Pathway Community Church

What's Your Priority?

2009-10-17T11:22:00.004-05:00

Today in his message, Pastor Brent talked about being deeply committed to God, and specifically he said that we can't honestly say that we're committed to him when we're not committing our money to him. If God has our hearts, he gets our wallets as well.

We tend to cut ourselves a lot of slack and make allowances for ourselves when we fall short. Most people give themselves the benefit of the doubt on a regular basis. Researchers call it "the self-serving bias."

For example, in one survey, 90% of drivers rated themselves as "above average" in their driving skills compared to other drivers, and nearly 50% placed themselves among the top 10%. Of course, this is mathematically impossible, but it's one example of the self-serving bias.

I came across an interesting article this week that provided an example of the self-serving bias among pastors, when it comes to their assessment of the spiritual condition of their congregations, compared to what their congregants actually report about themselves. Most pastors have a rosy outlook when it comes to their members' spiritual condition, but the members themselves reveal a rather different picture. The results are rather striking, and it's definitely worth taking a look at the full article. But here are some of the things that were particularly noteworthy to me:

Only 23% of all Protestant churchgoers, and only half of evangelicals (which are known for making a stronger emphasis on things like this) indicated that their faith in God was their highest priority in their lives. So that means most Christians--and half of evangelicals--ADMIT that God is not #1 in their lives.
According to the survey, in forming their opinions, "few pastors rely upon criteria that reflect genuine devotion to God." Most pastors utilize external indicators such as worship attendance, serving in a ministry, and comments made immediately after the worship service. While these can be important factors in a person's journey of growth, it is also true that positive outward behavior can mask inner ambivalence, or even outright disobedience or unbelief.
In the section labeled "Activity That Does Not Concern Churches," among the list of important criteria that pastors downplay or ignore altogether are

tithing/generosity,
personal evangelism/outreach,
life change subsequent to the conversion experience
how visitors to the church are received
whether people experience the presence of God in the worship service

When I look at our description of a Fully Devoted Follower that the elders and I have developed together, I am pleased to see that we are on the right track. We have put together a list of criteria that actually assess the level of a person's devotion to Christ, and it includes every single one of the essential characteristics that this article says most churches ignore.

We don't want to have a self-serving bias when we evaluate the health of our church, and we don't want individuals in our church to have a self-serving bias when they look at their own health. We want to see accurately so that we can know what our true condition is, and so that we can work on the areas that need attention the most.

It is right for us to think this way, according to God's word: "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." (Romans 12:3 NIV)

So where are you on your journey? Are you where you need to be? Or do you have some growing to do? Do you truly make God your first priority in life? What will it take to get him there?

For many of us, it starts with letting go of our love of money, which is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Tim. 6:10). The best way to get rid of money's hold over our lives is to start giving it away. You see, our God is a very practical God.

Small Group Changes

2009-10-05T21:20:00.002-05:00

In this process of getting ourselves focused on our mission of meeting people where they are and leading them to become fully devoted followers of Jesus, the first area that we're examining up-close is the area of small groups (Reaching Over). We'll be also giving special consideration to our worship services (Reaching Up) and our ministry teams (Reaching Out) in the near future, but the elders and I felt that small groups was the right area to direct our efforts first.

One of the first things that we realized is that we have a lot of great Life Groups that are already established, and wonderful things are going on in them. But most of the time we don't know what those wonderful things are.

We are uncertain who belongs to each of the various groups,
We usually find out after the fact when a topic of study changes,
We don't know when groups are experiencing problems... or breakthroughs,
We aren't aware of many of the life changes that are taking place in our groups, except we sometimes hear about them in a round-about or haphazard way.

So we knew that we needed to apply some communication tools for our Life Groups. We now have a regular mechanism for keeping in touch with our Life Group leaders so that we can provide support and encouragement, as well as stay connected with what's happening in our groups.

Another need that we noticed is that there was no consistent plan for life change in our groups. It's not that lives weren't ever being changed, and that no one was ever growing--only that the growth was not a result of a focused, strategic effort, and therefore, not as great and fruitful as it might otherwise be.

So we came up with some across-the-board standards for our small groups and shared those with all our small group leaders at a special training session last week. If you're in a small group, your leader will be sharing these with you soon. There's nothing that should strike anyone as surprising or out-of-place for small groups, but we believe it is helpful to be clear about the purpose and nature of our groups in order to avoid any unmet expectations, unspoken agendas, or unnecessary conflict.

Finally, we realized that it is probably difficult for some people to take the step from attending worship to joining an established small group. After all, there are innumerable obstacles to overcome:

the awkwardness and uncomfortableness of breaking in to a group that already knows each other and is familiar with each other
the anxiety about whether I'll really be accepted or welcome (despite what people say)
the unknown expectations of group members--will I be called on to pray out loud? answer a question I don't know? reveal uncomfortable things about my life?
fears about what will happen when people discover "the real me"
concerns about whether these people are trustworthy enough to keep my confidential information confidential
and on and on....

So we asked, How can we help people take the step of moving from just attending to being a part of a small group? And the answer we came up with was Learn Groups.

Learn Groups will be short-term small groups that will tie into the message series that we're working through. So if a series is four weeks long, the Learn Group will be four weeks long. If a series is six weeks long, the Learn Group will be six weeks long. This gives people a chance to "test drive" the small group concept without making a lengthy commitment. They can get used to interacting and learning in a group setting with minimal risk. At the end of each Learn Group, we'll be encouraging anyone who is not part of a Life Group to "graduate" into one of those established groups.

We've also made the decision to change our Journey Classes into Journey Groups. If the purpose is not simply to impart information, but to aid and assist life change, we feel the format for the Journey Classes needs to be shifted to a group format. There are several reasons for that:

Breaking the teaching into shorter, more manageable pieces helps people absorb and digest the information better, rather than our previous approach to download four hours of information in one sitting.
Giving time in between each session allows people to practice and experiment with what they've learned so far without piling on more information that they're not ready for.
Giving an opportunity to practice allows for more intelligent questions, feedback, suggestions, and comments from the Journey participants, as well as a chance for encouragement, support, and camaraderie within the group.

The first Journey Group will be kicking off Sunday November 1 and going through November 22. It's the Journey 201 Group, which examines the habits that are necessary for spiritual growth. We'll be talking about the habits of prayer, time in God's word, personal worship, tithing, and fellowship. Even if you've already taken the Journey 201 CLASS, you're welcome to try out the Journey 201 Group--I think you'll find that you will enjoy it more and get more out of it in this group format.

To sign up for the Journey 201 Group, email me! There's no cost for the group.

Small groups are an integral part of our process for leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ because they are the best tool that we have for helping people acquire authentic relationships with other Christians, which are essential for growth. Small groups help foster relationships that are focused directly on life change and provide the safe space for the kind of honest and deep conversations that are appropriate to relationships with a purpose.

If you haven't found a small group, now is the time! Call the office (784-5388) to sign up for a group, or send me an email at scott@pathwaywired.com.

A Non-Growing Christian Is...

2009-09-27T17:47:00.002-05:00

The Bible assumes that Christians grow--there's no real comprehension of any other kind (Col. 3:9-10). However, most contemporary American Christians do not grow--they are stuck, plateaued, in a holding pattern--and because this is so common, we fail to see how odd it really is from the Bible's perspective. In fact, if we're not careful, we'll come to see stagnation as normal and movement as strange and bizarre.

So, to counter this heresy, I thought it might be good to re-cast what a non-growing Christian is like through some modern-day word-pictures. My hope is that these will help challenge you to see how offensive a lack of growth in our lives is to God, and strengthen your resolve not only to be a growing Christian yourself, but to spur others on to the same.

