.18)

The Journey continues …

August Announcemts and Upcoming Events

2011-07-26T15:12:00.000-05:00

The Journey Java Connection: Progress

2011-07-24T08:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we made some serious progress on The Journey Java Connection.

We had a great team of folks helping us and in 9 hours we mananged to get the coffee bar built. This was one of our biggest projects as we continue to aim for an August 12 opening.

The Journey Java Connection is going to be our mission outpost to this community providing a relaxed atmosophere, free wifi, a lending library, live music and of course a variety of coffee drinks.

When we leased this building in May, Sandra and I thought we were getting a nice-sized building for The Journey church's offices and small group/meeting space. God had some different plans and began to birth in us a desire to use this building primarily as a means to bless our community.

We are in the process of doing research on other Christian owned coffeehouses. We are planning to attend Unplugged at National Community Church in October and glean from their experience with Ebenezer's Coffeehouse as well as take a visit to Tallahassee and talk with our friends at Redeye Coffee. If you are familiar with any Christian owned coffeehouses that are making a difference in the community please comment here or shoot me an email sean@jouneycrestview.com I'd love to hear from you.

Here's some pictures of the progress we made yesterday.

Thinking Like a Missionary

2011-07-17T11:55:00.000-05:00

I’m trying to think like a missionary.

It’s Sunday morning and for the first time in years I don’t have to be anywhere. I am so used to getting up and going to “church” and leading worship or preaching or doing whatever the “pastor” is supposed to be doing that particular Sunday. But here I am for the first time in my “professional” ministry career, churchless.

As I write this, I am sitting in a Starbucks sipping an Americano and trying to figure out what a church is going to look like for this community.

The danger for me is to start doing what I’ve always done: organize groups and fellowship activities etc. invite the community to come and expect them to do so. I am convinced that those kinds of strategies are not going to work very effectively any longer.

Regardless of whether I live in the South, and whether or not we continue to be labeled as the “Bible Belt,” the reality remains that we are living in a post-Christian world; the Bible belt is getting tighter and tighter as the body of Christ continues to lose weight.

In my community, I am told that everyone goes to church somewhere. Really? I am looking around this coffee shop and seeing more people sipping coffee, reading the paper, and surfing the net than there are in many of these little churches this morning. There is a group of 6 ladies sitting across the room from me who have what appear to be scrapbooking items scattered on a couple of tables. They are laughing and enjoying each other’s company (sounds like something we might try to organize in one of our typical churches).

I don’t mean to sound cynical. I am just convinced that there has to be a better way for us to do church than simply recreate what has always been done.

I think people want to know that what they do matters. And that includes the time they set aside for “church.” I think that many people will continue to attend worship services on Sunday mornings because that’s what they’ve always done. Some may even serve on boards or committees, volunteer to teach a Sunday school class, or help out with the children’s ministry because it makes them feel like they are doing something for God. But I can’t help wonder about the majority of people who simply “go to church” on Sunday morning, check the box indicating that they have fulfilled their spiritual obligation, and then leave the building to go live their ‘real” life for the rest of the week.

I think Jesus expects more from His church.

They sent me here to plant a church. I intend to do that.

It just might not look like every other church in town. In fact, it won’t.

I’m trying to think differently.

I’m trying to think like a missionary.

A Spiritual Workout (or Why I No Longer Wish to be an Obese Christian)

2011-07-09T12:42:00.000-05:00

It has been said, “You are what you eat.” I am pretty sure that is true. Not just physically, but spiritually as well.

There are basically two ways to dramatically improve physical health: eat foods that are good for your body and exercise regularly.

If I would simply incorporate those two strategies into my life, I would be guaranteed to lose weight, increase my energy level, and feel a whole lot better about myself.

The problem is that I like to eat things that are not good for my body and I don’t like to exercise.

Therein lies the problem.

So I have two choices: continue to live the way I’m living or do the hard work of making the changes necessary so that I can live differently.

The key words in the latter option are “hard work.”

It will take work to change my unhealthy eating patterns, and it will take work to get off the couch and do something physical that is going to raise my heart rate enough to burn calories.

I believe this principle applies to our spiritual lives as well as our physical lives.

If we are not careful we can become overweight, apathetic Christians.

We have been conditioned to feast on the words of the pastor, our Sunday school teachers, and our small group leaders. We are more informed than ever before, and yet the primary complaint of many churchgoers is “I’m not being fed.”

We are followers of Christ – little Christ’s. Is “being fed” the best we can do? Or is there perhaps a workout routine that we can implement in our spiritual lives that can help us to become healthier and perhaps even live the kinds of lives we were created to live?

I think there is.

I have a new routine that I recently started that I want to share with you free of charge!

Eat

Our diets must change or we are going to end up with spiritual diabetes and ultimately die spiritually altogether. The Bible encourages us in a variety of places to essentially “feast on the Word.” Ezekiel (Ez. 13.1-3), Jeremiah (Jer. 15.16) and John the Revelator (Rev. 10.9) were all commanded to “eat the scroll.” Ingest the Word of God. This is quite a bit different than simply nibbling on the Scriptures now and again; or even worse, being spoon fed the text by a teacher or preacher. We are called to absorb God’s Word in such a way that it permeates our lives: it literally lives in and through us. God’s Word is an amazing Story which continues to unfold and we are called to live into it. The only way to do this is to become a part of it, and to allow it to become a part of us.

One strategy that I have recently been reintroduced to and intend to begin implementing into my daily workout routine is the ancient practice of Lectio Divina. Lectio is a four-part practice of listening and responding to the Scriptural text in such a way that the Word literally infuses us.

Lectio: Read. Read a selected passage of Scripture (how you choose what to read is not terribly important. What is important is that you read, and that you read only a few verses; longer passages are harder to absorb all at once). Re-read the passage several times focusing on specific words or phrases that stand out to you.

Meditatio: Listen. Listen to the Spirit speak to you through these words that you have been reading. Quietly reflect on the Story. What is God trying to say to you through these words?

Oratio: Speak. Begin praying about what you are hearing. Talk to the Lord about these words, this Story. Ask questions. Communicate your thoughts and feelings. Has this passage brought up any particular emotions, questions etc.?

Contemplativo: Respond. What have you heard the Lord say through these words? Are you being challenged to do something? The Word typically calls us to respond in some way. Perhaps it’s a personal action you are being called to take; perhaps it’s a social action or a relational action. Whatever it is, make sure to do what you are being challenged to do.

Pray

Perhaps one of the hardest things that we are called to do as Christians is to pray. We know we should do it, but so often we just don’t. I Thessalonians 5.17 actually commands us to “pray continuously.” In order to do this we have to redefine what it means to be a spiritual person. Most of us compartmentalize our lives so that we are spiritual people during certain times of the week (usually when we are at church or in some kind of church-sponsored event); relational people, business people, social people, etc. at other times of the week. A major adjustment that we can make to our lives involves seeing ourselves as spiritual people “all the time!” This is what is called a holistic view of existence. Our lives were never intended to be compartmentalized. We are called to be spiritual people wherever we are and while we are doing whatever we are doing. This shift enables us to be people who can – in fact – pray continuously. Our minds and hearts are attuned to God’s Spirit because we believe that God’s Spirit is actually with us at all times. Of course, we want to set aside time for quiet, reflective prayer as well, but being people who pray continuously allows us to be healthier people.

Love

Jesus was very clear that healthy followers of His would be people of love. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so must you love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13.34-35). James was just as emphatic about the fact that simple faith without deeds (definition: love) is dead (James 2.26). Love is active. Love gets us up off the couch of lethargy and complacency and gets our heart rate up. We start burning all the excess fat we have packed on by allowing ourselves to become Dead Sea Christians (the Dead Sea is a body of water in Israel that the Jordan River empties in to, but has no outlet. As a result, nothing can survive in the Dead Sea. It constantly takes and never gives) Love, by very definition sacrifices and initiates; it is spiritual calisthenics for our soul.

Eat, Pray, Love, Repeat.

If we can begin implementing these three practices into our spiritual routine, I guarantee we will begin to see instant results.

Jesus promised that we could have abundant life here and now (John 10.10) but it is going to require some hard work.

Are you ready to do whatever it takes?

Let’s get started!

The Journey Begins

2011-07-01T12:12:00.000-05:00

Today I “officially” begin my duties as pastor of The Journey. Although I have been laying the groundwork for about two months now, it is time to actually begin the journey.

Here are a few things that are on my radar for the next couple of months:

• Secure the Shoal River Middle School for worship celebrations beginning in September

• Start a Community Life Group with folks who are committed to being a part of The Journey or who are considering being a part of The Journey

• Meet people

• Send out donation letters (you just might get one. If you do, be generous! We need it)

• Continue renovations on The Connection with hopes of opening The Journey Java Connection by mid to late August

• Meet people

• Participate in the Downtown Music and Arts event on July 8

• Meet the Pastor dinner at The Connection on July 22

• Meet people

• Register to attend NCC Unplugged in October

• Develop activities and events for those interested in the church to connect with each other and the community

• Meet people

Meeting people and generating excitement about the new church and the coffeehouse are my primary objectives during July and August. I want to be able to have a solid group of interested individuals and families as we approach our first preview service in September. I also want to continue to establish outreach and local mission as foundational values of The Journey. Our CLG’s (Community Life Groups) will be missional in nature and not just fellowship and discipleship based as many small groups are. We will encourage all of our small groups to actively seek ways to engage with the community on a regular basis. I have been reading Missional Small Groups Becoming a Community That Makes a Difference in the World by M. Scott Boren which has been very helpful and insightful as I begin developing plans for our small group ministry.

Please be praying for us as we begin this journey, there are many obstacles and much opposition that we are facing and that we will continue to face. We value your prayers and your support.

And so the journey begins.

The Journey Core Values Part III: Creativity

2011-06-20T12:06:00.000-05:00

So far I have attempted to outline The Journey’s core values of Celebration and Community. In this post I will talk about Creativity.

Creativity will be a core value of The Journey because we believe that God is an artist and that He desires for His Church to embrace and utilize the arts to their fullest potential.

If you would like to read some of my thoughts on the arts and worship, I would encourage to check out this entry that I wrote last February.

Sandra and I share a love for the arts and because of that, we tend to find ourselves attracting artistic types of people. Most artists feel rejected or excluded from the church for a variety of reasons. We want to help restore the role of the artist and the arts in the church by encouraging artists to use their gifts during our celebrations, our outreach events, our Community Life Groups, anywhere and anytime.

Our Celebrations will involve the use of drama, dance, mime, painting, a variety of styles of music, technology, sculpture, you name it we’ll honor it!

We intend to use the arts when we minister in the community as well. We have already participated in one Arts and Music event in downtown Crestview, showcasing music, dance, art and drama.

I often hear people say that we are trying to compete with the culture by being creative. As I pointed out in my post on Worship and the Arts, I do not think that we are, nor do I think we should even try, to compete with culture. No matter how talented our actors may be, we cannot compete with Hollywood. What we need to do instead, is to create culture: to use the arts to enhance the Biblical narrative, to convey the message of grace and truth that we intend to share, to support the powerful messages of the Gospel. In this way we leverage the arts for the purpose of furthering God’s kingdom plan instead of attempting to merely compete with the kingdom of this world.

So, The Journey will be a place where creativity and innovation will be foundational. We will strive to provide space for the artists among us; to welcome them, to encourage them to use their gifts, and to help them find ways to encounter our Creator God in meaningful ways.

In the beginning God created … and so will we.

The Journey Core Values Part 2 : Community (continued)

2011-06-16T14:56:00.000-05:00

In my last post I talked about Community and the significance that it will play in the foundational development of The Journey’s DNA.

One aspect of community that I did not cover in my previous post is that of age-level and family based ministry. I would like to devote this blog to explaining our passion for providing holistic family ministry under the umbrella of Community.

We believe that the family unit is perhaps the best example of true community that we have here on earth, and as such, the church would be remiss if it did not celebrate the family and provide ministry to the individual parts of the family as well as to the entire unit.

Age Level Ministries

We will provide, from the outset, ministry for infants, children and youth. Nursery will be provided at all of our pre-launch events and worship gatherings along with children’s ministry for 3 year- old through 4th grade. Screened, trained and gifted children’s leaders will provide fun, biblically based programs for children during Community Life Groups, Informational Meetings and Worship Gatherings. We LOVE children and we want them to be a part of everything that we do as a church. As a United Methodist Community, we also believe in infant baptism as a way of initiating children into the family of God and we pray that we will have many opportunities to share in the sacrament of baptism as a community. Once children get to 5th grade, we will offer age-level ministry for middle and high school students as well as a Confirmation Class for 6th graders. As with our children’s ministry, all of our youth workers will be screened, trained and gifted youth ministers who love your sons and daughters and who will provide opportunities for fellowship, discipleship, worship and mission. Youth ministry will not happen on Sunday mornings, as we encourage youth to participate in worship with their family and friends. We have not decided on a time for youth activities yet, but we are currently renovating part of The Connection on Main Street to be used as youth ministry space, and we should be prepared to start having youth gatherings by the end of the summer.

We also recognize that churches have not done a very good job of providing effective ministry for young adults: those young men and women between the ages of 18-35 who have graduated from high school, but remain in the area to work or to go to college. Young adulthood is a critical time in a person’s life, and we want to do all that we can to provide ministry for these young people. A goal from the very beginning will be to find ways to connect with single and married young adults with and without children of their own, and develop ways to minister to their needs.

Holistic Family Ministry

We will encourage parents and guardians to keep their children and youth with them during worship gatherings at least during the music. We find that children particularly enjoy the music and singing, and we will strongly encourage their participation in worship.

We also intend to provide fellowship and discipleship opportunities for the whole family. We are planning a Marriage and Parenting class, and will be looking closely at a Family Retreat to Blue Lake United Methodist Assembly within our first year.

In short, we will be a church that sees family as a priority, and a church that will strive to provide quality ministry for all ages as well as offer opportunities for the entire family to grow in Christ together.

The Trinity is a picture of the Divine Family. God’ desire for us as those created in His image is to model a healthy family to the world around us. We acknowledge that in this world we live in, the word family does not mean what it used to mean; traditional values are being deconstructed, the divorce rate continues to soar, children are being raised in single-parent homes, bouncing around between two different families, and many are growing up without any kind of Godly parental figure in their lives at all. This grieves us, and we intend to do whatever we can in our little piece of this world to bring hope and restoration to the broken, hurting, lonely, hopeless, depressed, discouraged, and empty children, youth, young adults and adults of Crestview Florida.

We will do this by making Community a part of who we are from the very beginning.

The Journey Core Values Part 2: Community

2011-06-13T13:13:00.000-05:00

Community is one of those buzz words that has been floating around lately. It sounds good to talk about community, but what exactly do we mean?

For The Journey, we feel so strongly about the necessity of “community” that we put it in our title: A United Methodist Community.

Here’s what I mean when I talk about community:

First, community is a value for us because we want to be a “part” of the community. We desire first and foremost to be a church FOR the community; not just a church IN a community. This is why we want to have a presence at the Arts and Music Festivals throughout the summer, and why we are leasing a space on Main Street and opening a coffee shop. This is why we intend to find out what the community of Crestview Florida needs and find ways to assist in making it happen. We believe that the church exists to be a blessing to the community; and we intend to do just that.

Secondly, community is a value to us because we want to be more than simply a gathering of individuals who meet for an hour on Sunday morning. In my last post I talked about the value of Celebration and the importance of gathering, but the weekly gathering has to be an outflow of the koinonia that has been taking place all week long. Koinonia is a fancy Greek word for fellowship or community. It is our prayer, that the people who call The Journey “home” will find a way to open their “homes” for The Journey. We desire for everyone to have a home group that they can be involved in. By intentionally developing small, missional communities from the very beginning, we will be creating a strand of community in our DNA that will be foundational to who we are.

Missional communities are small groups (10-12 people) that meet in homes throughout the week and focus on service, fellowship and discipleship. We deeply believe that true discipleship can only be developed by “following” Jesus and doing what He did. Large gatherings are wonderful things, but a lifestyle of faith is forged in a daily walk with Jesus, close relationships with fellow sojourners, and selfless service to the least of these.

So, this is why community is one of our core values.

We must dismantle the stereotype of church as a place to go for an hour on Sunday morning. We must deconstruct the dichotomy that exists between our “spiritual” lives and the “rest” of our lives. We are spiritual people, and we are created to harmonize our spiritual lives with every other aspect of our lives. We don’t go to church so that we can check the box for another week and feel good about ourselves. We are the church. And as such, we must find a way to be in community with other followers of Jesus so that we can grow and become the persons that we were created to be.

Community Life Groups will begin in July. We will begin with our core team meeting together weekly at The Connection, serving weekly in some way in the city, studying God’s word together, and building true community.

In this way, we will be able to develop a solid foundation as we begin this amazing Journey!

The Journey's Core Values. Part 1: Celebration

2011-06-11T14:05:00.000-05:00

In the next four posts I will outline the four basic values that The Journey will embrace as a community of Christ followers.

In no particular order, those values are Celebration, Community, Creativity and Mission.

I’d like to begin with Celebration.

Over the past several hundred years the “church” has become more and more associated with a building and a gathering. We (the church) have catered to the consumeristic demands of popular culture, and by doing so have created a sub-culture of religious entertainment that attempts to compete with the world. In my last post I talked about seeing the church as a bridge instead of a store. It is my belief that The Journey must push against the tendency to compete with culture and provide gatherings that reflect sincere, authentic expressions of celebration and worship to our God.