A non-growing Christian is...

A sinus infection--slimy, gross mucus that creates pain and pressure because it's not going anywhere.
A bowel obstruction--a blockage of movement that causes you to hang on to all your crap.
A pimple--a clog of oil and dead cells that produces embarrassment.
A port-a-potty--a stinky repository of garbage and waste.
Engine sludge--gooey gunk that not only won't move, but even causes a whole engine to stop, and eventually break down.
A hemorrhoid--a painful torment that cries out for fixing, but most people are unwilling to do anything about it.
A free ticket to a mortuary--it counts for nothing, and nobody wants it.
Gangrene--dead, rotting flesh caused by a lack of blood flow
A government agency--bloated, unnecessary, useless, ineffective, uncomprehending... need I say more?
A parasite--a being with no purpose of its own, which contributes nothing, produces nothing, provides nothing. It draws its life by sucking from from the healthy, and spreads sickness simply by doing what comes naturally to it.

Not growing is painful because we repeat the same bad choices over and over, and reap their consequences. It's tragic because we fail to learn from our own life experiences. It's gross and disgusting because that's always the case when something is intended to move and it's stuck. It causes our lives to be rendered worthless and ineffectual. It is one of Satan's greatest sources of satisfaction.

The Christian life is designed to MOVE!!! So let's shift it out of park and put the pedal to the metal, people!!! I feel the NEED for SPEED!!! Woo-hoo!!!!!!!!!

What's the next turn you need to make to get on-track with God?

What Is Church About?

2009-09-21T17:14:00.004-05:00

Before I share my answer with you, I'd really invite you to wrestle with this question... What is church about? If you're reading this blog, I'm assuming that you go to church, you're part of a church, you belong to a church. So this should be easy. What is church about?

Think about it. Write it out--it helps to make things clear in our minds when we write them down. OK, have you done that yet? No? Then why are you still reading? I'm serious--write down the answer to this question: What is church about? (Don't worry, I'll wait for you...)

.

.

.

.

OK, have you done that yet? See, here's what I think. I think your answer more than likely sounds something like this:

Church is about learning about God and Jesus.
Church is about worship and learning more about the Bible.
Church is where we go to find out what we're supposed to believe.

Now, maybe not. Maybe I'm all wrong here. But I think I'm right. I think this is the answer that I'd get from 90+% of church-goers. And that is a crippling indictment of us as Christians, on a couple of fronts:

Church is never about where we go. The church is not a building you enter, it's a group of people you belong to. In the Bible, the church is a family, a flock, a body, a bride, a fellowship, but never a literal building. And just like in a family, in a flock, in a body, we belong to each other. Romans 12:5 says, "Each member belongs to all the others." So whatever church is about, it's about belonging to other people.
Church is never about Sundays. If "church" is a group of people we belong to, we belong to them all the time--in the exact same way that you don't cease to belong to your family just because you head separate ways during the day. To say that church is about Sunday morning worship services is like saying that family is about sleeping under the same roof at night, or eating dinner together (if your family does that). Those may be things that happen in a family--even fairly important things--but that's a pretty poor description of what family is all about.
Church is not really about learning. Now, again, maybe learning is something that happens in a church (hopefully so!), but church is not like school. Church is not an educational institution. The Bible tells us that "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (1 Cor. 8:1 NIV). Knowledge for knowledge's sake is useless, less than worthless. In fact, "If I... can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing" (1 Cor. 13:2 NIV). Let me say it again--CHURCH IS NOT ABOUT LEARNING!!!

So what is church about? One thing. There is only one reason the church exists. There is only one reason to belong to a church. There is only one reason to serve in a church. There is only one reason to believe in the church. There is only one reason to worship with the church. And that reason is this:

Life. Change.

That's it. Nothing else. We are in the business of allowing God to change our lives, and letting him use us to change the lives of others. And we join together to support and challenge one another on this journey of life change, as we all head in the same direction, so that we can all get there because we could never make it on our own--it's way too hard.

And if we don't understand this, we don't really understand anything about the Christian faith. If we don't grasp this, we may not even really have a relationship with Jesus at all. And I'm not exaggerating even slightly.

Church is about life change.

And so the only kind of knowledge that counts for anything is the knowledge that changes your life. If you learn something, and change as a result, that's good. If you learn something and don't change, you were better off not even learning it in the first place. Way too many Christians are educated beyond their obedience.

As we've said endlessly (and we'll keep saying it), Pathway Community Church exists to meet people where they are on their spiritual journeys and lead them to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. We meet them where they are, but we don't let them stay there--we lead them to a new place. That's life change. And that's not just for the people "out there"; it's for us "in here" too. In fact, we can't do diddly squat "out there" until we allow God to do his work "in here." If our lives are untransformed, we have absolutely nothing to offer this world. We operate with no power. We model a false gospel.

As we implement this simple process throughout our church, there's only one reason behind it--life change.

Reaching Up/Worship Services are about life change.
Reaching Over/Small Groups are about life change.
Reaching Out/Ministry Teams are about life change.

This whole process is about one thing--helping you cooperate with God to let him change your life. If you're happy with your life exactly the way it is and don't want to change anything, you're in open rebellion against God, and you're going to find yourself more and more uncomfortable with the direction our church is moving. And that's only right, because the only thing church is about is life change.

faith : simple

2009-09-14T11:50:00.004-05:00

This week, we rolled out our simplified, streamlined, concretized process for... well, everything we do and are at Pathway Community Church. In the past, we've had a mission statement, two vision statements, thirteen core values (separated into three categories), a church structure, an assimilation/discipleship strategy, and a set of Journey classes that we wanted everyone to take--in addition to all the other ministries and programs that we have operated--worship services, small groups, Awana, youth group, Soccer Camp, Dinner Theatre, Trunk or Treat, potlucks, etc.

As I said yesterday, individually each of those things is good, right, biblical, God-honoring, consistent with his purpose for his church, and so forth. But taken all together, it's a little overwhelming, confusing, complex, and just plain noisy.

As leaders, the elders and I recognized the need for a clearer, more focused approach--one that would be easy to communicate and easy to understand, one simple process that ties everything together. And this is it:

Here's how these things are now tied together:

Mission: To meet people where they are on their spiritual journeys and lead them to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. We began asking the question, "What does a fully devoted follower look like?", and we made a list of characteristics and qualities that someone would have if they were fully devoted to Jesus. Then we asked, "What do we do in our church that helps people acquire these character traits?" We identified these three areas as key in helping us accomplish our mission.
Ministries/Programs: We now have just three main things that we focus on. "Reaching Up" corresponds to our worship services. "Reaching Over" involves our small groups. And "Reaching Out" is tied to our ministry teams. By focusing on these three areas, we increase our effectiveness by being more intentional with each of them, making sure they relate to a specific part of the process of making fully devoted followers.
Core Values: These are now connected directly with the mission. First we help people reach up toward God (Real Spirituality). Then we help them reach over toward other believers (Real Community). Then we help them reach out through ministry (Real Story). The core values are now put into a step-by-step process, which helps people grow into acquiring a balanced, fully-developed Christian life.
Assimilation Process: This is the question of how someone becomes connected and attached to our church. The worship service is the front door--the most likely point of entry for a new person. The next step in helping them get connected here is moving them as soon as possible into a small group so that they develop strong relationships with other believers. The next step is to help them find a ministry that fits how God has shaped them so that they have a stake in the success and health of our church. Once they are a contributing member of the body, connected with other believers, and growing in their faith, they will be far more likely to work through the problems that come up, which might otherwise cause them to leave.
Immediate Vision: To trigger a dramatic reaction between our neighbors and Christ in a fusion of real needs and real love. This vision entails mobilizing people for ministry, which is also the objective of the simple process. Now we have a step-by-step process that will help us move people toward that goal. As we do, we will have a greater and greater impact on our community, which will bring glory and honor to God (Matthew 5:16), and which will attract people to a relationship with him through our church.
Broad Vision: To become actively involved in planting new churches to reach the 100,000 people in Jackson County with no church family. We believe this simple process will help our church become more effective at accomplishing our mission, which will lead to growth. With more people and more resources, we will be able to realize this vision, expanding the reach of God's kingdom through the planting of new churches throughout the county.