When we gather, we are not gathering to be entertained, we are gathering as the body of the living Christ and celebrating together all of the good things that God has been doing in our lives the past 6 days. We gather to celebrate together.

If I go to a birthday party, I don’t expect to sit down and be entertained. I expect to participate in the celebration!

The same should be true of everyone who gathers to celebrate on the Lord’s Day. When we gather we bring our prayers, our praises, our joys, our concerns, our burdens, our hurts, our pains, our struggles, our victories, our defeats, our laughter and our tears and we offer them up to the Lord. We sing together, we read God’s Word together, we listen for the voice of the Lord together, and we share in baptism and communion together.

I feel that the debate that has been raging the past few years concerning attractional vs. missional models of church, while important, has missed the point: we don’t need to decide which model we will embrace, we need to do both!

The church gathered in the first century. The church needs to gather in 21st century. We need time to come together as one body and celebrate.

This is what we intend to do at The Journey.

We plan to begin gathering monthly in September at the Shoal River Middle School and move towards weekly gatherings by January 2012. When we gather we will celebrate with music, and prayer, and the arts, and Scripture and teaching and the sacraments. But we will not do it passively. We will be active participants together.

Everyone is invited to the party.

But if you come, you have to dance.

Is The Church a Store or a Bridge?

2011-06-03T11:17:00.002-05:00

The following is taken from Jim Walker's book, Dirty Word: The Vulgar, Offensive Language of the Kingdom of God.

Food for thought:

The Difference Between a Store and a Bridge

A store has doors and walls, most of the time locked; a bridge is open 24/7
A store is in one location; a bridge connects multiple places
A store has signs and advertisement; a bridge gets used because people need it
A store is nice and fancy because it needs customers to survive; a bridge is dirty because it gets walked on, traveled on and worn down
A store is a safe place; a bridge can be, at times, risky and dangerous
A store gets new products, carries brand names; a bridge is a bridge
A store has employees; a bridge is made of cememnt towers and steel beams and little rivets, each one just as important as the other
Customers determine a store's worth by how much it has; traveler's determine the worth of a bridge by what it connects. (91)

The Journey Java Connection

2011-05-31T21:47:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow The Journey will become official tenants of our Main Street Space and begin renovating. The space is around 2800 sq. feet and has planty of room for what we dream of doing as we launch this new community of faith.

The back third of the space will be offices. The middle section will be small group/meeting space and youth ministry space and the front section will become The Journey Java Connection. Our prayer is that the JJC will be - to use a term that Mark Batterson coined that I really like - a "postmodern well" for the community. Batterson says that people congregated at the wells in Ancient Palestine and people congregate at the coffee houses today. Our intention is not to create a "Christian" coffeehouse (can a coffeehouse be "Christian" anyhow?) Our intention is to provide a service to the community by offering excellent fair trade coffee, a comfortable space to relax, read a book, surf the web, have conversation and listen to some good music. This is what Batterson and the team at National Community Church have done so succesfully at Ebenezer's in Washington D.C.

The Connection will be a place where The Journey can connect with the people of Crestview in genuine, relevant ways, and hopefully, break down some of the stereotypes that many people have regarding the contemporary Church.

I cannot emphasize enough how much we desire to be a church for the community first and foremost. Gatherings will come, but we truly believe that people don't really care how much you know until they know how much you care.

I'll keep you posted.

Following The Journey

2011-05-13T12:35:00.008-05:00

If you want to follow what's going on with The Journey Church, please consider visitng our facebook page You can also send me a friend request here and follow me on twitter here

We are moving forward with great anticipation of what God is going to do in Crestview. We intend to be a church for the city by immediately establishing a presence in the community. Our goal is not to build a big building with hopes that folks will come to us; we want to build a movement of Christ followers empowered to go to them!

People ask me all the time what kind of church The Journey is going to be. What they are often asking is: what kind of worship style will you use on Sunday mornings, what kinds of programming will you have, what's your plan for age-level ministry. These are all important, but they are secondary to being the kind of church that understands the times and acknowledges the reality that 60% or more of the population will never come to our "church" no matter how cool our worship, or how engaging our youth and children's ministry are.

We must go to them.

So, The Journey will be participating in Music and Arts Downtown on June 10, July 8 and August 13. We will showcase our talented dance team, share some live music, and provide arts and crafts for the children. My wife Sandra will be showcasing some of her mosaic artwork as well. We also plan to have a presence in the Memorial Day Parade on May 28th.

A part of our vision for The Journey is to partner with the community to restore the arts and to play a role in revitalization and service to the poor and needy.

Of course, we will worship as well.

Our plan is to have monthly preview services beginning in September. Our worship style will be casual and relevant with emphasis upon God's amazing grace. Creativity and the arts will play a large part in what we do as we believe that God is by very definition The Artist (in the beginning God created ...) Our music will be modern and organic. You may hear hymns, praise songs, originals or popular country, folk or rock songs. The Bible will be preached and taught in an authentic and engaging way. We are theologically orthodox, in that, we believe the Bible to be the Word of God and the ancient creeds to be our model for sound doctrine. We believe that the Bible is incredibly practical and speaks to the issues that we all face every day; from our relationships, to our jobs, to our recreation. We believe the Bible provides the answers to all of life's deepest questions, and provides healing and restoration through the person and work of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. We will offer childcare and nursery for your children and youth activities and events for your teenagers. Finally, we will strongly encourage all Journey participants to get involved in a community group. Community groups will be held at various areas throughout the city. They will be small gatherings of 10-12 people and will focus on fellowship, disicpleship and service.

If any of this sounds intriguing to you, or if you know of folks living in the Crestview area who are far from God, seeking answers, searching for hope, or who may have disengaged from the church for one reason or another, please consider contacting me or encouraging others to contact me. The best way to connect with me is through this blog, facebook or twitter.

I would love to talk with anyone interested in helping us carry out our vision to be a church for the community in Crestview, FL.

Blessings

Sean

Competing with the Culture: Should the Church be Entertaining?

2011-05-09T16:57:00.004-05:00

I want to consider in this post the challenges that we face in trying to communicate the Gospel to a media-saturated, consumer-oriented generation.

A quick glance at the “Top 100 Largest Churches in America” from Outreach Magazine reveals some interesting facts: most of this country’s largest churches are led by pastors who are either published and/or who are broadcast in some way to a larger audience than the home church alone (T.V., internet church, podcast, etc.); most of the country’s largest churches have multi-million dollar budgets - a large percentage of which is devoted to technology; and most of the country’s top churches utilize multi-site church growth strategies – strategies which reinforce both the celebrity pastor phenomenon and the need for more and better technology.

Why is it that we need to compete with the culture again?

For this is precisely what we are doing, isn’t it? Competing with the culture? If we are fortunate enough to actually get people to attend our worship services we feel that we have to entertain them and offer them a high definition, surround sound Jesus.

Popular culture has made it very hard for us to tell our Story. John Ortberg addresses this in an article in this month’s Leadership Journal. He tells the story of how in the 1858 senatorial campaign, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas would debate for 3 hours or more and people would listen. He reminds the reader that the only reason that people listened was because they had nothing better to do. Today politicians and preachers have to compete with a seemingly endless stream of music, graphics, images, videos and information that can all be accessed in seconds. Ortberg observes that listening to 3 hour debates in 1858 was a treat for Americans. Not so much today. “If you were raised on nothing but broccoli, an apple tastes like desert. If you were raised in the Cheesecake Factory and apple tastes like punishment. We are doing church for a society raised in the Cheesecake Factory.”

Unfortunately, trying to provide 52 varieties of cheesecake worship every week leads to fat, dumb and happy consumer Christians. Professor Read Mercer Schuchardt of Wheaton College says that “the opiate of our age is image-based entertainment that leads to passivity and narcissism.”

Our goal as the Church of Jesus Christ in America should not be to see how many people we can squeeze into our space every Sunday so we can feed them their weekly dose of high-tech inspiration; it should not be to see how much money we can raise so that we can enhance our audio visual presentations (Chuck Swindoll says that he knows of a church that has 18 full-time staff members in the media department and 12 full-time staff members on the pastoral/ministry team. This speaks volumes about what is important to this church, doesn’t it?); and it should not be an attempt to compete with the culture.

Our goal should be to proclaim the life-changing message of Christ with passion, and excellence and enthusiasm.

Can this be done with technology?

Absolutely.

But as the writers that I have quoted above have all said: technology should be a window and not a mirror. Our music, videos, dramas etc. must all point to Christ: those who gather with us should be able to see through the technology and the arts to the One who created technology and the arts. Too often, however, the media, technology and arts are more like a mirror: passive, narcissistic observers try to see themselves in the medium in an effort to get something for themselves. This is what popular culture teaches us to do: find yourself in the show, the music, the virtual scenario and get what you need.

Kenda Creasy Dean who specializes in youth and youth culture says that today’s young people have a picture of God that she describes as MTD (Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism). This picture has been instilled in them by the Church! God is only interested in helping them behave (moralistic) and feel good (therapeutic), and is distant and detached from the majority of their lives (deistic).

Is this the picture of God that the Bible teaches?

I am still wrestling with this personally, because I have been leading a worship gathering that relies heavily upon technology, the arts and entertaining methods of communication. I do believe that there is a place in the church for all of these things, but I also feel that there is a fine line that many of us may have crossed a long time ago.

We have a message that is not being conveyed in popular culture; a message that is, in fact, counter-cultural in many ways. Is it necessary for us to try and package the amazing and life transforming message of Christ in entertaining wrapping paper in an attempt to attract more spectators?

I’m interested in your thoughts on this important topic.

New Church Leadership Institute Church Planter Boot Camp Day 2

2011-05-05T08:08:00.004-05:00

Today we spent a good amount of time processing the important steps that we will need to make as we move towards officially launching as a new church.

We talked about the importance of our launch team and how essential it is to plan ahead by listing out every significant (and seemingly insignificant) event that will need to happen prior to launch.

At the end of the day we were given a large sheet of paper and some post-it notes. In the upper left hand corner of the paper we put a post-it with today’s date. In the upper right hand corner we put a post-it with the date of our anticipated launch: February 5, 2012 (this date was arrived at by adding on-site transition time which we determined to be 4 weeks beginning May 8 and ending May 29 plus our networking time which we determined to be 13 weeks beginning May 30 and ending August 28 plus our Preview Season which we determined to be 3 months with one service per month: September 11, October 8, and November 13 plus our Exhibition Season which would be weekly services for 4 weeks in December: 4,11,18 and 24 plus a 4 week launch window: January 8, 15, 22 and 29). In between the two dates we were told to write down as many action steps as we could think of that we would need to accomplish between now and Celebration Sunday.

Here are a few of the action steps that we came up with:
- Secure the downtown space (which we plan to call The Launch Pad)
- Renovate The Launch Pad (May 14th workday)
- Design and create t-shirts
- Design and create brochures and business cards
- Hold at least three more informational meetings (one at SUMC and two more in Crestview)
- Become a member of Crestview Chamber
- Do prayer walks throughout the city
- Begin to form small groups
- Have a presence at downtown art events throughout summer
- Offer dinner, music and art night for those interested in the church
- Begin to form band for preview services
- Secure school beginning in September for preview services
- Focus on connecting with those in the community who are searching (Jim Griffith says that church planting is a contact sport – we need to be making contacts and inviting people to events and activities all the time)
- Coordinate with the city for a potential Christmas Eve Service downtown.

These are just a few of the things we brainstormed today; we plan to meet with our launch team on May 28th in Crestview for a mini boot camp to cover some of the things we learned this week and to brainstorm and dream together about other ideas.
This time-line and strategy are of course preliminary and subject to change, but it is our attempt to put on paper some strategic first steps as we move towards the official launch of The Journey Church in Crestview, FL.

Tomorrow is our final day and we are going to be focusing on first impressions and fundraising.

I will try and write some thoughts on this important issue tomorrow night once we get back home. Please make sure you read this entry and have a checkbook handy so that you can be one of the first to support The Journey financially :).

All in all this has been a very informative and fun week. The idea of starting this new church is becoming more of a reality, and I am more excited than ever about serving the community and helping those searching for answers in life to encounter and fall in love with the Jesus who loves them and gave his life for them.

Be praying for The Journey as we begin this nine month process leading to the birth of a new church.

New Church Planter Boot Camp Day 1

2011-05-03T21:08:00.003-05:00

This is the first full day of Church Planter Boot Camp at Mount Sequoyah Conference and Retreat Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Sandra and I were sent by the Conference to prepare for our first year of church planting in Crestview, FL. We were here in January for the New Church Leadership Institute and have been looking forward to coming back for the Boot Camp. The Camp is led by Jim Griffith, a veteran church planter and now a consultant and coach for church planters. Jim has an ability to convey the practical aspects of church planting in an engaging way. I always learn something when I listen to him.

Today we began by looking at the 10 Most Common Mistakes Church Planters make. I had recently read the book which Jim co-wrote with Bill Easum, but Jim really helped me see how dangerous these mistakes can be, and how destructive they can be to the new church.

Here are the 10 mistakes:

Mistake #1 - Neglecting the Great Commandment in Pursuit of the Great CommissionMost people who gravitate to church planting have a much higher interest in evangelism and reaching people who are “not yet convinced.” They love the challenge of seeing people enter into the grace of the gospel of Christ. Some are downright zealous to fulfill The Great Commission, (see Matthew 28: 18 – 20). However, in their zeal to fulfill the Great Commission they neglect The Great Commandment, which is “to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and your neighbor as yourself.” The consequence of this can lead to a shriveled heart.

Mistake #2 - Failing to Take Opposition SeriouslyMajor opposition to new churches exists in three forms:

•Institutional: probably the most “discouraging” form of opposition experienced by 7 of 10 church planters. This has to do with other Christians---pastors, supervisors, and lay people---who offer little or no support, be it emotional, financial, relational, or spiritual. Bottom line: planters are not prepared for this.
•Cultural: today’s civic leaders don’t necessarily celebrate the arrival of a new church in their area. It means more traffic and fewer taxes. Don’t be surprised at their tepid reception.
•Spiritual: Whether or not your theology holds to belief in a personal devil, after starting a new church, you will believe in the devil…and his demons! See Ephesians chapter six!!!

Mistake #3 - A Love Affair with One’s Fantasy Statement Blinds the Planter to the Mission FieldPlanters who begin with an ideology or methodology before walking their mission field greatly reduce any possibility of success. Successful planters have always started with who they are trying to reach. Then they develop methods necessary to reach the people in it.

Mistake #4 - Premature LaunchLaunching too soon with too few people is still the # 1 reason new churches fail. New churches need a proper gestation period before birth. Birthed too soon places the new church in a “crisis mode” from Day One, and quickly drains money and morale. While many people are anxious to start as soon as possible, somehow fearing they will miss the opportunity, I’ve rarely seen a church suffer from waiting until the appropriate time. These days launching with just a few people, will only produce a “few more.”

Mistake #5 - Evangelism & Reaching New People Cease after the Grand OpeningMany new churches spend lots of activity recruiting new people and do a pretty good job of it…until, the Grand Opening. And then, as if someone flips a switch, everyone moves into a maintenance mode, seeking to care for those who came. Pastoral care is essential to the development of new disciples, but without a plan to continue to reach new people, the church will quickly plateau and cease to celebrate “professions of faith.”

Mistake #6 - No Plan for the Other Six Days of the WeekNew churches can so fixate on getting people to show up on Sunday morning that they neglect to consider what to do IF they actually come. Some plan must be given to how to connect people to each other and to God, apart from the celebration service. Typically this will happen in a smaller social setting. The pastor must develop a plan to “hand off” people who want the pastor’s attention.

Mistake # 7 - Fear of Talking about Money Until it’s too LateMany new churches suffer from the myth that “unchurched people shy away from church because it’s always talking about money.” This could not be further from the truth. Most non-Christian people know that it takes money to do just about anything in this world. They are turned off by the same thing that turns off Christians---manipulative, emotional, irrational appeals. To leave the topic possessions and money out of the message of the gospel is to undermine the very teaching of Jesus himself. Remember, it takes money to do ministry and if you want to do more ministry, it will take more money. New churches must come up with clear plans as to how they will plan to sustain their ministry in the early years, when typically the offerings of the faithful are not enough to cover ministry costs.

Mistake # 8 - Failure of the Church to Act Its Age & SizeBecause most church planters and members of their team have no experience with a new church and its structure, they all tend to want it to look and act older than it is. Even though it’s just months old, they want it to act like a “full service” church, reasoning that anyone who comes will be impressed with its size and maturity. Quite the opposite happens. Such pretense raises expectations in those who visit, and when they find little substance behind the hype, they leave quite frustrated and disappointed. Con artists call this a “bait & switch.” New churches are better served by being honest and offering only a few essential ministries, expanding as they grow.

Mistake #9 - Formalizing Leadership Too SoonSome new churches want to look and feel more official, so they move to form “official” board members and status. This is a natural move, but must be resisted. There is a difference in being organized and being official. Certainly the former is essential, but the latter should be deferred until at least three years after public launch. The Bible says to identify leaders who have proven themselves in the fellowship. This does not happen early or quickly, as many of those who start with a new church may depart early in the church’s development. Time will let everyone know who needs to be serving in leadership positions. For the time being, what the church plant needs are worker bees and a few coordinators to organize the essential ministries. The focus needs to remain on the mission, not on managing the fledgling community.

Mistake #10 - Using the “One Size Fits All” Paradigm for the New ChurchIn hearing about successful new churches, the temptation is to “cut & paste” what they have done. Warning: their situation is not your situation. Each church must do its own homework. Certainly successful churches methods may be compelling, but if they are not compatible with your mission field, who cares? You may end up alienating the very people you are trying to reach. Take the time to develop an indigenous approach to your mission field.