In essence, it's the difference between a light bulb and a laser beam. In many respects, they're the same thing (after all, light is light), but in practice they're vastly different. The laser beam is exponentially more effective than a light bulb because all the energy is focused.

You may look at this and say, "Well, we're already doing this." That's right... we have worship services, small groups, and ministry teams already. What's the difference? The difference is focus. The difference is applying all our strategic energy in this one direction. The difference is making sure that at each step of the process, something is happening that will help produce fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

The Resurrection

2009-08-31T09:35:00.003-05:00

It is rightly pointed out that the resurrection of Jesus is the hingepoint of the Christian faith. The question of whether Jesus really came back from death makes all the difference in the world. The apostle Paul said as much in 1 Corinthians 15:14-19:

If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is usesless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.... And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

So it is worthy of note that this belief in Jesus' resurrection is not only the most essential of the Christian faith, but also the most hotly contested--and yet, one of the most verifiable events in history, when one evaluates the historical evidence.

1. Eyewitness Testimony
In courtrooms, considerable weight is given to eyewitnesses who have observed the events being discussed in the court case. Since no one else in the courtroom was there, the eyewitnesses are considered key for helping reconstruct the events of the past. In the Bible, two of the four writers who tell the story of the resurrection (Matthew and John) were personal eyewitnesses to the fact, as disciples of Jesus. Luke insists that his account is an "orderly account" based on his own careful investigation of Jesus' life "from the beginning," "so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught" (Luke 1:1-4). And Mark, as a traveling companion of Paul, relied especially on Peter.

In addition, John and Peter both wrote letters to the churches, affirming their eyewitness status:

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of your Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty (2 Peter 1:16).
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Fathe rand has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard (1 John 1:1-3).

And Paul in one of the earliest writings of what we now know as the New Testament said, For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appearedc to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of hte brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also (1 Corinthians 15:3-7).

Here we see that the belief in the resurrection of Jesus can be traced to a very early point in the life of the church, attested to by a number of people who claim to be eyewitnesses to the fact. Clearly, this is not a belief that arose a number of years later; it was part of the Christian faith from the beginning.

2. Empty Tomb
Eyewitness testimony is great, but of course we all know that eyewitnesses can lie. What gives credibility to the eyewitness testimony is that there are other historical facts that back up their claims. One of the most striking is that it is almost certain that the tomb of Jesus was empty. We can know this because if Jesus' followers are running around claiming that Jesus is alive, the best way to squash that claim is to produce the body--which nobody did.

It's not because they didn't have a reason to. Many people, in fact, had a vested interest in putting this whole Jesus movement to rest--namely all those who had conspired to get him killed in the first place:

Jewish leaders--The whole problem for them with Jesus was that his teachings and his understanding of God and scripture profoundly threatened everything they loved--their privileged status, their power and influence, their wealth. The last thing they wanted was to see Jesus' followers take up his mantle and start spreading his influence throughout the Roman Empire.
Roman authorities--Until Jesus, they had been able to boast a 100% success rate with crucifixions. They certainly didn't want that image tarnished. Moreover, Jesus had been charged (at least officially) with rebellion against Rome and attempting to establish his own kingdom. While Pilate personally felt that Jesus was harmless, could he be sure that the same could be said for all of his followers? In addition, the tomb of Jesus had been guarded by Roman soldiers; it certainly made them look inept if it could be said that the tomb was empty.

The only reason that makes sense for why no one came forward with the body of Jesus is because the body wasn't there! This is especially true when we consider that the church was born in Jerusalem, the very city in which Jesus was crucified--the last place on earth that it could have started if the tomb were not empty.

3. The Disciples' Lives/Deaths
Many theories have been put forward as to why the tomb could have been empty. Some are so ridiculous as to require more faith than actually believing in the resurrection (for instance, some advance what is known as "The Wrong Tomb Theory"--that everyone in Jerusalem forgot where Jesus was buried and all went to the wrong tomb to look for his body). Probably the most common explanation from skeptics for the empty tomb is that the disciples stole the body.

Setting aside the difficulty of overcoming the Roman guard which was posted, and the courage required to break the Roman seal on the tomb (remember, Peter withered under questioning from a servant girl in a courtyard just days earlier), one must consider that each of the disciples was eventually executed for their faith, except for John who lived out his final days in exile on the island of Patmos.

Certainly, no one is willing to surrender their lives simply to perpetuate a lie. And they would have known it was a lie if they were the ones who had stolen the body. The only logical explanation for their behavior is that they were absolutely certain that they were telling the truth--to the point that they were willing to die for it. And the only way they could be certain it was the truth is if they had been telling the truth when they shared their eyewitness testimonies.

And there was much they suffered before they actually gave up their lives. Consider this description of his life from the apostle Paul:

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides eerything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? (2 Corinthians 11:23-29).

Who signs up for a life like this? Only those who believe that the benefit outweighs the cost. Only those who are fully convinced that Jesus Christ indeed rose from the dead.

4. The Audience
All this that we've examined so far is pretty convincing to me, but the clincher is the fact that the Christian faith grew so explosively in its first years. How could this happen if the audience the first Christians were trying to reach did not believe in the message they were sharing?

Shortly after Jesus was killed, Peter spoke to a crowd in Jerusalem (remember, the site of the crucifixion!). Many of the people listening had themselves probably seen Jesus put to death. Peter started out by saying, "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know" (Acts 2:22). Then he went on to say, "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact" (Acts 2:32).

And the audience's response is interesting. They didn't say, "We don't know what you're talking about!" or "Hey! That's not the way it really happened!" Instead, they were immediately terrified, and said, "Brothers, what shall we do?" And 3000 of them put their faith in Jesus that day.

The earliest New Testament books were written within 25-30 years after Jesus' death--plenty of time for many, many eyewitnesses to still be alive and able to rebut or refute the claims of the biblical writers. But there is no evidence that anyone at the time disagreed with the version of history that the Bible presents. Everyone agreed that that was the way it had happened.

If there is a God, and if he has revealed himself in Scripture, and if archaeology backs up the Bible's claims, and if dozens of prophecies were fulfilled in the life of Jesus in a way that no one could arrange, then it's not too big of a leap to believe that this God could raise his Son from the dead. The whole New Testament bears witness to that pivotal event, and the writers of Scripture are all in agreement. Moreover, the evidence is overwhelming--Jesus did rise from the dead. It's just one more reason that I find the Bible trustworthy.

The Uniqueness of the Bible's God

2009-08-23T17:50:00.002-05:00

As we're looking at the various reasons why the Bible can be trusted, we've looked at a historical argument (fulfilled prophecy) and a scientific argument (archaeology), but this week, I want to look at something a little different. While those lines of thinking are more objective and evidence-based, this week I'd like to focus on an aesthetic argument that has its own logic to it. You may or may not find this convincing, but I do. It has to do with the uniqueness of the God that the Bible presents to us.

The Bible claims to be God's word--the only authoritative and reliable record of his activity in history. By extention, the Bible asserts that all other sacred texts that claim the same status (The Qu'ran, The Bhagavad Gita, The Sutras, and so on) are not authoritative and reliable, especially with respect to the ways they deviate from the record given in the Bible.