You can go here to learn more.

I am reposting these here because I think that they are not only important for new churches, but for all churches and church leaders. I particularly think that #1 can be a major problem for many church leaders. We are so passionate about doing what God has called us to do that we neglect to be passionate about what God has called us to do: we must focus on loving Him and loving others before we focus on building the church!

We have a full day tomorrow and a half day on Thursday. I will write more tomorrow.

Exponential 2011 Day 2

2011-04-28T16:50:00.002-05:00

Day 2 of Exponential got started with some great messages by Neil Cole, Darren Patrick and Rob Wegner.

I was particularly inspired by Rob’s words. He is on staff at Granger Community Church (a United Methodist Church in Indiana) that has done an exceptional job of growing an attractive, inviting and engaging seeker sensitive church over the past couple of decades. Rob talked about how Granger has begun expanding their vision to include “incarnational mission” and “multiplication church planting” in an effort to engage more people locally and globally. True Mission, he said, is found in the overlap between the three “lenses” through which the Granger community looks. Instead of either/or – which oftentimes becomes the stance taken by proponents of both “attractional” and “missional/incarnational” camps, Wegner offered us a healthy union and a promising both/and approach to doing church.

My workshop this morning was “Launching Out: Getting Ready to Plant,” and was taught by David Putnam. Apparently there were a number of other folks interested in this breakout as well because we were packed into a classroom like cattle with many people sitting on the floor and in the hallway. Putnam did a good job of providing us with some nuts and bolts as we prepare to launch. I particularly appreciated his emphasis upon Spiritual Preparation over and above pragmatic preparation. He reminded us that we pastors often overemphasize practicality to the detriment of our spirituality. He talked about viewing church planting through a “theological lens” and reminded us that Christ must be at the heart of all that we do. Our Christology informs our missiology and our missiology informs our ecclesiology. Often we turn this equation around and begin by dreaming up a vision for what we want our church to look like, then working on a plan to engage the community, and then asking Christ to bless our efforts.

I spent lunch with some great friends from Cornerstone UMC in Auburn, Alabama which was a church plant 12 years ago.

After lunch we were treated to a fantastic main session talk given by Michael Frost. Frost began by telling the story of the wedding between Prince Charles and Lady Diana. The ceremony was beautiful with all the pomp and circumstance that a royal wedding would have, but, as Frost pointed out, there didn’t seem to be any affection shown by the Prince to his soon-to-be bride. When asked by a reporter if he loved Diana, Charles said, “I suppose so.” Using that story as a platform Frost shared with us about how planting a church in a particular context is a lot like a marriage. He said that we could go through all of the motions of moving into the community and making a big deal out of the “ceremony,” but forget to love the people first if we’re not careful.

He said that we need to “romance the city.” I love that statement.

He reminded us that the term missional has always had the term incarnational attached to it, but that we tend to forget what it means to be incarnated people; we get excited about being sent, but intentionally or not, forget to become one with the people.

How do we fall in love with the people of our community?

We adopt a listening posture.

We don’t come in with our prepackaged ideas about what they want or need, we ask them what they need, and we really listen, and we work towards meeting those needs.
He quoted the man who invented the stethoscope who said, “if you use my tool, listen to your patients, they are telling you how to heal them.” Powerful. We need to listen to the people.

Frost challenged us to really be a part of the community. A marriage is strengthened by spending time together; we will strengthen our relationship to the community by eating in local restaurants, shopping at local shops, meeting in local places, and saying “yes” to everything that is asked of us by our community.

He shared about a prophecy that was given to him by a woman in the community in Sydney when he began planting his church there. She told him, “there will come a time when if your church was taken away from the city, they would grieve the loss.”

I want the same to be said of The Journey UMC.

I am more committed than ever to be the kind church where serving the needs of the people of Crestview, FL. and being Christ to those “out there” is more important than building a big building and hoping that the people will “come to us.”

I want to romance the city, and see what happens.

More to come.

Exponential 2011 Main Session 1

2011-04-27T19:29:00.003-05:00

I was up at 3:50am getting ready to head down to Orlando for Exponential this morning, so it’s been quite a day!

Exponential is billed as “the largest gathering of church planters on the planet,” and I was thrilled to be among so many other men and women who I can only assume are either thinking about planting a church, preparing to plant a church, or currently serving in a church plant somewhere. I attended this event three years ago as one of those thinking about starting a church. This year I am in category 2! As a new church plant pastor preparing to start a new church from scratch I confess I am humbled, excited and terrified all at the same time!

I am praying that these three days in Orlando along with a week at New Church Planter Boot Camp in Fayetteville, Arkansas next week will help me get over some of the “terrified.”

I arrived in Orlando just in time to register and head in to the sanctuary for the opening session. I have to say that I find it a bit ironic that the focus of the Conference is on planting missional movements as opposed to planting churches, and here we are meeting in a megachurch! In any event, opening session began with a few songs and then an introduction to the Conference from Dave Ferguson and Alan Hirsch, co-authors of On the Verge a book on “the apostolic future of the church.” We were told that 60% of Americans are now “unaffiliated” when it comes to religious preference, and are therefore not going to be coming to our churches anytime soon. We must go to them. Alan reminded us that this is not as easy as it sounds, he said that “it is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.” Dave and Alan then went on to explain the four movements that they outline in the book that will also serve as the guiding metaphors for the Conference: Imagine, Shift, Innovate and Move. Alan explained that the “fundamental task of a leader is to define reality” and that defining reality requires imagination. Alan also summarized the “shift” concept by reminding us that change requires a shifting of paradigms, ethos, and practices. Dave explained that innovation is not simply about creating something new, but really about multiplying imagination and implementation. Finally, Dave talked about the final piece of the puzzle: move. He explained that we need to recapture the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, and even encouraged us to ordain our lay people so that they can step into their calling as disciples and ministers.

Francis Chan took the stage next and once again challenged and inspired me. I have heard Francis speak in three different venues: The Willlow Creek Arts Conference, Catalyst and now Exponential, and I think I agree with Perry Noble who said at Catalyst last year, “every time I listen to Francis Chan speak I wonder if I’m really a Christian.” Francis spoke from his heart about the disparity between what the Bible presents as “the Church” and what we have created “the Church” to be in America. He said that he explained American church life to some underground churchgoers in China and they laughed! He told us that until we are ready to be lonely and misunderstood we really have nothing to say. He then led us in a prayer of confession.

The messages from Dave, Alan and Francis challenged me to remember what my new church needs to look like. I do not need to be interested in building a fancy church building so that people can come to us; rather, I need to be about building a movement of sold-out disciples who are ready to take the gospel to the streets, and the neighborhoods and the community.

The Journey UMC will be a church that the people of Crestview will get to know very quickly because they are going to see us everywhere!

More to come …

The Journey: A New United Methodist Church

2011-04-14T16:39:00.003-05:00

I am excited to announce that I have been appointed by the Alabama West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church to start a new church in Crestview, FL. this summer.

Our website domain is www.journeycrestview.com and will temporarily lead you here until we have the official site up and running.

Please check back regulalrly for updates and information.

Currently we are in the early stages of the plant, and are planning an informational meeting for anyone interested in helping us launch. The meeting will be held at Shalimar UMC on Sunday May 1 at 2pm.

Please be in prayer for us as we spend time in Crestview, getting to know the people who live there, and seeking God's guidance for how to be effective missionaries to this community.

Don't Ask Me Why: Theodicy and John 9.1-3

2011-03-30T16:53:00.002-05:00

In John 9.1-3 we come face to face with one of life’s most perplexing questions: why is there evil in the world?

If God is an all-good God (omnibenevolent) and an all-powerful God (omnipotent) and an all-knowing God (omniscient) as orthodox faith teaches, then why is there evil in the world?

Philosophers refer to this question as the “problem of evil.”

Here is how the logical problem of evil unfolds:

1. An all-powerful (omnipotent) God could prevent evil from existing in the world.
2. An all-knowing (omniscient) God would know that there was evil in the world.
3. An all-good (omnibenevolent) God would wish to prevent evil from existing in the world.
4. There is evil in the world.

Thus for the disciples (as well as for all humankind throughout time) when faced with human suffering, attempt to resolves the issue by formulating a possible solution. For the disciples (who had learned from their Hebrew ancestors) as well as for many Christians today, the solution goes something like this:

1. God is good
2. God does not cause evil or suffering
3. You are suffering
4. You (or your parents) have angered God through some kind of sin

Jesus dismisses this argument unambiguously in v. 3: “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins … this happened so the power of God could be seen in him.”
Jesus moves the disciples away from the “why” question: “why is this man suffering?” and leads them towards the more appropriate “what” question: “What good can come from this man’s suffering?”

John is trying to get us to see (no pun intended) in Chapter 9 (just as he tried to do in chapters 3 and 4) that there is a much greater realm of reality than the physical realm. In the spiritual realm, people can be (spiritually) born again and receive living water for their deep (spiritual) thirst, and have their blind (spiritual) eyes opened.

The question they were hoping Jesus would answer (the same one we wish he would answer especially when we are suffering) is a question that Jesus did not answer, and one that the Bible does not answer, and thus, one, I would argue, we need to assume will never be answered in this life.

We don’t need to know why.

Now, this has not stopped many very thoughtful and intelligent people from trying to figure out an answer though.

Following the tragic earthquakes in Japan recently, pastor John Piper wrote an article for his website Desiring God entitled “Japan: After Empathy and Aid, People Want Answers.” In the article, Dr. Piper offers his answer to the question of “why”: because of sin. Piper argues that the Bible makes it clear that God controls nature, and that as a result, earthquakes are caused by God. Following this line of argument it can be concluded that God in his justice caused the earthquake in Japan, and the deaths of thousands of human beings. That article can be read here.

This line of reasoning does not sit well with many people (including the author of this blog). In contrast, philosopher Alvin Plantinga (via Gottfried Leibniz) has developed what is commonly referred to as the free-will defense or theodicy (theodicy is the branch of theology that deals with attempting to solve the problem of evil: how evil can exist in a world created by an all-good, all-powerful, all-knowing God.)

Plantinga summarizes his “answer” to the question that we don’t need to be asking this way:

A world containing creatures who are significantly free (and freely perform more good than evil actions) is more valuable, all else being equal, than a world containing no free creatures at all. Now God can create free creatures, but He can't cause or determine them to do only what is right. For if He does so, then they aren't significantly free after all; they do not do what is right freely. To create creatures capable of moral good, therefore, He must create creatures capable of moral evil; and He can't give these creatures the freedom to perform evil and at the same time prevent them from doing so. As it turned out, sadly enough, some of the free creatures God created went wrong in the exercise of their freedom; this is the source of moral evil. The fact that free creatures sometimes go wrong, however, counts neither against God's omnipotence nor against His goodness; for He could have forestalled the occurrence of moral evil only by removing the possibility of moral good.

This argument makes much more sense to me.

But, as I have already pointed out, whether it makes sense or not, it’s still the wrong question.

In the Old Testament there is a wonderful case study of human suffering called Job. This story, more than any other in the Bible illustrates the point Jesus is making in John 9.

In the story of Job we see human suffering beyond anything most of us could ever even imagine. This man loses everything: his means of income, his home, his family and his health all in one day. The moral of the story, as Philip Yancey points out in his wonderful book Disappointment with God is not “why does God allow Job to suffer?” but “Will Job have faith in God in the midst of his suffering?” These are two completely different ways of reading the book of Job. Did God allow Job to go through what he did? Yes. Why? Don’t know. I want to know. Read chapters 38-41 and then tell me if you still want to know. God makes it very, very clear that we are not in any position to ask the “why” questions. I love the way Yancey describes an imaginary dialogue between Job and God:

Job: “Why are you treating me so unfairly God … put yourself in my place?”

God: “NO!!! …You put yourself in my place! Until you can offer lessons on how to make the sun come up each day, or where to scatter lightning bolts, or how to design a hippopotamus, don’t judge how I run the world. Just shut up and listen.”

In other words, you’re asking the wrong question.

I like the title of one of Leonard Sweet’s books that I read a few years ago called Out of the Question and in to the Mystery. In the book, Sweet makes this statement: “Faith in God is less ‘do I believe this or that about God?’ than ‘can I accept that God loves me and chooses me?”

That’s what I think Jesus is getting at here in this passage.

When our eyes are only opened to the physical realities all around us, the only questions we can ask are the “why” questions. When we receive our sight (spiritually) we begin to focus on the things that really matter, and can then begin to ask the kinds of questions that are truly worthy of being asked.

So, what kinds of questions are you asking?

A New Kind of Membership Covenant

2011-03-28T19:31:00.009-05:00

My friends at emergingumc shared this covenant agreement that Lockerbie UMC in Indianapolis, Indiana uses. It has helped me to see the membership vows of “serving the church with our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness” in a new and fresh way.

Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church Rule of Life: God, Self, Church, World

Prayers

• We will be in conversation with God through prayer.
• We will pray privately utilizing diverse spiritual disciplines (reflective reading of Scripture and other spiritual texts, fasting, journaling and contemplation etc.).
• We will pray with our faith community for God’s church (confession, in worship, intercession, song etc.)
• We will pray for our neighbors and for creation.

Presence

• We will be present to God, chasing after God’s heart with authenticity and vulnerability.
• We will be present to ourselves, seeking wellness for our minds, hearts, souls, and bodies.
• We will be present to our faith community, engaging in worship, fellowship and mission.
• We will be present to our neighbors and creation, paying attention to their needs.

Gifts

• We will recognize that all gifts come from God, giving thanks appropriately.
• We will honor and care for the gift of our bodies, developing practices that support and sustain our wellness.
• We will share our gifts with our faith community, practicing generosity with our material resources, spiritual gifts, talents and abilities, and valuing the gift of each voice within the community as we seek to discern God’s will.
• We will honor the gifts of our neighbors and creation, practicing ecologically responsible living, striving for simplicity, and sharing our resources.

Service

• We will partner in building God's dream of justice, mercy, and discipleship, striving for a world filled with peace, love, and laughter.
• We will practice regular Sabbath, renewing ourselves to live more fully.
• We will set aside selfish ambition and individualism to care for one another, taking responsibility for the health of the faith community and practicing mutual accountability within a covenant group.
• We will care for our neighbors and creation.

Witness

• We will embrace the creative, redeeming, and sustaining God, inviting others to share in God’s transforming love.
• We will seek to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.
• We will study our ancient scriptures, church history, and Wesleyan tradition, seeking to understand their historical, political, and cultural context so that we may live more fully as the prophetic voice of Jesus the Christ.
• We will seek to resist evil and injustice, pursuing peace and justice with our neighbors and creation and practicing radical hospitality and reconciliation (racial, gender, cultural, faith, etc.).

I commit to this rule of life and to the well-being of this faith community, out of gratitude to God who forgives, heals, and makes all things new. May my life be a blessing within and beyond God’s church, for the transformation of the world.

_____________________________________ ___________________________________
Name/Date Witness

Maybe a covenant like this would help all of our members take their vows a little more seriously.

I Like Preaching The Lectionary ... And Other Random Thoughts On Doing Things Differently

2011-03-28T10:24:00.002-05:00

I am a topical preacher.

I try to determine the primary needs within the community of people that God has called me to shepherd and then ask the Lord to help me craft a sermon series that will address those needs from a biblical perspective.

I enjoy preaching this way.

It enables me to plan out my sermons in advance, which allows the creative arts team to figure out ways of supporting the themes through music and the arts, and it provides a way of helping the congregation know what to expect week after week.

This Lenten Season, however, the pastoral staff decided to preach the lectionary.

And I must say that I am really enjoying this.

I can definitely see the benefits of preaching the lectionary throughout the year. The Biblical narrative truly comes alive, and the congregation is offered chunks of Scripture that they probably would never get in a topical sermon series. As a preacher, I am forced to study and communicate texts that I would never choose otherwise. One of my biggest fears about lectionary preaching was that it would not be relevant. What a mistake! The entire biblical narrative is amazingly relevant. Applying the assigned texts to real life is not complicated at all.

For example: the past two Sunday’s Gospel lessons have come from John 3 and 4: the story of Jesus and Nicodemus, and the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. I have thoroughly enjoyed exegeting (that’s a fancy seminary word that means to interpret) these passages, and then finding ways of applying them to the situations that we all find ourselves in these days. The longing deep within us is very real, and Jesus offers us new life by being “born again,” and by drinking from the “living water” which he offers. If this isn’t relevant to our lives today, then nothing is. We live in a world of unrest, turmoil, confusion and violence. Our lives are falling apart, and into the midst of this craziness comes a word from the Lord: ““For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3.16), and also “… those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life” (John 4.14). That’ll preach!

So, as a preacher I have taken a step of faith. I have moved away from what is comfortable for me, and tried something new. As my teenage daughter often reminds me, “life’s an adventure!”

And it is.

I want to challenge you today: try something new. Maybe you are a creature of habit and you always do the same things the same way all the time. Take a risk; mix it up; do different things in different ways and see what happens.

I guarantee you that God will be there waiting to show you something fresh and new that you wouldn’t see otherwise.

And who knows you might actually enjoy it.

Obey Your Thirst: Some Thoughts on John 4.5-42

2011-03-26T10:39:00.005-05:00

Remember the Sprite campaign: Obey Your Thirst?

I think they were on to something.

Obeying our thirst is kind of a big thing.

Dehydration is no fun.