So it is noteworthy to me that no other religion in the history of the world presents a picture of a God or gods like anything that resembles the God of the Bible.

Personally Concerned. In the Bible, God is personally concerned with all of his creation, especially human beings. He lovingly, patiently, tenderly works with them to restore the personal relationship that was originally present in the perfect origins of the world before humanity strayed from his perfect design. In Islam, by contrast, God (Allah) stands as an aloof, unapproachable King and Judge who can be satiated only through radical submission and self-discipline. In eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, God is an impersonal force that permeates the universe. Other religions have a pantheon of warring deities and demi-gods that scheme against one another in an endless quest for their own selfish desires. No other religion presents an image of a loving, concerned God.
A Model To Imitate. In the Bible, God uses himself as the ideal for us to follow. His goal is that we should become like him--loving, faithful, honest, just, generous, servant-hearted, compassionate. In other religions, it's a matter of "do as I say, not as I do." God, or gods, must be appeased--human beings must do things their way in order to avoid punishments or to receive blessings. The gods of other religions are drunk with power--they have carte blanche to do whatever they want--and most of the time they are vindictive and capricious. In eastern religions, since God is not a person and possesses no character, there is no corresponding way to imitate; the best that can be hoped for is to be absorbed into God and nothingness.
Initiator Of Relationships. At each phase of the biblical story, God is the one who takes the initiative to establish a relationship with us, rather than the other way around. He did this in creation, at the fall of Adam and Eve, with Noah and the flood, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, at the Exodus and giving of the Law, with all the prophets, and finally in Jesus. In all other religions, it is we who must pursue the Deity to gain his "goodies"--in Christianity it is God who pursues us because of his great, unsurpassing love.
Incarnate. In no other religion does God wrap himself in human flesh and come to reveal himself more fully than he ever has, and eventually take on himself the curse of sin to repair the broken relationship between himself and humankind. The Incarnation is a service (of the highest order!) to humanity. In some other religions, gods may disguise themselves as humans for personal gain, or because they've been punished by other gods with more power. In other religions, God remains a figure too remote and inaccessible to stoop to such a low level.
Dispenser Of Grace. Of all the contrasts, I believe this is the greatest. In all other religions, the worshipers must earn their way to God. But Christianity is the only religion in which God offers grace (unmerited favor) to people. It is based on the truth that we can never earn our way to perfection; if God were to accept us in our imperfection, he would have to himself compromise his own integrity (and cease to be perfect). Instead, he made a way for us to become perfect through the blood of Jesus, because it was impossible for us to achieve on our own. This concept is so remarkable and incomprehensible that the tendency is even for Christians to keep trying to earn God's love and favor. Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons are two "Christian" groups that teach that we must work to achieve our right standing with God, rather than trusting in the work already done by Jesus.

In other religions, God is either impersonal and inacessible, or God is angry and vengeful, or the gods are petty and selfish. Christianity stands alone as the religion where God is personally concerned about us, where he stands as a perfect model for us in all integrity, who initiates a relationship with us, even to the point of himself becoming human, and showers us with his grace and mercy.

You see, when people come up with their own religion, this isn't the kind of God they create. This is the kind of God that everyone should want, but it seems too good to be true. And ironically, the God of the Bible demands the we surrender the thing that we cling to most tightly--our own pride. The Bible says we are totally dependent on God's love and goodness, that we have nothing good to bring to him, and that message is even harder for us to accept than the idea that a god must be appeased with sacrifices.

The God of the Bible gets to the root of the matter. And for me, because God is, at the same time, both more lenient AND more demanding than the gods of other religions, it shows me that he must be the One True God. No person or group of persons could have concocted this story--there's no way anyone could have been so clever as to invent it. When you add in the fact that the Bible has 66 books with dozens of authors spread over thousands of years, presenting one consistent picture of God--yet developing more and more nuance and depth as he more fully revealed himself over time--there is only one conclusion I can reach: It is the story of God, and not of men. And I believe it.

Archaeology

2009-08-16T18:35:00.002-05:00

As I discussed last week, one of the reasons I find the Bible trustworthy is because of fulfilled prophecy. Just examining the evidence regarding the various prophecies about the Messiah that were fulfilled in Jesus is convincing enough. But there are many, many more that were also fulfilled throughout Israel's history. However, fulfilled prophecy isn't the only reason we have to trust what the Bible says.

Another reason that is just as strong is the evidence from archaeology. Over the last 150+ years, there has been extensive archaeological research in the entire region for lots of reasons:

The "fertile crescent" (the arc of land stretching from Israel to Mesopotamia) has been identified as the locale where the earliest humans were located. Consequently, many scientists are interested in discoveries related to the origins of humanity and studying primitive human life. This happens to also be the place where 90% of the Bible stories take place.
This region is the birthplace of three of the world's five major religions--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (the other two are Buddhism, which originated in China, and Hinduism in India). Many religious archaeologists have sought to make discoveries that would help shed light on the stories and people described in the various religious writings.
The area has also attracted many archaeologists who are hostile to religion, who have attempted to make discoveries that contradict the claims of scripture, or who have wanted to show that archaeology demonstrates that some facts are not as the Bible presents them.

Here's the crux of the issue: The Bible claims to be God's word--authoritative, accurate, and trustworthy in all its claims. There are many things that cannot be proven directly (e.g., whether an angel appeared to Gideon, whether God actually spoke to the prophets, or what was said at Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrin), but there are some things that can be proven. For example, if the Bible says Jericho was located a short distance west of the Jordan river and that its walls fell down (Josh. 6), then if the Bible is true we should find it where it's supposed to be, and there should be evidence that its walls collapsed. And that is exactly what we find. Jericho is actually one of the most excavated sites in Israel.

Literally thousands of statements in the Bible have been confirmed through archaeology, and so far none have been proven to be false. Here are a few examples:

References to the Hittites (as in 2 Kings 7) were also once regarded as scriptural inaccuracies. Until a little more than a century ago nothing was known of the Hittites outside of the Bible. Some suggested there had been a scribal error and that Assyrians were actually intended. The Bible was vindicated when Hittite monuments were discovered in the 1870s at Carchemish on the Euphrates River in Syria. In 1906, excavations at Boghazkoy in Turkey uncovered thousands of Hittite documents.
It was once claimed there was no Assyrian king named Sargon as recorded in Isaiah 20:1, because this name was not known in any other record. Then, Sargon's palace was discovered in Khorsabad, Iraq. The very event mentioned in Isaiah 20, his capture of Ashdod, was recorded on the palace walls. What is more, fragments of a stela memorializing the victory were found at Ashdod itself.
Another king who was in doubt was Belshazzar, king of Babylon, named in Daniel 5. The last king of Babylon was Nabonidus according to recorded history. Tablets were found showing that Belshazzar was Nabonidus' son who served as coregent in Babylon. Thus, Belshazzar could offer to make Daniel “third highest ruler in the kingdom” (Dan. 5:16) for reading the handwriting on the wall, the highest available position.
Some scholars doubted that Biblical King David actually lived. But in 1993, Israeli archaeologist Avraham Biran discovered a ninth-century B.C. stone tablet among the rubble of a wall at Tel Dan in northern Israel. The 13 lines of script on the tablet commemorate the defeat of Baasha, king of Israel, by Asa of "the House of David." This provided not only the first corroboration of their warfare (described in 1 Kings 15), but also the first mention of the name David outside the Bible.

And I could go on and on. Obviously, the miracles described in the Bible, as well as its spiritual message, must be accepted on faith, which is the basis of our relationship with God. But archaeology does demonstrate that--at the very least--the people, places, and events of the Bible are real. And this is no small matter, since one of the claims of the Bible is that God has revealed himself through the history of the people of Israel. If the historical record isn't accurate, then the claims about God based on that record can't be trusted either.

And while any one piece of evidence can be dismissed as a coincidence or insufficient by itself, it is the weight of the myriad of discoveries that demonstrates so clearly that the Bible is indeed the word of God. Time and time again, when an argument is made against the Bible because of a lack of evidence for some claim or another, archaeology ends up proving the Bible accurate and trustworthy after all.

Over 25,000 sites have been discovered by archaeology pertaining to the Bible, as well as the records of tens of thousands of individuals and events. Nelson Glueck, the renowned Jewish archaeologist, said, "It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted its Biblical reference."

In fact, many archaeologists have been convinced by their own findings that the Bible is an astonishing book - some even to the point of becoming Christians. Sir William Ramsay, for, example, was a wealthy atheistic English archaeologist who was determined to disprove the Bible. He spent many decades over his diggings and published book after book, detailing his findings which all confirm the Word of God. Sir William finally declared that the Bible is accurate and is the Word of God as a result of his findings!

We can have every confidence that when the Bible says something happened, it happened. The biblical writers were not in the habit of falsifying evidence. Biblical kings, wars, cities, rivers, people-groups, palaces, springs, tools, events, shrines, religions, customs, and more have all been verified through archaeology. It's one more reason why I can confidently believe everything the Bible says.

Fulfilling Prophecy

2009-08-09T18:12:00.002-05:00

OK, as we're examining the trustworthiness of the Bible, in conjunction with our Sunday worship series, "The Messiah," I think the first thing that we ought to look at is this whole issue of Jesus fulfilling prophecy. There are really four separate questions to be addressed:

How do we know the prophecies were written before Jesus' birth? Couldn't they have been created after the fact?
Could Jesus have fulfilled the prophecies about the Messiah by coincidence?
Could Jesus have arranged the circumstances of his life so that he fulfilled the prophecies about the Messiah on purpose?
Did Jesus' followers embellish his life story after his death, claiming that he fulfilled prophecies that he, in fact, never did?

1. Were the prophecies about the Messiah fabricated?

It might seem hard for us to know when something was written in ancient times. After all, we don't have the original documents. All we have are copies of copies of copies. But there are several things that help us know that the prophecies about the Messiah were not fabricated, or invented after the fact.

The Dead Sea Scrolls contain many of the prophecies about the Messiah. During the excavation of the caves, archaeologists discovered at least fragments of every single Old Testament book, including a nearly intact scroll containing the entire book of Isaiah, which has more prophecies about the Messiah than any other book in the Old Testament. And while the prophet Isaiah lived 700 years before the time of Jesus, and these are just copies, many of these scrolls still date to over 100 years before the birth of Jesus. The scrolls confirm that there has been very little corruption of the biblical text through the copying process over the centuries--and certainly the prophecies about Jesus date to well before his birth.
Non-biblical sources are all in agreement that during the time of Jesus there was widespread anticipation among the Jewish people that a Messiah figure would come. Josephus, a Jewish historian from the first century A.D., is probably the most significant source of information on this time. However, Roman government records also show that there were many insurrections, rebellions, and revolts led by individuals who claimed to be Messianic figures. In fact, Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome in 70 A.D. as a result of one of these rebellions, and the Jewish people were scattered around the world until the founding of the modern state of Israel in 1947.
The Gospels, written within 30-50 years of Jesus' death, clearly portray Jesus as the Messiah, the fulfiller of prophecy. If there weren't an expectation of a Messiah, the readers of those stories would have instantly rejected them as nonsense, or at the very least, works of fiction.

2. Is it just coincidence that Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies?

OK, so there are some predictions that were made before Jesus' birth that line up with the biblical accounts of Jesus' life. Isn't it possible that someone would have come along eventually who looked like the picture that was painted? Wasn't it just a matter of time? After all, lots of "prophecy fulfillments" are really in the eye of the beholder, since prophecies usually tend to be rather vague.

It's true that some of the biblical prophecies about the Messiah are a little fuzzy; in fact, some of them weren't even considered to be Messianic prophecies until after Jesus came, and his followers realized that more Old Testament passages referred to him than they first thought. However, many of the prophecies are very specific, and rather restrictive, eliminating any real chance that any one person would fulfill the prophecies coincidentally.

In many places, the Bible tells us that the Messiah will be a descendant of David (2 Sam. 7:12-16; Isa. 55:3-5; Jer. 23:5-6)
The Messiah will be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2)--a small town of about 500-700 residents at the time of Jesus' birth. Certainly very few people were born there in human history.
The Messiah would establish his kingdom approximately 490 years after the prophet Daniel (see Dan. 9:24-26)--Jesus died 483 years later.

A team of mathemeticians have calculated the odds of only eight Messianic prophecies being fulfilled in one person to be one chance in one hundred million billion--millions of times greater than the total number of people who've ever walked the planet! It would be approximately like putting a sticker on a silver dollar, and then covering the state of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep, and then asking a blindfolded person to wander around the state and bend over and pick up one coin. The odds that they would pick the marked coin are the same odds that any person would fulfill even eight Messianic prophecies by coincidence.

The odds that any person would fulfill 48 different Messianic prophecies was one chance in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion! That's equal to the number of atoms in a trillion, trillion, trillino, trillion, billion universes the size of our universe! The prophecies are like a fingerprint--they're absolutely unique to only one life in all of history, the life of Jesus.

3. Did Jesus fulfill the Messianic prophecies on purpose?

Some people have wondered whether Jesus simply arranged his life so that he fulfilled the various prophecies about the Messiah. Growing up in that time period and knowing what the various prophecies were, perhaps he put himself in positions that could be construed as fulfillments of those prophecies.

For instance, in Zechariah 9:9, it says, "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a cold, the foal of a donkey." Jesus fulfilled that prophecy in Matthew 21:1-11. Surely, that scene could have been manufactured easily enough.

While some of the prophecies are of this type, many are far beyond Jesus' control:

As we've already seen, the Bible predicted where and when the Messiah would be born. Surely Jesus couldn't arrange that on purpose!
The Bible tells us who Jesus' ancestors would be.
One Messianic prophecy promises that his bones would never be broken (Ex. 12:46; Jn. 19:31-37)
The Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12; Matt. 26:15)
He was given wine vinegar to drink while on the cross (Ps. 69:21; Jn. 19:28-30)

These and many more show that Jesus couldn't have possibly fulfilled the Messianic prophecies intentionally through guile and smarts.

4. Was the story of Jesus' life altered by his followers after the fact?

So, we know the prophecies already existed at the time of Jesus' birth. We know he couldn't have fulfilled them by accident or on purpose. But maybe he didn't fulfill them at all. Maybe his followers "padded his resume" a bit, to bolster their religion that they had started. After all, it would help give them credibility if they could convince people that Jesus was in fact the Messiah. Maybe they just said that he was born in Bethlehem, from the line of David, and so forth, and none of it's true.

There are several insurmountable problems with this line of thinking:

There were many eyewitnesses to Jesus' life when the Gospels were written. Those within the Church accepted these accounts of the life of Jesus as scripture. But if the eyewitnesses had disagreed with the versions written down by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they never would have risen to the status of scripture--they would have been discounted and ignored.
The Gospel writers didn't do their writing in isolation. Luke, for example, says that he thoroughly researched everything. They spoke with lots of people. If the Gospel writers had played fast and loose with the truth, someone in the Christian community would have gone to them and said, "Look, Matthew, we're trying to share a message of Jesus, which is all about righteousness and truth; don't taint it with these lies."
The Jewish community had even more motivation to discount the Gospel accounts. They were trying to put down this whole Jesus-movement. They would have jumped on any opportunity to discredit the Gospels by pointing out falsehoods, but there is no historical evidence that anyone of that time period made the claim that the fulfillment of prphecies was falsified. Not one example.
Most importantly, if the Gospel writers themselves had known that they were perpetrating a fraud, they wouldn't have given up their lives for it. Every single one of the twelve disciples were killed for their faith, with the exception of John, who spent his final years in exile on the island of Patmos. If they didn't believe that their story was true, none of them would have been willing to die.