This is why the story of Jesus’ encounter with a foreign woman at a well outside Sychar in Samaria one hot summer afternoon is about so much more than an encounter with a foreign woman at a well outside Sychar in Samaria one hot summer afternoon.

This woman was thirsty.

We are thirsty.

Her soul was parched and she didn’t even realize it. Her soul longed for worth and value, love and acceptance and as Johnny Lee once eloquently crooned, she was “lookin’ for love in all the wrong places.” Like trying to satisfy physical thirst with saltwater, attempting to satisfy the longing of our souls with anything other than the living water that Christ offers just makes us thirstier.

C.S. Lewis understood this deep thirst that we all have: “Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise.”

Likewise, Augustine famously stated that “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.”

Recognizing our deep thirst is essential to understanding Jesus’ offer of living water. We must realize that we are not simply physical beings. Nicodemus had to grasp this, this woman had to grasp this, and we have to grasp this. There is a longing deep within us that must be satisfied if we are to truly live the kind of life that we were created to live.

What's the alternative?

We continue to live our lives longing for, searching for, grasping for anything we can to bring temporary relief from our thirst.

For this woman it was relationships: she felt that she could satisfy the longing in her soul if she could just find the right man. Five failed marriages later she is still looking. In the meantime, she has been ostracized by her community and labeled a tramp.

As someone once asked, “How’s that working out for you?”

So Jesus goes right to the heart of the matter; he reveals her longing to her, he forces her to face herself and acknowledge her thirst. Then he helps her begin to understand that he is what she is truly longing for.

William Barclay puts it this way: “There are two revelations in Christianity: the revelation of God and the revelation of ourselves. We never really see ourselves until we see ourselves in the presence of Christ; and then we are appalled at the sight. There is another way of putting it – Christianity begins with a sense of sin. It begins with the sudden realization that life as we are living it will not do. We awake to ourselves and we awake to our need of God.”

This is what happened to this woman, and it is what can happen to us if we are willing to drink the water that Jesus provides.

Almost as a side note, John adds that this woman’s instant response to the love and grace of Christ was to unashamedly run back to the village and the people that had shunned her and share with them what had happened.

Our natural response to receiving the living water should be to share it with others.

There’s plenty to go around.

We’re all thirsty. And we’ve all tried to satisfy our thirsts with everything other than the living water that Christ offers.

Perhaps it’s time for something new.

Can I offer you a drink?

Love Wins: My Humble Attempt at Joining the Conversation

2011-03-15T22:53:00.003-05:00

I watched Rob Bell’s interview last night and a few of the interviews that he did this morning on cable news networks. I also had at least two people at church ask me if I saw the interview with the “preacher who doesn’t believe there’s a hell.”

Here is my meager attempt at engaging this important issue.

First, I would say that I hear nothing in what Rob is saying (and I have yet to read the book, so I cannot comment on what he has written) that would lead me to believe that he is lobbying for universalism or that he does not believe in a literal hell. On the contrary, I think that he was pretty clear that there is a hell and that we get to choose whether or not we want to spend eternity there. This freedom of choice concept is appealing to me as a Wesleyan but clearly drives my Calvinistic brothers and sisters batty. Rob sounds an awful lot like CS Lewis sometimes. Consider this quote from the Preface to The Great Divorce: “If we insist on keeping Hell (or even earth) we shall not see Heaven; if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.”

Secondly, the idea that “love wins” has very little to do with the afterlife. Rob’s interest, it appears to me, has much more to do with how we live “here and now” than what we think about what happens “there and then.” This is a concept that former Anglican bishop and renowned theologian N.T. Wright explored deeply in his excellent book Surprised by Hope. Wright argues, and I believe Bell agrees that Jesus was much more interested in teaching us about how to live now than how to prepare us for then. Jesus’ most famous prayer, in fact, instructs us to ask God to let his “kingdom come” and his “will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The kingdom of God is not someplace we go to when we die; it is “at hand,” it is here and now. It is not fully and finally revealed of course, it is an “already/not yet” kingdom that bursts into the midst of our broken and sin cursed lives on occasion and gives us a taste of what will ultimately be, but it is partial. Heaven and Hell are present realities and we get to choose. In Surprised by Hope N.T. Wright challenges us to consider whether we are asking the right questions or not:

“… the question of our own destiny in terms of the alternatives of joy and woe is probably the wrong way of looking at the whole question. The question ought to be How will God’s new creation come? And then, How will we humans contribute to that renewal of creation and to the fresh projects that the creator God will launch in his new world? The choice before humans would then be framed differently: are you going to worship the creator God and discover thereby what it means to become fully and gloriously human, reflecting his powerful, healing, transformative love into the world? Or are you going to worship the world as it is, boosting your corruptible humanness by gaining power and pleasure from forces within the world but merely contributing thereby to your own dehumanization and the further corruption of the world itself.”

I believe that this is the point Rob is trying to make with the book. He is not interested so much in who gets to go to heaven and who gets to go to hell; nor is he very interested in arguing about whether such places exist or not; but he is much more interested in trying to help us see that the way we live our lives in the short amount of time that we are given on this planet is much more important than worrying about where we will go when we die and who we get to hang out with when we get there.

Lastly, in an effort to not completely ignore the concerns of my friends and so many others who are interested in this issue, I want to briefly try and explain where I think Rob is coming from soteriologically. I believe that Rob is much more of an inclusivist than he is a universalist. Although I cannot speak for him, my sense from listening to his interviews and his sermons and reading his books is that Rob will choose to err on the side of mystery with regard to “controversial” issues like the afterlife. This has led some to accuse him of being ambiguous at best and heretical at worst. Why is it, I wonder, that we Christians have such a hard time saying “I don’t know?” Why is it that we feel we have to have an answer for every question that is hurled at us, and then defend our answers with such absolute assurance? Love wins, means that it’s o.k. to be unsure. It means that what’s most important is that we help people who may have questions about God and Jesus and faith and heaven and hell to know that although we may not have all the answers, we know one thing for certain: love wins. Inclusivity means that we do not condemn people to hell just because they think differently from us; it means that we choose to believe that the Holy Spirit might actually be able to reveal Christ to people in ways that we cannot even imagine; it means that we choose to love and accept people even if we disagree with them.

Rob Bell is a Christian. He is a pastor who loves God with his whole heart, and truly believes that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. But he also believes that there are ways to encounter Christ that we may not even be aware of; and that it’s actually o.k. if we can’t explain it. It is arrogant and naïve of us to think that our understanding of how to “be saved” is the only way.

The irony of all of this to me is that Rob set out to write a book about the power of love and the divisiveness of judgment, and all he seems to have gotten from his brothers and sisters in Christ is judgment.

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” – John 13.34-35

The Sex Talk

2011-03-03T11:40:00.008-06:00

If you haven’t seen the sports headlines the past couple of days you’ve missed a compelling and shocking story about Brigham Young University basketball player Brandon Davies. Davies was released from the team this week for violating the school’s Honor Code. Davies was one of the top three players for the Cougars who were ranked number 3 in the nation prior to his dismissal from the team.

What did he do to deserve such punishment? What kind of violation could this young man have committed to warrant being thrown off the team?

He had sex with his girlfriend.

I suppose it’s a good thing that such a code is not in place at all major universities or we might not have collegiate sports at all!

In all seriousness, I think that this decision by the Athletic Committee and the University is commendable. BYU is a private, Mormon institution and their code of conduct is obviously going to be stricter than most, but they could have let this slide. Davies is a good kid. He confessed that he violated the rules and all reports indicated that he was remorseful and repentant. Perhaps a slap on the wrist, a reprimand, community service, but dismissal from the team? Maybe if it was a third string player who never gets any court time and who’s absence wouldn’t affect the team any, but one of the team’s top scorers? This jeopardizes the universities chances of national prominence. What about potential recruiting? What about the money that they’re throwing away?

The University is more interested in helping a young man understand the value of purity and what it means to be a moral human being than they are in acquiring honor, achievement, recognition and resources for their school.

And that’s something that is rare.

And that’s something that is commendable.

In his book One.Life, Scot McKnight highlights the issue of sexuality as it relates to the kind of life that we were created to live:

“If you have One.Life, what do you want your love and sex life to look like when you look back on it when you are older? Someone who follows Jesus and who gives her or his One.Life to the kingdom dream of Jesus, and that means surrendering to become a moral zealot like Jesus, asks yet another question: What does Jesus’ kingdom dream – a kingdom marked by self-sacrificing love, justice, wisdom and peace – have to say about the sexual culture of today?

He then goes on to address three specific types of statistics as they relate to the issue of sexuality in our culture. The first set of statistics deals with the details:

• By the time of graduation from high school, almost 75% of high school students have had sex
• Adolescent females who are sexually active between 15 and 19 years old will have, on average, seven different sexual partners during their lives
• Sixteen percent of high school students have had four or more sexual partners
• About 70% of college students have had sex with at least one partner in the last year
• Nearly 50% of college students have had oral sex in the last 30 days
• Between 10% (females) and 17% (males) of college students have had three or more partners in the last year.

The second set of statistics involves attitudes and experiences.

• Only one third of the females report that they really wanted to have sex the first time they had sex
• While 2 out of 3 young men said it was better to get married than to go through life single, fewer than half of the young women felt that way.
o This has led to an increase in what McKnight and journalist Laura Sessions Stepp refer to as the hook-up culture.
o Stepp’s research on the sexual behaviors of young women entitled Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both shows that of 555 undergraduates studied almost 4 out of 5 had “hooked-up,” and that half said they started their evenings planning to have some form of sex with no particular person in mind.

McKnight goes on to note that “many who engage in sexual behaviors this way walk home that night, or the next morning absorbed with a sense of shame.”

Pastor Erwin McManus says that “there is no such thing as free sex. It always comes at a cost. With it, either you give your heart, or you give your soul. You can have sex without giving love, but you can’t have sex without giving a part of yourself.”

The final statistics have to do with the nature of the relationship.

• Almost none of the students studied is in a long-term relationship with the one with whom they are engaging in sexual activities.
• Sex is no longer seen as part of a serious relationship; it’s simply “hooking-up.”

McKnight goes on to argue, and I agree, that

Sex is about relationship.
Sex is about love.
Without relationship and love, sex wounds.

“Love is a rugged commitment to being with someone.”

Jesus redefines what love is. Love is “being with.” We are wired and created to “be with.” Rugged individualism, sex without relationship, hooking-up; we are not designed to live this way.

Perhaps, BYU is making a profound statement with this decision. Perhaps they are making a statement not just about an honor code or a basketball player, or even about a religious conviction, but about what it means to be human. For Brandon Davies and the rest of the young men and women at Brigham Young University a statement has been made: sex is not casual, sex is not free, sex is to be shared within the bonds of a loving, committed marriage relationship.

I think this story is so compelling and so shocking because it seems to go against the grain of societal norms.

Somehow, I think that is precisely what we are supposed to be doing.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” – Romans 12.2

What Does a Pastor Do?

2011-02-28T11:42:00.002-06:00

In his weekly correspondence with the clergy of the Pensacola District, our Superintendent Jeremy Pridgeon posted the following information. For those of you who think that a pastor only works one day a week, I humbly present this information for your perusal.

“I have been reading a book entitled God's Ambassadors: A History of Christian Clergy in America, by Brooks Holifield. It is an excellent review of the work of ministry in this country since the arrival of the first settlers hundreds of years ago. In the book, Holifield includes a section about the modern clergy and the work we do as pastors. Holifield cites a study by two sociologists, Gary Kuhne and Joe Donaldson, who spent a week observing five Protestant ministers that shed light on the busyness of pastors. Here are some of the findings:

Clergy work an average of 51 hours a week.
Clergy averaged 41 discrete activities every day.
Almost half of these activities lasted 5 minutes or less.
Only 6% of these activities lasted more than an hour.
Clergy spent of their time in scheduled events (counseling, committee meetings, funerals, weddings, worship, etc...).
Desk work required 23% of their time (12 hours a week, with 5 hours devoted to sermon preparation).
12% of the time clergy were in their cars, taking an average of 5 trips a day.
There were 13 scheduled and unscheduled meetings everyday, with scheduled meetings taking approximately 45 minutes and unscheduled meetings lasting 7 minutes on average.
Clergy averaged 8 phone conversations a day, with each lasting around 4 minutes.
Clergy devoted several minutes to prayer and meditation.
Clergy had an average of 31 contacts with persons in the course of a day, which could be casual, crucial, or tragic, which meant that clergy had to shift their moods and responses quickly.

The sociologists concluded that the work of clergy was marked by "brevity, fragmentation, and variety." Does this pace sound familiar? There are those times where there never seems to be enough hours in the day and the activities are so numerous and different it is difficult to keep up! This type of work can only be understood by others who share in knowledge of what it is like to be a pastor. This underscores our need to be in relationship and keep fellowship with one another for prayer, support, and encouragement. And, to the degree we can, we must also be mindful of the appropriate boundaries of home and personal life, so as to avoid the potential for burnout or isolation.”

Hmmm

The Arts and Worship

2011-02-25T10:04:00.003-06:00

“In the beginning God created …”

Genesis 1.1 reminds us that God, by very definition, is an artist.

Why then, I wonder, do we continue to have little to no place in the church for the artists among us? Oh, we try to accommodate by “allowing” them to sing or play their guitar every now and again; or perhaps we’re truly progressive and we include a “drama” into our worship service.

More and more churches have begun embracing the arts, and that is comforting, but we have a long way to go.

Artists have been shunned and dismissed by the church for centuries. Idolatry and worldliness are the primary sins artists are accused of committing; and yet I return again to the first chapter of our Bible: God is an artist: what do we do with that?

We live and move and have our being in a world saturated by the arts: film, television, theater, music, technology etc. Why does the church refuse to acknowledge that the people who sit in our pews on Sunday morning have been and will continue to be influenced by the arts in every other social circle that they travel in? Why are the arts not a part of what we do on Sunday mornings?

Andy Crouch’s brilliant study on culture Culture Making sounds a wake-up call to the church. Crouch argues that we have spent too much time bantering over which of Niebuhr’s cultural strategies is most useful for the church today. He suggests that we stop trying to figure out how to counter culture, and simply start creating culture. If Crouch is right, and I think he is, then we need to start looking around for the creative types in our midst, put them on our staffs, pay them a livable wage, and leverage their God-given artistic impulses to assist in creating the kinds of Spirit-filled, life-transforming Christ-centered worship experiences that will not simply compete with popular culture, but form an alternative culture.

This alternative culture that I imagine is one where the arts are used not as a means of entertainment to compete with pop culture, but to express true and genuine worship to the creator; it is one where performing artists use their gifts to remind us of our brokenness and sin, and then lead us to a place of forgiveness and hope; it is one where musicians are free to experiment and create music that honors the author of song, and where there are no restrictions with regard to the “styles” of music that are utilized or the types of instruments that are “acceptable;” it is one where painters and sculptors craft images that honor and glorify not the artist or the art itself, but honor and glorify the Master Artist and Sculptor of all things; it is one where storytellers can tell the Story of God with passion and boldness remembering that the Savior Himself “never taught without using parables …” (Mark 4.34 NLT); it is one where technology is utilized to its fullest potential so that the Message can be taught in the way that people are learning in every other sphere of life, and so that those among us with gifts in the area of technology: digital animation, video, graphic design etc, can feel that they have something to contribute to this alternative culture of Truth and Beauty.

I truly believe that this kind of culture can be created if the church is willing to embrace it. Some churches have been willing, and the fruits are evident.

Artists are looking for a place where they can worship God in the way that they are uniquely wired; the world is looking for a place where they can encounter God in new and fresh ways; and I believe God is looking for a church that is willing to take a step of faith, invest in the artists among them, and create a culture of creativity and beauty.

Are we willing?

Thinking Biblically

2011-02-24T10:51:00.002-06:00

I heard Francis give this talk at Catalyst last year and his words still challenge me. I thought I would share a part of that message with you. He has just told the pastors and church leaders gathered that he and his family were leaving the church that they planted in California to follow a call to Asia.

Catalyst East 2010: Francis Chan from Catalyst on Vimeo.

Membership or Discipleship?

2011-02-24T09:53:00.001-06:00

My friend Matt O’Reilly over at Incarnatio shared an interesting article today about membership in the United Methodist Church. The entire article can be found here.

This article got me thinking about the Church in general and the idea of membership in particular.

I am curious as to how one becomes a member in the United Methodist church in places like Africa and the Philippines where Methodism is growing; are individuals required to go through a membership class? Are the standard membership vows taken? Some would argue that we make membership too easy; that we should consider that becoming a member of the Church in the first few Centuries required a great deal of time and sacrifice.

Several years ago I read a book by sociologist Robert Putnam called Bowling Alone. In the book, Dr. Putnam argued that Americans are not joining much of anything these days. He suggested several reasons for this including the fact that many American families change locations much more than ever before and because of the popularity of technology and the isolation that results. It has been my experience that Dr. Putnam is right. I pastor a congregation of mostly younger families, many with military ties. We would be seen as very “successful” in terms of worship attendance, but a dismal failure in terms of membership: very few of the families that attend our worship services show any interest in joining the church.

This begs the question: is membership necessary? Are we called to make “members” or “disciples?” Some might argue that discipleship will not happen until folks are committed and become members of the church. I am not sure I agree. In his latest book, One.Life, Professor of Religious Studies at North Park University Scot McKnight argues that true discipleship begins and ends with following Jesus; the sub-title of the book is Jesus Calls, We Follow.