As astonishing as it is, the only feasible conclusion is that God revealed his plan to prophets hundreds of years ahead of time. He arranged history so that we would be able to identify the one and only Messiah when he came, and Jesus is the only person in the history of the world who fulfilled the prophecies about the Messiah. Because of fulfilled prophecy, I know I can trust the rest of what the Bible has to say.

But this is only one reason I find the Bible to be trustworthy. I'll be sharing more reasons in the coming weeks. Because if we can truly believe what the Bible says, it makes all the difference in the world.

Who was Jesus?

2009-08-02T16:27:00.002-05:00

To say there's a lot of interest out there about who Jesus is, would be a colossal understatement. I did a Yahoo! search on "Jesus" just to see what would happen--it came back with 678 million different web pages for me to peruse (over 2/3 of a billion different websites that refer to Jesus!!). If I were to visit 1000 sites a day, it would take me just over 1857-1/2 years to see them all.

And I wonder, if I were to examine them, how many of them agree? Because it seems to me that there are as many opinions out there about Jesus as there are people--everyone's got their own take. Here are some of the answers I found out there:

Barbara Thiering, author of the book, Jesus and the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls, contends that Jesus "was born, according to the modern calendar, in the year 7 BC, in a religious community near the Qumran plateau, 25 km. east of Jerusalem. His mother conceived him while she was engaged to be married, at a time when people in the community she lived in still considered her to he a virgin. As a result, some regarded her son as illegitimate. In later life, he married twice and fathered three children. Emerging as a religious leader, he was arrested for infringing the rules of Judaism. As punishment, he was sentence to death, but survived a bungled execution. His loyal followers helped him to escape and he spent the rest of his life in hiding, meeting with friends and helping his associates to write documents that would spread his ideas. He was 70 when he died, possibly in France."
David Bergland, the 1984 candidate for president on the Libertarian ticket, opines: "Jesus was not divine, but was a prophet, a fabulous man who taught morality through parables, and gathered a great following.... he may or may not have been crucified, but his followers went on to build a religion and a church based on his teachings. The basis for this belief is, typically, that millions of people have believed in him for 2,000 years so he must have existed. But being the son of God, the miracles, death and resurrection-that’s just a bit much for anyone with a healthy stripe of skepticism."
From a Jewish perspective, the official website of the Jews And Hasidic Gentiles - United To Save America insists, "The man known today as 'Jesus'... became a 'king' (over the Christian church) who changed the original Law, doing away with the Hebrew calendar and the Biblical holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkos the Festival of Tabernacles, Passover, etc.). He disregarded the one, infinite G-d of the Hebrew Bible in favor of a new 'trinity' that included himself. And he repeatedly broke the Law by committing terrible sins, while openly challenging the G-d-given authority of the rabbis of the Sanhedrin.
Naturally, Jesus did sometimes pretend to respect the Law, but whenever he thought he could get away with it, he turned right around and broke that same Law. In Matthew 5:17-19, he declared that he came to fulfill the Law, and in Matthew 23:1-3 he defended the authority of the rabbis. But the rest of the time, he rebelled against the Law—thus showing that his occasional words of piety were meant only to hide his evil agenda."

But, of course, the divergence of opinion isn't surprising--or at least it shouldn't be. People were divided about Jesus from the very beginning. In Matthew 16:13, he asks his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" and they responded with all sorts of answers that various people had offered up:

John The Baptist
Elijah
Jeremiah
One of the prophets

Today, we wonder how people could confuse Jesus with these other personages. But in an age without mass communication and photography, it would be easy for people to confuse Jesus and John the Baptist--they had a similar message and both called the people of Israel to repentance because of "the kingdom of God." When people are going off of second- and third-hand reports, it's natural they might confuse the two.

When people confused Jesus with great Biblical heroes from the past, they were essentially saying that Jesus' ministry reminded them so much of what they had heard about these historical figures, he must be some kind of reincarnation or a second coming of these great men. And in fact the last prophecy in the Old Testament promises, "I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes" (Mal. 4:5). We understand John the Baptist to be the prophet like Elijah who prepared the way for Jesus the Messiah, but the people back then thought perhaps Jesus was that Elijah figure, or some other person from Israel's history.

Nicodemus, in John 3, approached Jesus and told him, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." What remains implicit is that Nicodemus nevertheless is having trouble figuring out what to make of Jesus' ministry. Jesus routinely criticizes the Pharisees (a group to which Nicodemus belongs) who are simply doing the best they can to obey all the commands and precepts of God flawlessly. What Jesus pointed out is that God was looking for an internal transformation, not external compliance, and most of the Pharisees did not love what God loves. It's a question of identity--would the Messiah really come down on the most religious, most holy, most respected Jewish leaders of the day, and instead hang around with prostitutes and lepers?

In Matthew 13:54-55, we read that the people of his hometown took offense at him and were amazed by his teachings: "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" they asked. "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?" In other words, they asked, "Isn't he just an ordinary person? Where does he get off?" It's a question of identity.

Although characters in the Bible struggled with Jesus' identity, the writers of the New Testament did not. They simply presented Him as the divine Son of God. The Gospels declare that he is who he claims to be. So in the end, the question about Jesus is really a question about scripture--is it reliable? Can it be believed? When the Bible records what Jesus said and did, is it accurate?

We can either accept the Bible as trustworthy, or reject it as fanciful myth-making. But we should have reasons for whatever judgment we make. As we go through our weekly message series series on "The Messiah", I'll be blogging about why I believe the Bible to be trustworthy and true, and why we can believe in Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Alpha and Omega, the Lord Almighty who reigns supreme as God over the universe.

Comfortable Christianity

2009-07-27T10:04:00.003-05:00

Over the last month on this blog, we've looked at "The Easy Three-sy", the easy, less demanding versions of The Key Three, which are the core values of our church. Whereas a real, authentic faith produces Real Spirituality, Real Community, and Real Story, the Easy Three-sy settles for fake versions of these vital expressions of the Christian life.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who died in a Nazi concentration camp, wrote famously in his seminal work, The Cost of Discipleship, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."

That's not a very popular notion with most American Christians. In America, we've been conditioned to believe:

that the fastest and the easiest is the best,
that suffering and sacrifice are useless,
that convenience is a necessity,
that waiting for anything is a bother,
that pleasure and fun are inalienable rights.

If you don't believe me, just watch our commercials. Every product and service promises instant, easy, convenient fun for the purchaser:

Are you tired of the hassle of going to the dry cleaners? Then buy our easy dry-clean-at-home solution!
Have you had it with knives that go dull and have to be sharpened? Then get these knives that chop through steel and never need sharpening again!
Overwhelmed by all the phone calls from creditors? Then call us, and we'll send you our proven system that simply and quickly transforms your debt into wealth!

So in a culture where running errands is understood as suffering, it's easy to see how death is a tough sell. And yet that's, of course, what Jesus expects of us: "Anyone who does not carry his cross and folllow me cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27 NIV). As his listeners well understood, a cross was not just a heavy burden to carry, but was the principal device of torture and execution in the Roman Empire at the time. Today, Jesus might say, "Anyone who does not sit in his electric chair and follow me cannot be my disciple." And just in case he hasn't been explicit enough, to drive the point home, he reiterates just 6 verses later, "Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple" (v. 33).

Jesus's expectations for us fly in the face of the "Comfortable Christianity" most of us have consumed for most of our lives--the Easy Three-sy we've grown accustomed to. But if Jesus's expectations are different than our own, whose ought to shift or bend?

I think that notion is worth pondering for a while. Here, I'll stop typing for a little bit while you chew on that thought.

Just a casual scan through the Gospels reveals much about the kind of lives that Jesus expected us to live, as his followers:

"When they arrest you, do not worry"
"All men will hate you because of me"
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body"
"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it"
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me"
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first"
"A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God"
"In this world you will have trouble"

It's a wonder that we can read any of these words and still believe in a comfortable Christianity. Yet it happens all the time. Somehow, we just skip over these words of Jesus (and much more from Paul, Peter, James, and the rest!), and we figure that they don't really apply to us, somehow. After all, we're Americans! We don't do the suffering-thing. (When the world criticizes church-people for being hypocrites, this is what they are talking about--they're willing to at least respect all-out commitment, even if they don't agree, but to live the same life that everyone else is living and call it better somehow? That's a little hard to swallow.)

So the question for American Christianity, in a way, becomes... How do we become less American and more Christian?

You see, this isn't a struggle for our brothers and sisters in China, Iraq, Egypt, India, and North Korea--they don't have this problem at all. In a way, when there is no external persecution coming against the Church, the living of a Real Faith becomes much more difficult; there is no crisis that forces us to choose it, we don't recognize our impoverishment that shows us how much we need it.

So Real Faith is born from all the little choices we make along the way:

Will I always give to God sacrificially of my time and money?
Will I worship with reckless abandon, regardless of what others may think?
Will I reveal my weaknesses and failures to others so that I can grow to overcome them, even though it makes me vulnerable?
Will I talk with my neighbors and coworkers about Jesus and my church, not knowing whether my talking will be welcome or not?
Will I serve others when I have the opportunity to serve myself?
Will I continually say "yes" to God, regardless of how much he asks of me?

Will you?

Fake Story

2009-07-19T17:55:00.002-05:00

This morning we had an all-church-family gathering, where we talked about some of the challenges and obstacles that face our church body in this current climate. I was so proud and grateful for the Real Community we enjoyed together, as we had people asking hard and honest questions, receiving hard and honest answers, and telling their very personal stories about what God is doing in their lives. We took off our masks and intereacted with one another as real people. It was an awesome time together.

As people opened themselves up and shared their stories from their hearts, I was struck by the realization of how the combination of Real Spirituality (our authentic relationship with God) and Real Community (our authentic relationship with one another) really does serve as the foundation for Real Story (our authentic relationship with the world). When God is active and working, and we are sharing life with one another on a personal level, we have something relevant and attractive to share with the world around us. I want to remind everyone who was here this morning to remember to share the stories you heard with the people that you come in contact with this week.

Real Story is sharing with other people the real difference that a relationship with Jesus makes in our lives. Real Story is talking about the problems of a life without Jesus and how knowing Jesus makes all the difference in every way that matters. Real Story is sharing about our own journeys and the journeys of others we know in a way that the people around us can relate to it, and then inviting them to come consider a life with Jesus.

But when we're living lives of Fake Spirituality and Fake Community, we can't talk about how Jesus makes all the difference--because he makes hardly any difference at all. We haven't made the decision to obey God in every area of our lives; we pick and choose what we want to obey and what we don't. And our lives look just like everyone else's lives. Our biggest fear is having our masks ripped off to show our hypocrisy. When that happens, all we have to offer the world is Fake Story.

Fake Story is trying to attract people to our church without relationships. If we don't have an authentic relationship with God or an authentic relationship with other people in our church family, we certainly can't develop an authentic relationship with those outside it--at work, in our neighborhood, in our kids' t-ball league. So we don't talk to them about Christ, about our church, or about the difference God can make--we don't have the foundation for that. What we do is work the registration table at the Easter Egg Hunt, or put a car in the Trunk or Treat, or sit at the Hospitality Tent at Soccer Camp. And hopefully, somehow because people's kids have gotten free candy, that will make them want to come to a worship service on Sunday morning and pray to receive Jesus as their personal Savior. Fake Story just doesn't work.

But that was never the intent of our outreach events. They were always intended to be a tool for relationships, not a substitute for them. They were meant to be a way for us to build closer relationships with the people in our lives, by providing us an opportunity to interact with them in a different context, to introduce them to other people in the church, and serve as a way for us to follow up with them afterwards--maybe even inviting them to attend, if our relationship with them is at that stage. But the event can't do all that by itself; it serves as a tool for the relationship, not a substitute.

The other way that outreach events can work successfully is if we establish new relationships with people at the event. If someone comes and we get the opportunity to start up a conversation with them, we might find some common ground with them and use that to meet together with them again so that the relationship can keep going--setting up a play date with our kids, for example. Then we can talk more about our church and our relationship with Christ. Again, the event is a tool, not a substitute.

But Fake Story can't handle relationships. Fake Story doesn't want to get close to people outside the church. Fake Story doesn't want to reveal anything too personal, or get in a place where there might be uncomfortable questions. Fake Story doesn't want to deal with unchurched people's messy problems or complicated lives. Fake Story wants to keep the lines of distinction clear and easy-- Us ............ Them--so that there will be plenty of space in-between.

Fake Story is rooted in fear--fear of being discovered as a fraud, fear of being labeled as a Bible-thumper, fear of being rejected, fear of going out on a limb, fear of being asked a question we can't answer, fear of looking foolish. So Fake Story is rooted in selfishness. Because none of our fears relate to the other person; they only relate to me. Fake Story is concerned only with me, not with them. If we were concerned about them, we'd cross over into Real Story, and share with them the truth that could save their souls and transform their lives.

You see, Fake Story is EASY. That's why these are called the Easy Threesy. It's convenient Christianity, life on my own terms with a Jesus Christ insurance policy for my soul.

But Christ's call is to something deeper, something richer, something REAL. Easy is FAKE. The only kind of faith that matters is the faith that actually costs you something (Mk. 10:17-23).

Can you get over your fears? With Christ's help you can. But are you willing? Will we do the hard thing of holding out the Hope of the World to the people that God has placed in our lives around us? Will we tell and share the Real Story?

Fake Community

2009-07-12T18:13:00.003-05:00

Last week, I didn't put anything up on this blog because I was on vacation over the 4th of July holiday in Kentucky. But this week, we're continuing our examination of The Easy Threesy, looking at Fake Community.

I believe that one of the most serious problems of the American church is that we pursue shallow, insignificant, insincere relationships with one another. We may not immediately see this as a spiritual issue that has any impact or reflection on our relationship with God, our ability to serve him effectively, or the power of our witness to the world, but that is preceisely the case.

Our Core Value of Real Community is all about having real, authentic, vital relationships with one another within our church body. For our relationships to meet the criteria of Real Community, we need to practice several essential habits:

Giving preference to the needs of others, rather than our own comfort;
Utilizing our gifts, abilities, and talents to serve others and build them up, instead of serving ourselves and feeding our own egos;
Recognizing the value of each member's uniqueness, and how both our strengths and our weaknesses can bring glory to God because of our connection with one another.

For any of these habits to become anchored in our lives, it requires difficult conversations, truthful self-revelation, accountability, deep respect and love for one another, and honest dialogue. That's exactly what Fake Community simply will not tolerate. Fake Community:

Places a high premium on easy relationships; it steers far clear of any relationships or conversations that could become difficult, uncomfortable, or potentially awkward.
Sees ministry as a platform for exalting oneself--whether in one's own eyes or others' eyes. Our ministry--not our identity in Christ--becomes the proof of our value and worth;
Gives lip service to loving other people, but grumbles and complains behind their backs about all the ways that they are irksome, irritating, and obnoxious. Fake Community is a fault-finding community, not a grace-giving community.