If McKnight is correct, we may be barking up the wrong tree. Instead of trying to attract younger people and the unchurched into our worship services and assume that they will encounter Christ during a worship service and then join the church, perhaps we need to consider what it might mean to encounter young people and the unchurched outside the walls of the church, develop genuine community with them, and then invite them to follow Jesus. Young people particularly are looking for more than just an engaging and entertaining worship experience, and as Professor of Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary, Kenda Creasy Dean has been reminding us for years: Young people are not looking for something to join, they are looking for something to give their lives to!

In the article cited above, Taylor Burton-Edwards, Director of Worship Resources at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship says that “(t)he increasing ranks of the unchurched will very likely not encounter the congregation first in worship because that is the last place they would want to go on their own, no matter how ‘cool’ it is …”

The article indicates that the primary reason for the surge in growth of the United Methodist Church in Africa and the Philippines is that people are longing for hope.

Is there not a longing for hope in America as well? I think there is, and I think that Bill Hybels got it right when he said that the Church is the hope of the world.

But I also think the Church needs to take a real close look at how we go about offering that hope.

Risk Taking Mission and Service

2011-02-07T09:41:00.003-06:00

As we continue our series this week on the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations we will focus on the practice of Mission and Service. Bishop Schnase adds the adjective “risk-taking” to remind us that mission and service is not easy; the demands are many, the work is hard, and sacrifice is essential. However, the rewards are abundant.
Bishop Schnase reminds us that when we choose to take the risk of moving outside the four walls of our church and engage in mission and service to the “least of these,” lives are changed; and that is precisely why the church exists.

First, Schanse says that “Mission initiatives change the lives of those who receive the help. One woman who lost nearly every earthly possession in a flood said, ‘I didn’t cry when the water destroyed my home. But when I saw people from the church traveling from so far away to help me clean up and rebuild, I couldn’t stop crying.’ Nothing is as hard as a lonely struggle, and discovering that others care enough to help, to give their time and work, and to sacrifice on another’s behalf is a touch of grace. The work that teams complete changes lives.”

Secondly, “Hands-on mission projects change the lives of volunteers. Nobody returns from such service and looks at his or her own life in the same way. Intercultural experiences and genuine engagement with the poor have the effect of a shining light back on one’s own culture, and extravagance, consumerism, materialism and waste of abundance are seen in new ways. Countless pastors have discerned their call to ministry through active engagement with people on service projects. Retired people have returned and rededicated their life work after Volunteers in Mission (VIM) projects, and college students have changed careers because of the impact of face-to-face, hand-in-hand mission work in a culture other than their own.”

Lastly, the Bishop says that “Mission initiatives change churches. Even when a small percentage of the membership immerse themselves in significant mission and service, the texture of church life changes, and the language of service and outreach begins to form conversations and priorities. Ministries of mercy and justice begin to take root. Tolerance increases; youth programs evolve beyond parties, videos, beach trips and amusement parks, and these ministries become focused on changing lives and making a difference for the purpose of Christ. The interweaving of lives across culture, class, color and age boundaries genuinely enriches the congregation and makes Scripture stories come alive in real experience. God strengthens the Body of Christ through mission and service, and God empowers the Body of Christ through witness.”

Jesus sends us out into the world to be His hands and feet. He calls us to offer food and water to those in need, to clothe the naked, house the stranger, care for the sick, and visit the prisoner (see Matthew 25.31-46). Will we be the kind of church that exhibits the fruit of risk-taking mission and service? That question can not really be answered until we answer another, more personal one: Will you be the kind of person that engages in risk-taking mission and service? If we want to be a “fruitful congregation” we must be willing to say yes to this question. The church is made up of individuals; it will take all of us committed to reaching out and allowing God to place a missionary’s heart within us in order to make it happen.

Waiting

2011-02-02T20:29:00.007-06:00

While I'm Waiting by John Waller

More John Waller music on iLike

Been thinking a lot lately about the concept of waiting and patience. Specifically that I don't like it. But also that I realize how important it is. In small group tonight I was reminded that waiting should be active. We are not asked to wait passively but to "mount up with wings as eagles ..." God's time is not our time. We must learn the value of patience in this life. In an "instant everything" world, this is not always so easy. I love the chorus of this song:

While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait.

Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. – Psalm 27.14

Generosity...

2011-02-01T21:21:00.000-06:00

A creative way of thinking about generosity

Extravagant Generosity

2011-01-31T09:57:00.003-06:00

I have been reading the book Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations by United Methodsist Bishop Robert Schnase in preparation for a 5 week sermon series that we will be doing at our church.

This weekend we will be talking about “Extravagant Generosity.” Unfortunately, the topic of generosity has become a topic that many church members wish we wouldn’t talk about, and many pastors try to avoid. However, the Bible is full of references to generosity, and we need to be faithful to addressing this subject. We are sensitive to the economic struggle that many are facing right now, and a message about generosity is not intended to bring guilt; it is intended to instruct us and inspire us. What many have discovered is that when we begin to practice generosity in our lives by giving of our time, talents and resources, we actually feel better about ourselves and discover that – as the old cliché says – “we can’t outgive God! Here is an interesting and inspiring passage from the book:

“The practice of Extravagant Generosity changes churches. Churches that nurture proportional giving and tithing among their members thrive. They accomplish great things for Christ, offer robust and confident ministry, and have the resources to carry out ever new and helpful missions. They escape the debilitating effects of conflict and anxiety that are the fruit of a scarcity mentality. They prosper for the purposes of Christ and make a difference in the lives of people.

Every sanctuary and chapel in which we have worshipped, every church organ that has lifted our spirits, every pew where we have sat, every communion rail where we have knelt, every hymnal from which we have sung, every praise band that has touched our hearts, every church classroom where we have gathered with friends, every church kitchen that has prepared our meals, every church van that has taken us to camp, every church camp cabin where we have slept – all are the fruit of someone’s Extravagant Generosity. We have been the recipient of grace upon grace. We are the heirs, the beneficiaries of those who came before us who were touched by the generosity of Christ enough to give graciously so that we could experience the truth of Christ for ourselves. We owe the same to generations to come, We have worshipped in sanctuaries that we did not build, and so to us falls the privilege of building sanctuaries where we shall never worship.

Generosity is a fruit of the spirit, a worthy spiritual aspiration. Generosity is the opposite of selfishness, self-centerdness and self-absorption. To practice Extravagant Generosity requires, self-control, patience, kindness, faith and love of God and neighbor. These build us up: equip us for life and for ministry; and foster perspectives and attitudes that are sustaining, enriching and meaningful. Giving changes both the giver and the church” (116)

John Wesley taught that we shaould earn all we can, save all we can, and give all we can. This is timeless and practical advice for us. Unforunately, as Schnase points out, we live in a different day in time: we are tempted by the consumeristic values of our culture. As Dave Ramsay says, "we buy things we don't even need with money we don't even have to impress people we don't even know."

I am curious as to how the discipline of generosity has benefited others especially during these challengin economic times.

What is Missional?

2010-09-20T20:37:00.009-05:00

This Thursday I have the privilege of teaching a breakout session at the Catapult Conference in Mobile, Alabama. Catapult, is a Missional Church Conference sponsored by some of my friends in the Mobile District of the United Methodist Church. The Conference is featuring some of the Missional Church’s leading thinkers, practitioners and authors including Alan Hirsch (The Forgotten Ways; The Shaping of Things to Come; and Rejesus); Reggie McNeal (The Present Future and Missional Renaissance); and Michael Slaughter (Unlearning Church and Change the World).

The Conference is an attempt by the Mobile District and the Alabama West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church to encourage, equip and inspire the leadership of this Conference, along with all others who will be attending, to begin to think like missionaries in our ever changing culture.

Many people have asked me what it means to be missional. The idea is different from being a missionary in the traditional sense of the word. For many of us, missionaries are those people who God specifically calls and equips to go where nobody else wants to go and spread the gospel. Being missional is something that every Christ follower is called to; it is essentially and fundamentally the call to be “the sent ones.” Being missional is being sent. It has to do with recognizing that 85% of those living in and around our churches do not, and will not “go” to church. It has to do with the call to "be Christ" to those in our circle of influence.

Author and missiologist Lesslie Newbigin has strongly influenced the movement. Here is a summary of Newbigin’s book The Gospel in a Pluralist Society from the Missional Church Network blog that may help us better understand the heart of the Missional Church movement.

Newbigin distinguished between missions and mission. The church both “does mission” and “is a mission.” Missions are specific activities undertaken by a human decision to bring the gospel to places or situations where it is not heard. These efforts have quantifiable results. But while missions activities are a part of healthy churches, they do not adequately describe the fullness of God’s work in the world.

The concept of missio Dei, however, captures Newbigin’s wider intention. The mission of the church is less a “missionary mandate” than a participation in the ongoing work of redemption. The missio Dei is God’s mission – the grand story of creation, fall, and redemption. And it is a “story,” not a list of propositions. Propositions are helpful in particular times and places, but are enculturated by language and ethos. The story, however, rooted in time and place, transcends both. When we attempt to export a set of propositions from one time and place to another, we are usually operating in a colonial mode.

The Church is less the agent of God’s mission than the locus of that mission. The missio Dei is the ongoing work of God in the world in which we are all invited to participate. More than a project out there, it is a posture wherever we live.

The church therefore becomes the place where the story is lived and mission is practiced in the real world. Newbigin identifies six characteristics of a missional community:

1. It practices corporate praise, thanksgiving, gratitude, and grace;
2. It declares truth that challenges the reigning plausibility structure
3. It establishes relationships within a local neighbourhood
4. It encourages mutual service in the priesthood of all believers
5. It expects mutual responsibility rather than individualism
6. It nurtures hope and a re-imagined vision of the future

I will try and blog from the Conference if I can.

"Cool" Christianity?

2010-08-23T20:58:00.006-05:00

Brett McCracken opens the introduction of his new book Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide with a quote from CS Lewis:

“I have some definitive views about the de-Christianizing of the church. I believe that there are many accommodating preachers, and too many practitioners in the church who are not believers. Jesus Christ did not say ‘Go into all the world and tell the world that it is quite right.’ The Gospel is something completely different. In fact, it is directly opposed to the world.”

With that, McCracken launches into an insightful, engaging, oftentimes convicting exploration of the origins of “hip,” the creation of the “hipster,” the co-opting of “hipness” by Christians, and the difficult question of whether Christianity can or should be “hip.”

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and have been wresting with much of what Brett presents here over the past several days. I keep coming back to the disturbing question of whether or not I have fallen victim to the allure of “coolness.” Just the fact that I am spending time wondering about my own coolness, however, leaves no doubt about the answer.

I cannot claim to be a Christian hipster based upon the criteria that Brett lays out in the book though. I am too old for starters, and I refuse to wear skinny jeans or a scarf. I do have the thick-rimmed black glasses, and I do wear a certain amount of product in my hair. I do enjoy listening to Radiohead, Coldplay and Bob Dylan; and I have read every book on Brett’s Emerging Church and Missional bookshelf. So, I think I might qualify as a quasi-hipster, or as my teenage son (which immediately disqualifies me from true hipster status) might call me, an “old dude who’s pretty cool.”

The best section of the book for me is Part Three. Here Brett gets to the heart of the problem: Christianity and cool are not good bedfellows. I confess that I agree with him. And that’s a hard confession to make because I have – intentionally or not, I’m still not quite sure – spent a lot of time and energy building a really cool church service and a really cool image.

Fortunately, all is not lost. Brett does not leave us quasi-hipster pastors hanging out to dry wallowing in our guilt and shame; he reminds us that cool can be authentic: not by co-opting the latest fads or kowtowing to the culture, but by simply embracing some timeless, relevant practices like sincerely celebrating art, culture and the “good things;” keeping Christ at the center of all we do; resisting the pressures of materialism and image; refusing to mirror the world; and saying no to sin. I think that I am doing some of these things, and that makes me feel a little better.

Maybe it’s alright if I keep my black glasses and my goatee, continue to enjoy Starbucks and occasionally show a clip from a movie like Crash during my sermon for emphasis.

As long as I continue to remember that the Gospel is something different than the world, I think I’ll be ok.

I’m hoping to remain an “old guy who’s pretty cool;” but not because I’m trying to.

Thanks Brett for this exceptional book; one of the most important books that I have read this year.

Do You Want To Get Well?

2010-08-17T14:38:00.002-05:00

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie - the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. (John 5.1-9)

Am I the only one, or does this story just seem strange? What is going on here? Where did this pool come from, and why is Jesus there? These are important questions.

Let’s try to unpack some of this. First, the name of the pool and the location are important if we are to grasp what is happening here. The name of the pool is Bethesda, an Aramaic compound word: beth meaning either mercy or grace and hesda meaning house. Thus Bethesda is the House of Grace and Mercy. Likewise, John tells us that this pool is located near the Sheep Gate. The Sheep Gate is mentioned only one other time in Scripture. In Nehemiah 3, we are told that the first Gate to be rebuilt once the Israelites returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon was to be the Sheep Gate (Neh. 3.1). It was essential to rebuild this Gate first so that the sacrificial system – established by Moses over 1,000 years earlier - could resume. The Sheep Gate was needed as this is the Gate that the sheep would be brought through as they were led into the temple courts for sacrifice. In the New Testament, Jesus is constantly referred to metaphorically as a Lamb or Sheep. In fact, in John 10, Jesus even goes so far as to refer to Himself as the gate (vv 1-10).

The men and women lying under the porches surrounding this pool are waiting for the waters to be stirred (supposedly by the wings of an angel). If they are the first to touch the water, they will be healed.

This practice is clearly part of a Greco Roman tradition that has been passed down through the ages. In the first Century BC, it is said that caves surrounding the pool were turned into baths as part of an asclepieion by the Roman garrison of the Antonius Fortress (the home of the Roman governor presiding over Jerusalem and located very near the Temple). Asclepieion’s were healing temples sacred to the Greek god Asclepius (the god of healing whose symbol – the snake entwined staff – remains the symbol of medicine to this day).

With all of this in mind, we come to the episode before us. Jesus is walking among the invalids lying under the porticos awaiting a stirring of the waters. Why is he there? Because Jesus is always where the hurting people are! A simple glance over the Gospels will reveal the incredible value that Jesus places upon the “poor, the meek, the lame, the lost, the outcasts and the sinners.” It only seems right that this is a place that Jesus would be.

He stops by a man who the text tells us has been invalid and trying to get into this pool for 38 years! I don’t think the exact number of years is necessarily significant, but the point seems to be that some people allow themselves to live with their brokenness for long periods of time. Jesus has compassion upon this man and asks him a question that he asks all of us today: “Do you want to get well?” This is a troubling question for some of us, and perhaps it was for this man as well. Truly being healed means that we have to do some things that maybe we have grown accustomed to not doing; it means not allowing others to wait on us anymore; it means taking some responsibility for our own wholeness and well-being.

Notice that the man does not answer the question, he responds with a justification for why he can’t be healed: “Sir, I have no one to help me …” Jesus proves him wrong in an instant: “Get up. Pick up your may and walk.” Jesus says, in essence, I am with you, and I am all you need (see Matthew 28.20).

The only thing left for the man to do is to be obedient. And he is. He gets up and walks.

This man is you. And this man is me. Throughout our lives we will find ourselves in situations where we’re paralyzed: spiritually, emotionally, relationally, financially, and otherwise. Perhaps you’re there right now. You don’t know where to turn and you don’t know what to do. Perhaps, you’ve been dealing with an issue in your life for several years, and you’re just not sure that God even cares. This passage reminds us that God has not left us, in fact, He is right there with us smack dab in the middle of our pain and helplessness. Perhaps, like this man, we’ve been looking for healing in the wrong places. Perhaps we need to take a look once again at the One who walked through the Sheep Gate for us – our ultimate Sacrifice – Jesus Christ, and respond in the affirmative to His probing question:

Do you want to get well?

If you do, you will.

Get up and walk today!

How A Movie Made Me Appreciate My Bible Again

2010-08-13T22:00:00.003-05:00

With all the debate over the relevance of the Holy Bible that has been going on inside and outside the Church over the past several years, I am thrilled to see a piece of art come along and remind us all that the Bible is a uniquely powerful and transformative book. I am referring here to the movie The Book of Eli. Thanks to the wonder that is Netflix, I was finally able to watch this movie this evening, and I was completely blown away. Fortunately, I had not been tipped off about the twist (which I will not mention in this post by the way, so please keep reading if you haven’t seen the movie). I was able to maneuver through the violence and profanity (which give the movie its R rating) and enjoy the powerful and timely message of the film.

Denzel Washington plays Eli, a traveler in post-apocalyptic America on a journey to return the only existing Bible to its rightful home. Like the patriarch Abraham, Eli is heading out to a land that he does not know in order to complete a task that he does not quite understand. Along the way he encounters a mob of survivors who are led by the sinister Carnegie, played brilliantly by Gary Oldman. Carnegie’s sole desire is to procure the remaining Bible so that he can rule with power and divine authority. Once it is discovered that Eli is in possession of the Book, Carnegie does all in his power to get the Book from him. A young lady names Solara played by Mila Kunis becomes Eli’s unwanted and yet essential partner on the journey.

The Book is at the center of all that takes place in this movie. My initial reaction after the movie was over was one of deep regret that I have allowed the Bible to become so much less than what it really is. Eli makes an interesting comment to Solara about halfway through the film when she asks him about how things were before the war. He tells her that people took things for granted and they had more than they needed. I think that it is this sense of entitlement and selfishness that leads us to reduce many of the blessings that we receive in this life into nothing more than what is to be expected. The Bible wars that have been taking place over the past several years are an embarrassment. We spend so much time arguing over whether or not the Bible is inerrant and/or infallible and whether or not there is any Truth in the pages of the ancient Scripture. Perhaps reminding ourselves of the value of the Book itself; the privilege that we have to be able to actually have a Bible to read when we want to, is what we should be focusing on.

If I learned anything from The Book of Eli it is that the Book that I own (several in fact) called The Bible, is a powerful and transformational Book that I should never take for granted. I should read it daily, memorize it, and do all that I can to protect the sacredness of it.

If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it. If you can handle the violence and the profanity, you will be in for quite a revelation. Christians, in particular, should see this movie.

I cannot help but wonder how many skeptics and non-Christians may have been impacted by this film in positive ways. Sometimes, God uses something like an R rated movie to make a very big statement. I believe that He has done just that with The Book of Eli.

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. – Joshua 1.8

What's In Your Alabaster Box?

2010-08-12T11:46:00.004-05:00

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner." … "Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." - Luke 7.36-39, 47

I want to begin by asking you to consider two important questions as we prepare to take a closer look at this passage: “Am I a grateful person?” and “What do I have to offer?”

Question number one: Am I a grateful person?

A mother and young son stopped by a fruit stand. The owner noticed the boy eyeing the bright oranges and offered him one. The boy took the orange and began to walk away. His mother stopped him and said, ‘Billy, what do you say?” Billy thought for a moment and then handed the orange back to the man and said, “Peel it.”

We are spoiled people. Entitlement and expectation trump gratitude and thankfulness any day. The woman in this passage had no expectations when she crashed Simon’s party. All she wanted to do was show Jesus her gratitude. In contrast, Simon stood at a distance and judged her. If it weren’t for the fact that he was probably trying to trip Jesus up, I’m sure he would have had her thrown out of his house forcefully.

I have to check my motives every day to make sure that I am living my life like “the woman who had lived a sinful life” and not like Simon the Pharisee. I intentionally remind myself that I am a sinner saved by grace; not in an attempt to justify the sin in my life, but to experience afresh the love and grace of my Savior and move forward in love instead of pride and judgment. Max Lucado talks about the 747 Principle (from the 47th verse of Chapter 7 of Luke) “…he who has been forgiven little, loves little.” The more we remind ourselves of God’s Amazing Grace and Love for us, and remember that we fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3.23) the better off we’ll be; and, I think, the more grateful we’ll be.

Question number two: “What do I have to offer?”

This woman was probably a prostitute. Her livelihood depended upon her attractiveness. She carried an alabaster box or vial of perfume around with her to attract the men. This perfume was probably not cheap. She offered this perfume to Christ. She offered him her tears (perhaps tears of regret and shame, perhaps tears of joy and gratitude). She offered him her hair, part of her beauty. She offered him her heart. This woman offered Christ all that she had. She could not have been sure when she entered that home, that this man wouldn’t treat her as all other men did. She ran the risk of being used, abused and scorned by this man in the same way that she surely had been mistreated every day by other men. But she took the chance. And it paid off. Jesus forgave her. Did she change? Did she give up her life of sin? We don’t know. But her example of gratitude and generosity is worth replicating.

Too many people I know think they have nothing to offer to God. We all have something. What’s in your alabaster box? What is unique about you? What can you do with what you’ve got where you are with the time you have?

Have you ever figured out your SHAPE?

Spiritual gifts. What specific spiritual gifts has God given you? Are you a teacher, a helper, a mercy-giver, a prophet, and pastor, an encourager?
Heart. What do you love? If you could only do one thing in life, what would it be?
Abilities. What are you good at? What is the thing that when you do it people take notice?
Personality. What kind of person are you? Are you an introvert, and extrovert, a thinker, a feeler? Your personality doesn’t change. You are unique.
Experiences. What kinds of experiences have you had? Are there certain things that you’ve been doing over and over again since you were young; activities or causes that you are continually drawn to?

Put them all together and you have your unique SHAPE (this concept was developed by Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Life). Once you’ve figured out who you are, you can begin figuring out what you have to offer.

Julie Meyer sings a beautiful song called Alabaster Box. Here is a portion of it:

All I am is all I have
And all, all I have to give, and I give it all to You
It’s my fragrant oil, it’s my costly perfume
I’ll take my alabaster box and I, I break it open.
Let the fragrance arise.

May gratitude and generosity rise up within you this day. May you be mindful of the fact that you have been forgiven much, so that you can love much. May you look inside your alabaster box, recognize all that you have to offer, pour it out to God and to others as an offering of worship and love, and let the fragrance arise!

Some Thoughts After the Global Leadership Summit

2010-08-06T23:11:00.004-05:00

Spent the last two days with some other leaders in our church at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit. We went to the simulcast at Gulf Breeze UMC in Gulf Breeze, FL. First, I want to give kudos to the GBUMC staff for doing an excellent job again this year hosting the event. We had a power outage yesterday morning and were told by Gulf Power that it would be 90 minutes or more to restore power. The tech team worked frantically, and managed to restore a feed for us with a generator, a cell phone and some speakers. We only missed about 30 minutes of Bill Hybels’ opening message. They got a DVD of that opening message overnighted to them and they showed it in its entirety during the lunch hour today. That, along with the exceptional hospitality and comfortable environment, made the experience well worth it. Great job guys and gals!!

Now, for a brief recap of some of the highlights.

Day 1

Hybels’ opening talk was super – as usual. His challenge to us to insist on excellence, develop a fantastic team and to remember to refill the vision bucket was inspiring and informative.

Jim Collins reminded us to preserve the core AND to stimulate progress. He also emphasized that humility is the key ingredient in GREAT leadership.

Christine Caine was inspiring. Her heart for the broken was clearly evident in her talk and her personal story of triumph over abuse and sexism was certainly important for women everywhere who may feel a call to ministry, but feel that they are restricted from serving God because of their past or their gender.

Tony Dungy’s interview with Craig Groeschel was a good way to start the afternoon. I have a great deal of respect for Tony as a leader a coach and a man of God. I appreciated his emphasis on mentoring. He talked about his unorthodox coaching style and how many of those in the profession told him he would never get guys to play for him if he led from a place of quiet strength. He persevered and reminded us that “stubbornness is a virtue … when you’re right.”

Adam Hamilton our token Methodist got the task of handling probably the most difficult subject at the Summit. He talked about failure in leadership. I appreciated his emphasis upon grace and his 5 R’s for resisting temptation.

I regret that I did not listen too much of Dr. Xiao talk. I tried to stay with him, but found myself zoning out at about the 15 minute mark. I excused myself and went to the resource room to get a soda and buy Bill Hybels’ book The Power of a Whisper.

Andy Stanley wrapped the day up with a good talk on leveraging tension in an organization for growth. I think that I agree with him in principle, but I think I would need him to unpack his thesis a bit more in order to understand exactly where he was headed. He noted that there are some problems that shouldn’t be solved and some tensions that shouldn’t be resolved. Unfortunately, I cannot see the value in allowing problems and tensions to remain in place in the system. No matter how well we attempt to “manage” the problem (see Daniel Pink’s thoughts on management below for an alternate perspective) their will still be unhappy parties on one or both sides, and, I believe, the problem or tension will slowly eat away at the morale of the team.

Day 2

Note: We did not stay for the second the last three sessions so I have nothing to report on Welch, Jakes or Hybels’ closing remarks.

The morning started off with a powerful dramatic/technological wake-up call reminding us all of our brokenness. This was followed by a powerful video about our search to belong and our need to serve.

Jeff Manion then gave a very inspiring message on “The Land Between.” His message was taken primarily from an episode in Numbers Chapter 11 when Moses and the children of Israel found themselves in the land between Egypt and Canaan. Manion taught us that the land between is fertile ground for:
1. complaint
2. emotional meltdown
3. provision
4. discipline
5. transformational growth
Manion is a passionate speaker and I was deeply moved by his words.

Terri Kelly was then interviewed. She talked about the success of her company W.L. Gore and Associates. The company is structured differently than most, resisting a top-down hierarchical structure and embracing a core-value, team-based approach to leadership. Kelly emphasized the importance that everyone in the company understands that they play a significant part in the success of the organization.

Daniel Pink’s message was very interesting and enlightening, highlighted by the reality that he may be the first person to ever say “frickin’” from the Willow Creek stage. Pink talked about motivation and how top-down, managerial attempts (sticks and carrots he calls it) to motivate workers doesn’t work effectively when it comes to complex, cognitive tasks. His emphasis was upon motivation through autonomy, mastery and purpose. If workers are given freedom to develop their skills and feel that they have something important to offer, they will be motivated to do a good job.

Blake Mycoskie was the last speaker that we heard. He was interviewed by Darren Whitehead and the focus of the interview was on Blake’s for-profit organization, Tom's Shoes. The company was birthed because of a radical idea that Blake had about giving a pair of shoes to children around the world who go without shoes every day and who develop oftentimes fatal diseases because of sores on their feet. This passion drove him to create Tom’s Shoes. The premise is that if someone buys a pair of shoes, Tom’s gives a pair of shoes to someone in the world who doesn’t have shoes. Giving was at the heart of this message and it was truly inspiring.

Overall, I thought the Summit was really good this year. I was pleased with the amount of spiritual focus that the team opted to go with. The 2008 Summit (the last one I attended) was loaded with leaders from the business and political world with a disproportionate amount of time allocated to church leaders. I felt that this year had a better balance. I found myself being both inspired spiritually by Cain, Hamilton and Manion and then challenged with innovative ideas from Collins, Pink and Mycoskie.

Well worth the investment.

A Warning to Every Christian Student as You Prepare for a New School Year

2010-08-04T10:38:00.004-05:00

In 1942, CS Lewis published a book entitled The Screwtape Letters. The book is a series of letters written by a senior demon named Screwtape to his nephew, a junior tempter named Wormwood, instructing him on methods of assuring the damnation of a character known only as “The Patient.”

As our students in Okaloosa County return to their respective Elementary, Middle and High Schools tomorrow, I would like to take the liberty – with all due respect to Mr. Lewis – of posting here a letter of my own creation in the style of The Screwtape Letters. In this letter, I imagine what Screwtape might say to Wormwood about school age children in 2010.

My Dearest Wormwood,

As you are well aware, the children of Man will be returning to their institutions of higher learning soon. These institutions provide fertile soil for planting seeds of doubt and confusion in the minds of these simple and innocent children. If we are able to pull them away from their God at an early age, we will have a much better chance of ensuring a miserable and hopeless future for them as they move towards adulthood and beyond. In fact, the more I think about this, the more I am sure that it is in these early years that we must begin to plant the seeds that will lure them away from the promises of Heaven and drive them further and further towards a living and eternal Hell. Here are two suggestions that I have for you. Implement them immediately and you will soon begin to see success:

Number one: you must ensure that their primary desire is for personal gratification and fulfillment. If you can fan the flames of self-centeredness and pride within their tiny souls, you will have achieved much. Self-centeredness will lead them to do things they never thought possible. I recommend making cigarettes, drugs and alcohol easily accessible .Self-centered students are looking for ways to “feel good” and the allure of these substances is very enticing. I also recommend creating ways for students to be alone together as much as possible. Alone time leads many young people to become increasingly aware of their raging hormones and to act out sexual impulses in ways that will fill them with guilt and shame, but at the same time, drive them to want more. Find ways for students to cheat as much as possible. Cheating on papers and exams is easy and oftentimes goes unnoticed. This will lead them to cheat more often and to ensure that they leave school knowing very little. They will also be unprepared to face a challenging world where knowledge and intellect would benefit them. If you succeed in these areas you will have achieved much.

Number two: I encourage you to find as many ways as possible to challenge their faith. Many of these young people have been raised in the churches and have a faith in Jesus that will be difficult to shake; but, I know you can do it. We have made great strides in instilling secular, humanistic values into the education machine. They will be taught by teachers that have been tempted by your elders for years and who have successfully moved far enough away from Christianity to be valuable resources for you. Use them in every way that you can; they will do the work for you, challenging the children’s simple faith and pushing them to question everything they’ve been taught. Above all ensure that their concept of Truth is challenged at all times. Force them to consider whether what they have been taught about Truth from a Christian perspective is accurate and logical. Fill them with doubt. Demand that they question everything. Peer pressure is a good weapon to use here. Put other students around them who will cause them to doubt what they believe. Do all that you can to ensure that their faith is looked down upon, that they are ridiculed for their intolerance, made fun of, and called names. This will go a long for you. Do not forget that the more names you get on your sheet, the quicker you will move from junior tempter to associate demon.

Wormwood, my faithful protégé, you have been given a prize assignment. The schools will be filled with thousands of lonely and insecure children and teenagers tomorrow. I want you to wake early and prepare a direct assault the instant they begin to prepare for their day. Tempt them early and often. Some will be difficult to bring around, and some you may never succeed with, but many you will. The ones you are successful with will look back one day and wonder with great sadness how they ended up where they are. They will one day become miserable, angry, hate-filled, lustful, jealous, self-centered adults. And this is precisely what we want. We chose a life of hell my dear nephew, and we suffer for eternity because of it. Now all we can do is see that we get as many as we can to join us!

Work hard. We are counting on you to fulfill your mission.

Screwtape

Trust and Obey?

2010-08-02T15:47:00.005-05:00

"The essential thing in heaven and on earth is that there should be a long obedience in the same direction. There thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Suppose you’re a young man engaged to your high school sweetheart. The two of you wear your purity rings proudly, and have never even been tempted to become too intimate with each other. You have vowed to save yourselves until marriage. This is certainly not easy, but you both want to do the right thing. You are both Christians and highly regarded in your local church and youth group. Suddenly one day she comes to you and informs you that she is pregnant. She swears she’s not been with another man.

What do you do?

Interestingly, the Bible offers us some advice.

In Matthew 1.18-25 we read of a young man named Joseph who finds himself in just such a predicament.

So, what does he do?

Matthew tells us that he tried to divorce her quietly. Once a couple was “betrothed”, they were all but officially married. A divorce (or a “putting away”) was the only logical course of action.. Infidelity had obviously occurred, and Joseph was not only responsible, but required by Roman law to “divorce” her in the case of adultery. On the other hand, it could have been assumed that Joseph had impregnated her, implying that the couple had engaged in premarital sex, and this would have been particularly shameful. Abstinence prior to marriage was expected (some scholars believe that betrothed couples were never allowed to be alone together prior to the wedding day). Thus, Joseph faced both betrayal and shame, and would have been quite justified in divorcing her.

According to the text, though, after Joseph considered this, “an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream” and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. The angel goes on to explain that she has been impregnated by the Holy Spirit and that the child she is carrying is the long awaited Messiah of Israel.

That’s some dream.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I have never had an angel appear to me in a dream. I wish I could say that I have; but I haven’t. And based upon the lack of personal testimony, Facebook status updates, tweets and blog posts to such occurrences, I’m guessing that angels aren’t appearing to too many other folks in dreams either.

I wonder if God still speaks to people in their dreams. I don’t remember my dreams that often, but when I do, they are so weird that I can’t imagine God being involved in them at all, much less trying to speak to me through them.

In any event, this is how God spoke to Joseph according to Matthew.

Matthew takes two verses to remind us that this whole thing is a fulfillment of ancient prophecy, and then these words,

“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife” (v. 24)

No questions asked. No wondering. No attempts to dismiss the dream like Ebenezer Scrooge by blaming it on an undigested piece of beef.

Just obedience.

Apparently, Joseph had no doubt that the message he had received in his dream was directly from God. There does not seem to be any sense that he spent any time mulling this over, praying about it, or talking to trusted friends in an attempt to get their advice on what to do: he just did what the angel of the Lord commanded him to do.

Questions to ponder:

1. How does God speak to you when it comes to important decisions?

2. What makes you certain that what you are hearing is truly from God?

3. Are you willing to obey that voice no matter what the cost?

I’m interested to hear from you.

How Big Is Your God?

2010-07-30T21:57:00.001-05:00

When I was a kid I used to love Professional Wrestling. From the moment my Uncle Nelson bought me my first Wrestler magazine, and I attended my first live event at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, I was hooked. When we moved to Fort Pierce, Florida in 1979, I began attending Wrestling events at the St. Lucie County Civic Center with my dad and friends. Me and my cousin Aaron always tried to meet the wrestlers and get their autographs, or at least a handshake. I’ll never forget the first time I saw Andre the Giant in person; what an enormous man! I think that I might have thought at the time that Andre the Giant was a god.

Today I believe that although Andre the Giant was certainly a big person, he was no god. In fact, the God that I serve is far bigger than any person, or any thing that we can imagine.

I am afraid that we mere mortals fall into the trap of reducing God to something manageable. Singer Ayiesha Woods sings,

“I don’t wanna box you in,
You’ve been doing big things since the world began.
Sometimes I just don’t understand
That You’re big enough, that You’re big enough.”

God becomes too small and our problems, our struggles, our failures, our mistakes, our dysfunctions, and our habits become too big.

This has been a problem throughout the history of God’s people, so don’t feel too bad.

In Numbers 13 and 14 we read the story of the twelve spies. The Hebrew children are wandering in the desert after being miraculously released from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. They are preparing to enter into The Promised Land, and God tells Moses to send in 12 spies on a reconnaissance mission. When they return, 10 of them are terrified and bring a report of giants in the land. Caleb and Joshua are the only ones who see past the problems and focus on the solution. God has promised to lead His people into this land. And yet, this promise is forgotten in the face of “giant” roadblocks.

Are there some roadblocks in your life that seem overwhelming right now? Are there some giants that you can’t seem to get past? Listen to these words from the 91st Psalm:

You who sit down in the High God's presence, spend the night in Shaddai's shadow,
Say this: "God, you're my refuge.
I trust in you and I'm safe!"
That's right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
shields you from deadly hazards.
His huge outstretched arms protect you—
under them you're perfectly safe;
his arms fend off all harm. (The Message)

God is very, very, very big!

When my kids were little we used to watch Veggie Tales a lot. There is some good stuff in Veggie Tales!

I remember one episode when Jr. Asparagus was scared and he sang these deeply theological words:

“God is bigger than the boogieman,
He’s bigger than Godzilla or the monsters on TV.
Oh, God is bigger than the boogieman,
And He’s watching out for you and me.”

I am praying for a Caleb spirit to be poured out on this generation; a spirit that empowers us not to see the problems, but to see the solutions. God has promised us safe passage into our personal “promised land.”

Will you go boldly forth to claim what is yours? Or will you allow the giants to stop you?

The words of one of my favorite new worship songs sums up what I am trying to say her:

Water You turned into wine
Open the eyes of the blind
There’s no one like You
None like You
Into the darkness You shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There’s no one like You
None like You

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God…

And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
What can stand against?
(Our God, Chris Tomlin)

Be blessed

Bless You!

2010-07-28T15:39:00.002-05:00

Have you ever wondered why we “bless” people when they sneeze?

I think it’s Dane Cook who say’s, “I say GOD bless you, because I’m not the Lord.”

Whatever we say, the idea of blessing is involved.

What exactly is a blessing?

According to Wikipedia.com the virtual storehouse of all knowledge and truth (note tone of sarcasm here) there are several legends that have passed the test of time which attempt to explain the reason that “blessings “ are evoked when a person sneezes.

One legend holds that it was believed that the heart stops beating and the phrase "bless you" is meant to ensure the return of life or to encourage your heart to continue beating.

Another version says that the custom originally began when Gregory I became Pope in 590 as an outbreak of the bubonic plague was reaching Rome. In hopes of fighting off the disease, he ordered unending prayer and parades of chanters through the streets. At the time, sneezing was thought to be an early symptom of the plague. The blessing ("God bless you!") became a common effort to halt the disease.

One explanation holds that people used to believe that your soul can be thrown from your body when you sneeze, that sneezing otherwise opened your body to invasion by the Devil or evil spirits, or that sneezing was your body's effort to force out an invading evil spirit. Thus, "bless you" or "God bless you" is used as a sort of shield against evil.

Interesting.

I am particularly intrigued by the idea of the soul being thrown from the body during a sneeze.

No matter. The gist of the term “blessing” seems to have something to do with words of protection, guidance, oversight, and strength.

In fact, dictionary.com defines “bless” thusly:
1. To consecrate or sanctify by a religious rite; make or pronounce holy.
2. To request of god the bestowal of divine favor.

The Hebrew word used most often in the Old Testament (over 800 times) which we translate into English as “bless” or “blessing” is barak.

There is a direction that I could go here at this point, but I will refuse as it would be both unimportant to what I am trying to say, as well as most certainly inappropriate. So I will resist.

Suffice it to say that the word is barak. This word literally means: spiritual gifts or protection transmitted from God.

Once the word makes its way into Greek, it becomes the word eulogeo which has several meanings:
1. A good word or to speak well of (eu: good/well and logos: word)
2. To praise, celebrate with praises
3. To consecrate a thing with solemn prayers
4. To cause to prosper, to make happy

In the end, the idea of “blessing” has something at least to do with the well-being of another.

Perhaps we should strive to “bless” others more often.

What would happen if everyone we saw today received a sincere “God bless you” from us for no good reason?

I’m not the Lord, but I bet He’d think that was pretty cool.

God bless you!

Temptation Part 1

2010-07-19T16:29:00.002-05:00

Talking about sin these days is not so easy. Sin is not a popular word, nor is it simple to define. Certainly there is an element of what we would like to call “morality” associated with the term. Sin represents those things that are somehow “immoral” or “wrong,” right? Not that simple. In an age of moral relativism where statements like “what’s right for me may not be right for you, but fear not, I will not be judging you” are all too common, how do we address the biblical concept of sin? Are we to even address it at all? Perhaps we need to remove the word from the Bible, or at least from our sermons.

Dictionary.com defines sin as: “any act regarded as such a transgression, esp. a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle.” Some religious or moral principle. Assuming that principles will be applied in ones life, this might be helpful. Unfortunately, some of the smartest people on the planet have been telling us for years now that we are living in a postmodern world where foundationalism (a philosophical construct established during the Enlightenment suggesting that all forms of knowing have verifiable “foundations”) has crumbled. There are no foundations; knowledge is devised in a loosely constructed “web or network” which essentially relativises the “knowable.” Based upon this postfoundational premise, morality (a means of “knowing” right and wrong) also becomes relativised, and sin becomes undefinable. If a well-meaning Christian happens to attempt to define it, she will immediately be labeled as “judgmental” and people will stop following her on Twitter.

This leads to another thought however: if there is no right and wrong, can a person truly be tempted? After all, to tempt is to “entice or allure to do something often regarded as unwise, wrong, or immoral.” If it’s not wrong, I can’t really be tempted can I?

But then I go back to this model of prayer that Jesus taught us.

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Obviously I can be tempted.

Maybe morality isn’t as relative as we’d like to make it out to be. Maybe there are standards of right and wrong. Maybe Jesus is actually wanting us to protect ourselves from the “death” that sin causes in our lives, and not (as so many suppose) trying to take away all our fun.

If I am on to something here, then Jesus wasn’t kidding when he told us to pray “lead us not into temptation.” He was serious. Maybe there are choices that we can make, actions that we can take, places we can go, activities that we can participate in that are actually “bad” for us; things that are actually “wrong.” And maybe God wants us to know that there are actually these “wrong” things in life not because He is some kind of cosmic killjoy, but because He loves us and wants to protect us from what will ultimately harm us or those we love.

If I am still on to something here, the next logical question becomes, “What are the standards, and how do I uphold them?”

I’ll think on this some and address it tomorrow.

Peace

Forgiveness Part II

2010-07-14T22:06:00.004-05:00

Forgiveness is such a difficult thing for so many people because – I think – there is such confusion about what forgiveness isn’t. Yesterday I attempted to define what it is. I pointed out that the Greek word that Jesus uses in Matthew Chapter 6 when he talks of “forgiving” our trespasses as we “forgive” those who trespass against us is the word aphiaymi which can be translated as “to send away.” Forgiveness then has something to do with releasing, or as Timothy Keller says, “absorbing” the hatred, bitterness, resentment, guilt, shame etc. associated with unforgiveness. It means refusing to “repay evil with evil” (Romans 12.17).

But what holds most people back from seriously engaging in the process of sending away or absorbing the pain is the sense that somehow the culprit is getting let off the hook; that we are essentially saying, “I know that what you did to me was horrible, but you are forgiven and therefore free to hurt me again if you so choose.”

That’s NOT what forgiveness is.

Rob Bell and Steven Furtick have both helped me better understand what forgiveness isn’t.

• Forgiveness is NOT condoning. In other words, we are not saying that what was done to us is not a big deal. We are acknowledging the hurt, betrayal, abuse etc. but saying that we are no longer going to hold on to the junk that comes along with unforgiveness.
• Forgivenss is NOT forgetting. As Rob Bell so appropriately says, “You can forgive someone and still get a restraining order.” Although God is able to forget our trespasses against Him, we are not capable of erasing our memories (the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was pretty cool though, I must say).
• Forgiveness is NOT always reconciling, Sometimes it is; but not always. Sometimes we just need to do the hard thing and get out of certain relationships and situations; they’re toxic and they’re killing us!
• Forgiveness is often NOT something that can be done in your own power. Moses was not able on his own to part the Red Sea. Elijah was not able, on his own, to make the rain stop and start again. There are some things in life that require divine intervention and sometimes (depending on the offense) we will need the help of the One who is by very definition Forgiveness, to give us the ability to forgive.
• Forgiveness is NOT something that is done with the expectation that the other person will change, apologize or even understand. We forgive so that we can change, not necessarily so the one who has hurt us will change. Remember the words of Lewis Smedes, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”
• Forgiveness is NOT releasing someone from justice/consequences. I Peter 2.23 says, “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” Remember: "Go in the house and let your Father take care of it." God is God of justice and righteousness; no one will get away with hurting another person without paying the price for it.

After looking over this comprehensive list of what forgiveness isn’t, I hope you will feel more inspired to move towards “sending away” some of the stuff you’ve been holding on to. In the end, you will be the one to reap the benefits. As Timothy Keller reminded us, forgiveness is in many ways an act of suffering and death, but with every death for the follower of the Risen Christ comes a resurrection.

May you experience the freedom of forgiving those who have hurt you today, so that you may be able to experience the fullness of life that Christ has in store for you from this day forward.

Forgiveness Part I

2010-07-13T19:09:00.005-05:00

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

- Romans 12.17-21

Today I want to talk about what it means to forgive. According to the passage that I have quoted above, at least some part of forgiveness has to do with refusing to take revenge.

But that’s not very fun at all is it? After all, revenge is popular. People pay good money to watch Denzel Washington and Mel Gibson methodically torture and murder those who have “done them wrong.” We live vicariously through these films, believing that were we in their shoes, we would surely do the same. We cheer for them as they “pick off” another bad guy.

But, revenge is not an option. No matter how cool it might be to sit around and fantasize about all the ways you could disembowel that no good, cheating, loser ex-husband of yours, as a follower of Christ, you have to resist the urge. St. Paul commands us here: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil.” That word anyone literally means …

Anyone.

Immediately you began to think about rapists and child abusers and serial killers didn’t you?

I read this week in The Christian Century about a woman named Patricia Dahlgren whose mother was brutally killed 12 years ago. She faced the killer recently in the prison where he is locked up for life. The State of Oregon Department of Corrections has recently launched a “facilitated dialogue program” in an effort to bring killers and their victims’ loved ones face to face for what they hope to be therapeutic conversations. For 9 hours, Dahlgren spoke with her mothers’ killer (identified only as Mr. H). Mr. H. expressed genuine remorse, guilt, and a deep desire for forgiveness. By the end of their time together, Dahlgren stunned everyone by forgiving her mothers’ killer. When asked later how she felt after she left, Dahlgren responded simply by saying, “I got my life back today.” Why would she say that? Because forgiveness is all about freedom and liberty. When we forgive, we are always setting someone free: ourselves.

You say, but aren’t we just essentially letting them off the hook? Aren’t we just being a doormat? Aren’t we excusing and even in some ways encouraging their behavior? What about justice?

Justice belongs to God.

“It is mine to avenge. I will repay” says the Lord.

I love the story that Steven Furtick tells in the sermon he preached this past week at Elevation on forgiveness.

He talks about being a small boy who had a couple of older and larger friends when he was growing up. One year at Halloween, his “friends” stole all of Steven’s Halloween candy from his room and took off down the street. Steven says that he chased after them but he wasn’t fast enough to catch them. He says that his father saw what was happening and asked Steven what was going on. After being informed of the theft, Steven’s father told him, “Go in the house and I’ll take care of this.” Steven says he does not know what happened, but all he knows is that he got his candy back.

Sometimes we need to just go in the house and let our Father take care of it.

God is righteous and He is just. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6.7).

The Greek word aphiaymi which we translate as forgive literally means “to send away.” It means that we refuse to hold onto that thing that has been handed to us from the one (or the ones) that have hurt us. It also means that we refuse to give it back to them; we resist playing the revenge game. How then, do we send it away? Rob Bell suggests that all of the hatred, bitterness, anger, resentment, hurt, and shame that we accumulate by holding on to our unforgiveness can be “absorbed.” The imagery is that of Christ and the cross. Bell quotes Timothy Keller from The Reason for God saying

"Forgiveness means refusing to make them pay for what they did. However, to refrain from lashing out at someone when you want to do so with all your being is agony. It’s a form of suffering. You are absorbing the debt, taking the cost of it completely on yourself instead of taking it out on the other person. It hurts terribly. Many people would say it feels like a kind of death. Yes, but it is a death that leads to resurrection instead of the life-long living death of bitterness and cynicism. You are not giving it any fuel so the resentment burns lower and lower."

Parker Palmer writes, “The cross says, ‘the pain stops here.’ The way of the cross is a way of absorbing the pain, not passing it on, a way that transforms pain from destructive force to creative power. When Jesus accepted the cross, his death opened up a channel for the redeeming power of love.”

Perhaps this is what Patricia Dahlgren meant when she said, “I got my life back today.”

Tomorrow we’ll take a look at what forgiveness is not.

Peace

2010-07-09T09:21:00.004-05:00

Here's a link ro a great interview by Brett McCrakcen over at The Search with Rachel Held Evans, author of Evolving in Monkey Town. I thought this was an excellent interview and love many of Rachel's thoughts. I am looking forward to reading the book.

Enjoy.

Today

2010-07-08T17:35:00.002-05:00

“Give us today our daily bread …” – Jesus (Matthew 6:11)

Today. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Today. When we pray, we are to ask for only what we need for today, and even then, we need to ask for it only if it lines up with His perfect will for our lives as we live it under the rule and reign of His already/not-yet kingdom.

Man. That sounds an awful lot different than the way I normally pray. You know, a quick run down of my grocery list of needs and wants – many of which have to do with anxieties or fears that I have about things that have not even happened yet. Example:

“Umm. God. You know that I have this big sermon coming up this Sunday, and I really need your help to preach a good one. So if you could help me out with that, I would really appreciate it. Also, my daughter is going out with a bunch of friends Friday night, and I just want to ask if you could watch over them, and help them not to make any stupid decisions. Oh, and then my mom’s having surgery next week, so please just be with her and dad …”

Sound familiar?

23 verses after Jesus gives us the model for asking for what we need today, he says “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).

The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 118:24 that “(t)his is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” This day. Today. We are to rejoice and be glad in this day.

If I am honest, I am not that interested in this day. I am much more interested in yesterday and tomorrow.

I am a Beatles or Loverboy kind of guy.

One of the Beatles greatest hits was a song called Yesterday. Paul McCartney sings: “Yesterday. All my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as thought they’re here to stay. Oh I believe in yesterday.” These lyrics remind me of Uncle Rico. You remember Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite don’t you? All he wanted to do was to get back to his glory days as a high school football player. He is so desperate to try and reclaim the past that he buys a time machine off of Ebay which does nothing more than probably ruin his chances of ever producing offspring (which might not be a bad thing).

“Yesterday” people are always thinking about how good things “used to be.”

Loverboy, on the other hand, was an 80’s rock band most famous for their anthem “Working for the Weekend.” Never mind what happens Monday-Friday; all I want to do is make it to the weekend.

“Tomorrow” people are always thinking about how good things are going to be “some day;”

Over and against these two options lies the key to joy and contentment in life: living for today: as Hillsong United sings, “Today. Today. It’s all or nothing.”

I think so many of us lack joy in our lives because we’re stuck in yesterday or tomorrow.

Thomas Carlyle once said that “the tragedy of life is not how much we suffer, but how much we miss.” I don’t want to miss out on any more than I already have. I want to live fully for today, forgetting the past, and letting tomorrow take care of itself.

I end this post with something that my friend Jim Palmer wrote yesterday morning on his Facebook page that I think sums up what I am trying to say:

“Stop right now and remember that you are not going to be here forever. You can never get this life back. Once the next moment passes, it is gone and lost forever. Leave no love left undone. Lean into your fear. Face it. Let go of your resentments. Stop trying to control everything. You can't. Put your worries to rest and let nothing stand between you and life right now. Don't squander away too many of those present moments and think of each one as a gift...an opportunity...an invitation. Feel it all, even the sadness...and just keep living. Have a little faith. Accept the ripples on the surface, but know that deep below and beneath everything that all shall be well, all shall be well, and all matter of things shall be well.”

Now go and enjoy the rest of this day.

Seize The Day

2010-07-07T08:30:00.005-05:00

I remember when Dead Poets Society came out and I went to see it at the movie theater with my girlfriend. It was one of those rare movies that really inspired me and had me thinking long after leaving the theater. Robin Williams played Mr. Keating, a controversial English teacher that challenged his students to think for themselves, and to live each day to the fullest. Little did I know at the time that 8 years later I would be Mr. Keating. I went on to become an English teacher and worked for 6 years in the public school system, challenging students to think for themselves and seize the day.

I return to The Dead Ports Society often for inspiration and to remind myself of some of the valuable lessons taught by Mr. Keating.

“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a-flyin’. For this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow may be dyin’. Why does the writer use these words?
“Because he’s in a hurry.”
“Ding! Thanks for playing anyway. It’s because we are food for worms, lads. Believe it or not, everyone of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, grow cold, and die.”

Morbid, yet so true!

Mr. Keating then asks the boys to peruse the faces from the past (old pictures from years gone by located in a display case).
“They’re not that different from you are they? Same haircuts just like you. Same hormones just like you? Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because you see gentlemen these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. If you lean in real close you might hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on lean in.”
“Carpe Diem. Carpe Diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.”

Inspiring. But is it really possible to live fully for today?

In his model for prayer, Jesus teaches that all we are to ask for is what we need for today. “Give us today our daily bread” implies that we are not to ask for things that we want tomorrow or Friday or next month, but to focus our attention on today: to seize the day! Later Jesus will tell his anxious followers to stop worrying about tomorrow. Tomorrow is not here yet. Let’s try and stay focused on today.

Thomas Carlyle once wrote that “the tragedy of life is not how much we suffer, but how much we miss.”

Too many of us live “remember when” and “one of these days” kind of lives. We’re Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite trying to get back to a time when (we falsely believe) everything was better, or we have Dionne Warwick and the psychic hotline on speed dial desperately hoping to figure out what the future holds.

Our daily lives become routine and uneventful as we cling to the memories of “how things used to be” or hold out hope for how things “are gonna be… some day.”

God has made it clear: “TODAY, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Psalm 95.7; Hebrews 3.7, 3.15 and 4.7) TODAY, not yesterday, not tomorrow, TODAY.

Are you seizing the day? Because “THIS IS THE DAY the Lord has made” and we are called to “rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118.24)

Carpe Diem, my friends. Seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary!

Holy is Your Name

2010-07-06T14:43:00.003-05:00

Recently I have been thinking a lot about God’s Holiness. According to Jesus, the God to whom we pray is BOTH a loving, personal,relational Father AND an awesome, holy, mysterious deity. This can seem somewhat paradoxical, but as the great American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “The test of intelligence is the ability to hold two contrasting ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” Christianity is not an either/or kind of religion; it is a both/and. Jesus is BOTH fully human AND fully God; discipleship is a process of BOTH personal piety AND social responsibility; and God is BOTH relational AND holy.
The idea that God is holy causes many to assume that He is unknowable; but that is not entirely true. Although Isaiah 55:8-9 says "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts,” there are still some things we can know about this holy God.
We can begin with His name. Jesus said that when we pray we are to pray to God by hallowing his name. This implies that God has a name.
Names were synonymous with identity in the Ancient Near East. For example, the name Jesus means “savior of his people.” Jesus’ name identified who he was. In the same way, we can draw some conclusions about God based upon his name.
In Exodus 3, Moses encounters God in the burning bush and asks God his name (v. 13). God responds by telling Moses his name is YHWH.
This is a difficult Hebrew word to translate, but many English translations render it as “I AM who I AM,” or something similar. One scholar that I heard recently said that an accurate translation of this Hebrew word is “I will be whatever you need me to be, whenever you need me to be it.” I love that! That’s the God we serve.
The ancients began to add identifiers to the name YHWH throughout the Old Testament that help us to better understand the identity of this holy God. Here are a few examples:
• YHWH Shalom: God of Peace
• YHWH Jireh: God our Provider
• YHWH Rapha: God our Healer
• YHWH Nissi: God our Banner (or our victory in every situation)
• YHWH Rohi: God our Shepherd
• YHWH Shamma: God is There
Together these attributes help us to form a better picture of our holy God: a God who is mysterious and beyond our thoughts, but one who is by very definition good and loving. God is NOT the author of evil and suffering; He is NOT the author of death, pain, sorrow, despair, hatred, depression, revenge, addiction, lack, or poverty. He is NOT a God who is far away, nor is He a God that causes suffering in our lives or in the world. He is holy and righteous God who longs for us to come to Him in our times of need and in our times of rejoicing. He is a God who weeps with those who weep and suffers with those who suffer. He is a God who does not cause the bad things in life to happen, but who will work through them to bring about something good (see Romans 8:28).
The ability to hold God’s personal side and His holy side in tension is a marker of a healthy relationship with Him. We may never know why He does what He does, but it may be that we don’t need to know “why,” it may be that we simply need to know that He loves us and that He is working all things together for good.
The words of one of my favorite modern hymns sum up what I am trying to say here:
You are beautiful beyond description, too marvelous for words,
Too wonderful for comprehension, like nothing ever seen or heard.
Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?
Who can fathom the depths of Your love?
You are beautiful beyond description,
Majesty enthroned above.
And I stand, I stand in awe of You.
I stand, I stand in awe of You.
Holy God to whom all praise is due,
I stand in awe of You!

2010-07-06T14:37:00.001-05:00

10 Things We Can All Do In 2010

2009-12-31T11:50:00.002-06:00

The following is from an article in the Jan/Feb 2010 edition of Relevant Magazine by Jason Boyett. The article is entitle "Resolve This."

Ten Challenges for the New Year:

1. Take the Physical Challenge. The article challenges us to register for a local endurance event and train for it.

2. Memorize a chapter of the Bible. Not just a verse or two, but an entire chapter. How about an entire book? You can do it!

3. Reduce your carbon footprint in one major way. Ideas: don't use your dryer for a year; replace incandescent bulbs with CFL's; turn off lights and unplug applinace when not in use; drive less; start a garden or compost pile.

4. Learn to cook one mouth watering dish. Find a recipe book or a good website (www.allrecipes.com) and get cooking!

5. Learn to pray a whole new way. Ideas: pray out loud; pray the scriptures; use a prayer book (the Book of Common Prayer); change your posture etc.

6. Do something you've been putting off. Ideas: saving for retirement; purchase life insurance; draw up a household budget; reunite with an estranged family member; forgive a person who wronged you; find a church home.

7. Start a new relationship that's not about you. Ideas: get to know someone at a local nursing home; participate in a youth mentoring program like Big Brothers Big Sisters; or Friends for Youth; spend some time volunteering in your local church with ministries that you normally would not participate in. Whatever you do, make sure that the relationships you develop are selfless: you are not looking to get anything in return.

8. Do soemthing that freaks you out. Ideas: go skydiving; get a tattoo; save up and take a big family vacation; register for that class you've been wanting to take; go back to school; learn karate; sing karaoke, etc.

9. Reduce as much debt as possible. Cut out the non-neccessities; set up a budget (try www.mint.com to get started) cut up those credit cards and use cash or debit cards only; begin paying off the high interest debt first and work hard to eliminate as much as possible; start an emergency savings fund.

10. Donate your time to a cause that matters to you. Writing a check is great; but getting involved is more fulfilling. Discover a cause that you're passionate about and give some time to it!

Be blessed this New Year!

COR Leadership Institute Begins Tomorrow

2009-10-07T11:28:00.003-05:00

I am taking a break from packing the warmest clothes I can find in order to write down my thoughts about the Leadership Institute I will be attending with the other pastors from my chuch beginning today in Leawood Kansas.

The Institute is being held at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection pastored by Adam Hamilton. This year, along with Adam, Mike Slaughter from Ginghmasburg UMC in Ohio will also be speaking at the main sessions.

I attended the Institute in 2006 with staff from Saint Paul's UMC in Tallahassee and really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to this year's even more.

My hopes are that we will return with some practical ideas for taking SUMC to the next level. We are seeing some amazing things happening in our church right now, but we can't relax and get comofrtable; we must begin strategizing about where to go from here.

I have a great deal of respect for Adam and for Mike and am looking forward to hearing what they have to say to us this year. The UMC has fallen on hard times as of late, and I feel that one of the major emphases is going to be on recruiting and training younger leaders. I think this is vitally important to the future of our denomination and anticipate hearing what they have to say on this topic. I am also looking forward to gaining some worship planning tips and checking out their young adult ministry as well as their new church start: Resurrection Downtown.

I am also really looking forward to the cooler air. It's been really hot here in Florida, and some nice Autumn weather will be a nice change of pace.

I'll try to blog frequently throughout the Conferrence, and share my thoughts on what I am learning.

Gray Is My Favorite Color

2009-09-11T19:05:00.014-05:00

I tend to find myself in the middle a lot.

Most of the time that's where I am most comfortable (which is probably why I'm a Methodist). Methodists are people of the middle - or, a phrase that I prefer: "the radical center" - if we were fans of the Counting Crows we would surely be singing along with them: "yeh, well you know gray is my favorite color, I felt so symbolic yesterday. If I knew Picasso, I would by myself a gray guitar and play." Our pastors write books called Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White, and we find ourselves straddling the middle on almost every social, political and theological issue. Most of the time I am very comfortable with this; but then there are times where I think to myself, "make a decision for God's sake; take a stand for something; pick a side!"

My biggest struggle right now has to do with the whole missional/incarnational vs. institutional/attractional ecclesial model thing. My problem is that I read too much. I've read everything there is on the "emerging/missional" church, and I agree with much of what is being written; but not everything. Then I start to read everything I can on the "traditional/institutional" church, and I agree with much of what is being said; but not everything. I have some very good friends who serve in the Conference that I serve in who are doing some amazing things within a missional church paradigm. I also have some very good friends who are doing some amazing things within a traditional/contemporary church paradigm.

What I want is to hold the two in tension. I want to be able to do what I love to do within the walls of the "church" building: preach, sing, share in fellowship with other believers, baptize, preside over communion, officiate weddings, teach Bible studies etc, AND I want to be able to do what I love to do in my other parish: the world: serve at the Rescue Mission, volunteer in the schools, hang out with folks who don't want to come to "church," etc.

I went to a Conference on Church Planting a couple of years ago in Orlando and attended a pre-Conference workshop called Incarnational or Attractional. The folks doing the workshop had crossed out the "or" and replaced it with an "and." Unfortunately by the end of the workshop all the "missional/incarnational" folks were on one side of the room and all the "institutional/attractional" folks were on the other side of the room.

And all the Methodists were hanging out in the middle of the room having coffee.

Actually, we were almost required to take a side.

And I didn't appreciate that.

So much for the "and."

I think there has to be a way to bring the best of both of these concepts of how to "do" church together. There has to be some gray in this painting somewhere.

I'm determined to find it.

What is a Methodist?

2009-08-28T22:43:00.002-05:00

My friend started a Facebook group called What is a Methodist? Here are some of my thoughts:

I think that “balance” is a key to unlocking the mystery of what it means to be a Methodist. My worship professor in seminary, Paul Chilcote, taught me a lot about Methodism primarily through the theology of John and Charles Wesley. His book, Recapturing the Wesleys’ Vision helped me understand what I believe to be the heart of Methodism more than any other resource that I have read. Chilcote focuses on the “conjunctive” nature of the Wesleys’ theology, but emphasizes that this conjunctive nature is not an either/or perspective but a both/and. In the book, Chilcote shows how the Wesleys’ were able to hold seemingly contrary concepts in healthy tension and thus provide a theology that embraces what Adam Hamilton calls “the radical center.” Chilcote argues for a balance of faith and works, Word and Spirit, personal and social, form and power, heart and head, pulpit and table, Christ and culture, and piety and mercy. The Wesleys’ promoted balance, I do not believe they would be content with the polarization that is taking place in our denomination today; they would be frustrated by our either/or stances on controversial issues, and our insistence upon choosing which “side” we’re on.

Likewise, I think Methodist’s should be people of the Word. One cannot read the sermons or letters of John Wesley (or the hymns of Charles for that matter) without immediately noticing the primacy of Scripture. John called all Methodist’s to be people of “one book.” Unfortunately, I think we are oftentimes lured into placing other books above The Book. I am guilty of reading too much. I have confessed it, and repented, but I love to read. And I am sure that I read too much. As Methodist’s I wonder sometimes if we haven’t gotten away from our book. The Bible has been reduced to nothing more than a good story with some helpful principles in many Methodist circles; this should not be!

And what of personal piety? Again, I do not claim to be exempt from this accusation: I am a big proponent of relevance, sometimes to a fault. The reverse of the old cliché is as true as the original: we can be so earthly minded that we’re no heavenly good. As Methodist’s we must be willing to critically examine ourselves and evaluate our piety. We should be people of “holy love,” to use one of Ken Collins’ favorite phrases: men, women, and children who love God with all their hearts; who actively pursue holiness through spiritual discipline; and who base all they say and do upon the words of Scripture. Listen to these words of John Wesley from “The Character of a Methodist:”

“…(T)he tree is known by its fruits. For as he (the Methodist) loves God, so he keeps his commandments; not only some, or most of them, but all, from the least to the greatest. He is not content to "keep the whole law, and offend in one point;" but has, in all points, "a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man." Whatever God has forbidden, he avoids; whatever God hath enjoined, he doeth; and that whether it be little or great, hard or easy, joyous or grievous to the flesh. He "runs the way of God's commandments," now he hath set his heart at liberty. It is his glory so to do; it is his daily crown of rejoicing, "to do the will of God on earth, as it is done in heaven;" knowing it is the highest privilege of "the angels of God, of those that excel in strength, to fulfill his commandments, and hearken to the voice of his word."

I don’t know if that’s what a Methodist is, but I think it’s pretty close.My friend started a Facebook group called What is a Methodist? Here are some of my thoughts:

Institutional AND Organic? Is it Possible?

2009-08-27T11:12:00.005-05:00

I am a both/and kinda guy.

In the spirit of John Wesley, I tend to try to hold most things in tension whenever possible: piety and social justice; worship and evangelism; public and private; organic and institutional.

It is this final category that I would like to expound upon a bit here. I began reading Frank Viola’s book Reimaging Church today. I knew what I was getting into when I opted to bring this particular book to Starbucks with me, but I went ahead and did it anyway. Viola is an important voice in the ecclesial conversation taking place in evangelicalism today, but I am afraid he goes too far.

Like so many really smart people that I have been reading lately, Viola seems to have a need to throw down the gauntlet and demand that the reader choose which side they’re on. Either one abandons the institutional church entirely (as he did) and embrace an organic ecclesial structure, or one remains a part of the institutional church system which he claims is antithetical to New Testament ecclesial development, and thereby misses out on opportunities to truly experience church as it was intended to be.

Is there no room for compromise here? Is it not possible to develop organic communities of faith and mission that thrive within an institutional ecclesial structure?

I speak as one who has so much at stake in this, so I will seem biased: and I am! I spent thousands of dollars and several years as a husband and father of two small children, taking graduate courses and working full-time to earn a Master of Divinity degree in order to fulfill God’s call on my life to ordained ministry. My Master of Divinity degree credentials me for one thing, and one thing only: ordained ministry in the institutional church.

Of course, this will sound like I am endorsing the institutional church solely based upon my need for a job, but that is not entirely true. Of course, I need an income; of course I need to provide for my family; but, if God were to reveal to me today that the institutional church was irrelevant, and that I was spinning my wheels serving it, I would leave. But I haven’t sensed God telling me that. I will agree that the local church is not what God intended; but I would argue that nothing is. Every person, organization, and system in this flawed world is … well, flawed! We’re all broken and in need of God’s Spirit to bring new life; this includes the institutional church.

Having said that, there is certainly a need for the institutional church to consider the value of innovation and “reimagination.” I agree with Viola that the church needs to be reimagined, but reimagination does not necessarily mean abolition.

If John Wesley were around, he would challenge us to consider how to look at the strengths of both an institutional and organic model of church and then work towards ways of implementing the best of both into a functional hybrid that reveals Christ to the world in new and creative ways.

Christ commissioned the first apostles to go forth and make disciples. They had spent three years in the best seminary that money could never buy (the original “Masters Seminary.”) The church needs leaders – trained leaders – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers as the apostle Paul said, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. The institutional church could use to take a serious look at her mission, this much is clear, but a serious look should not lead to dissolution of the organization that has come into being over the past 1700 or so years. A fresh look should lead to the formation of organic groups and a newfound missional ethos; a fresh look should recognize that the world has changed, that the church is not the bastion of hope and spiritual enlightenment that she once was, that she must work hard to reintroduce Christ to an ever increasing secular world.

Can the church be all that Christ wants her to be without dissolving the institution en masse? I think she can.

Viola writes; “I have a dream that countless churches will be transformed from high-powered business organizations into spiritual families – authentic Christ-centered communities – where the members know one another intimately, love one another unconditionally, bleed for one another deeply, and rejoice with one another unfailingly” (28).

So do I.

The question remains whether this dream can become a reality through the institution we know of as the church.

I think it can.

Only time will tell, I suppose.

In the meantime, I'll keep on doing what God has called me to do and serve my church.

God Doesn't Love Your 401k

2009-08-26T20:01:00.002-05:00

I read an interesting article today in The Christian Century entitled “An Alternative Investment Plan: Economics for Disciples” by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. I appreciated the article, but I confess I a struggle with Jonathan’s thesis, and I imagine that many people - Christians and otherwise - will struggle with it as well.

Hartgrove writes: “Most of us are too invested in securing our futures to trust Jesus for the good life now.” Hartgrove utilizes the phrase “the economics of providence” throughout the article and leans heavily upon Matthew 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” as his primary text.

Hartgrove lays out a compelling argument for complete trust in God’s providential care for us regarding all things economic. He challenges the reader with convicting questions: “Do we really trust the abundance of God’s economy or the goodness of God’s family?” and “Could it be that responsible Christian parents should give away all their extra money each month instead of putting it into a college savings account or an IRA?” His answer is unambiguous: “this is what Jesus challenges us to do – to entrust all ourselves and our resources to God’s kingdom alone.”

Aye, there’s the rub!

I am a father of two teenagers. I am a pastor and my wife is an artist. Am I not to think about my children’s future? Am I not to think about what lies ahead for my wife and I should we make it into our 70’s? Or should I simply trust God to work out all of the details? Is this what the Bible teaches? Is this what Jesus truly meant when he said to store up treasure in heaven?

I realize that we live in the most affluent society in history. I realize that even as a card carrying member of the lower middle class I make more than 90% of the people in the world. And the reality is, my wife and I give away as much as we can; sometimes more than we should. But my children are growing up in a culture that pushes against the kingdom values that we are trying to instill in them.

Although I completely agree that our “treasures” are not of this world; and I also agree that we should invest in things that have eternal value; I also feel obligated to invest in my 401k as well as do everything I can to ensure that my children are able to survive in the world.

Solomon says “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5), but he doesn’t stop there. He goes on to say, “in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

In Proverbs 16:3 he says “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”

Perhaps it’s not so much either/or as it is both/and.