It really comes down to this: Do we exist for others, or do they exist for us? That's a very important question that gets down to the essence of our approach to all our relationships. On the night of his betrayal, after celebrating the first communion meal with his disciples, Jesus got down on his knees and washed each of his disciples' feet. As he did so, he asked them, "Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them." The text tells us that the reason he did this was to show them "the full extent of his love." (Jn. 13:1-17).

You see, Jesus lived a life that was all about service, and nothing about self. He came to serve, not to be served--even though he was worthy not only of service, but honor, power, glory, worship, devotion, obedience, reverence, and much more. But he didn't claim his right to these things. He humbled himself and took on the nature of a servant--to show us the full extent of his love.

A Real Community of Christ-followers--a group of people who actually seek to imitate Jesus in their lives--will nurture in themselves this same attitude that was in him (see Php. 2:1-11). Here's what happens if Real Community has been supplanted by Fake Community:

Grudges, grumbling, and gossip spread like a virus, squeezing out room for forgiveness;
Relationships are weak, so that they aren't able to stand up under difficult conversations. Either those conversations never happen, or they lead to a rift or separation;
Error, sin, and wrong attitudes are excused ("Oh, that's just Sally"), ignored, and not addressed so that relationships stay shallow and insincere;
When someone admits a failure or shortcoming, it creates awkwardness and discomfort in others because they expect everyone to keep up appearances. For someone to remove their mask and refuse to play the "image game" might mean that others will also be expected to reveal their own failures. The loss of a good image is the ultimate fear of Fake Community;
There is no sense of one's place in the body of Christ. Each member is a lone ranger--no authority, no accountability, no external expectations or standards. If such elements were introduced, they would elicit cries of "legalism!" and "authoritarianism!"

And the outcome is that we do not really know anyone, and no one knows us. We are lonely, isolated, and scared--when the family of God is meant to provide love, compassion, and care. Further, we have nothing interesting or compelling to offer a world that needs to see what love in action looks like because they're too jaded and cynical to believe that it really exists. Jesus said, "All men will know that you are my disciples by the love you have for one another" (Jn. 13:35). Fake Community ensures that they will not know--it emasculates our ability to tell others about Jesus. How can you tell if you have a problem with Fake Community?

When someone hurts you or slights you, do you say anything to them about it?
Are you eager to understand others' point of view? Do you ask questions before jumping to conclusions?
Are you patient with the weaknesses and failings of others?
Are you eager to serve and to give to those who have needs?
Do you take the initiative to connect with others so that they don't have to?
Do you serve without expectation of reward, recognition, or appreciation?
Are you grateful for who God has made you to be, with all your abilities and talents, to serve him and others in the body of Christ?

"No" answers indicate a tendency toward Fake Community. We can go through the motions, be in a small group, serve on a ministry team, and shake hands in the lobby--but if we keep people at arm's length about who we really are on the inside, we will never "get" what the church of Jesus Christ is all about. We will miss out on all that God has for us, and we will undermine the very mission of the church, the whole reason the church exists.

It's hard to belong to a Real Community. It takes effort and diligence. It requires honesty and vulnerability. Sometimes we'll get hurt. Sometimes we'll want to hide. But the payoff is so great. When we are connected with people who truly know us--the real us--and still love us, warts and all, we become empowered to live a life that is rich and free. It is so liberating to remove our masks and stand boldly and confidently with each other as beloved children of God!

Easy relationships are fake relationships. That's why Fake Community is one of The Easy Threesy. And fake is boring, it's pointless, and it's unattractive. I'm not really sure why anyone would want to waste their time with it, and yet we do. It's so much more enjoyable to get to know a real person instead of the mask they wear. It's so much more purposeful to talk about the real issues of life instead of the trivia. And it's so much more compelling to invite others to experience a depth of love they never realized was possible instead of another circle of shallow relationships they don't need.

Why not venture out into Real Community? Let's start being real with one another. Let's really give and receive the kind of love that Christ has poured out on us.

Fake Spirituality

2009-06-28T19:35:00.002-05:00

Last week, I talked about how both belief and unbelief can coexist, side by side, in our lives, and I tied it in to our core values--Real Spirituality, Real Community, and Real Story. When we are not following God completely, these vital components of a genuine faith degenerate into Fake Spirituality, Fake Community, and Fake Story. Lately, Pastor Brent and I have been calling these "The Easy Threesy" instead of The Key Three.

But beware! This degradation happens more easily than you might think, and unless we stay vigilant in our relationship with God, we are certain to drift into The Easy Threesy. This week, we're examining Fake Spirituality.

Real Spirituality is about possessing an authentic vertical relationship with God. For our relationship with God to be authentic, there are several important criteria:

We have to accept at the most basic level who he is and who we are. He is the Creator; we are the created. He is the Master; we are the slaves. He is the Father; we are the children. He is the Sovereign; we are the subjects. He is the Leader; we are the followers.
Because of the nature of this relationship, we have to accept his commands, his will, his plan, his cause, his wisdom--we have to live life his way. So we use "our" possessions, time, health, abilities, relationships, careers, and opportunities for his purposes.
Finally, we must understand that he is the proper object of our worship, and we must strive to eliminate all competitors for our heart's affection, staying connected to him in prayer and through his Word.

Fake Spirituality cleverly and subtly seeks to subvert each of these markers.

While giving lip service to God's authority, Fake Spirituality tries to soften God's complete and total demand on our lives. We end up fudging around the corners by being "reasonable," adopting our own notions of God's identity, instead of accepting who he has revealed himself to be. This can happen in a thousand different ways. One of the most common ones I hear is the insistence that "God would want me to be happy." And that idea is used to justify a wide variety of sin--even adultery and divorce! So the practitioner of Fake Spirituality continues to claim to accept and follow God, but it is not God as he has revealed himself to be through his Word.
When we start to make God "reasonable," it changes the kind of demands that he places on our lives. We begin to say things like, "Well, God would never ask me to give up my golf league; after all, there's nothing wrong with golf." And of course, there's nothing inherently wrong with golf, but God will ask us to give anything that stands in the way of us accomplishing his purposes for our lives. We will miss a call to enter the ministry, a call to serve overseas, a call to build a bridge with our next-door neighbors. In essence, we stop listening to God's demands to pursue a life of our own comfort and convenience, life on our own terms.
A person possessing Fake Spirituality may be at church every Sunday, but they do not have God as their object of worship. They might worship pleasure, power, possessions, popularity, or prestige. It might be career, thrills, politics, or alcohol. It could be anything... except God. For a person of Fake Spirituality, they may still pray, but they will find their prayer times dry and empty, and their prayers will go unanswered--because there is a lack of desire to truly hear what God is saying to them. When God demands something that we refuse to surrender, we lose our close connection to him.

Here's the problem: One event of obedience is never enough. We may experience a spiritual breakthrough in our lives--a time of learning, where we begin to understand God in a deeper way than we ever have before; a time of surrender, where we give up our resistance and humbly accept God's demands for that moment in our lives; a time of victory, where we overcome an addiction or a habit that has kept us in bondage--but that time will pass, and God will call us to experience him again a deeper level.

We cannot rest on that past success--God calls us to experience ongoing success in our lives. Surrendering to him is a continual process that never ends. To be people of Real Spirituality, we must learn to make surrender a habit--that we would constantly ask him what he would want from us next, and then seek to do it. In other words, that we would come to God, saying "yes" to him in advance--whatever it is that he wants to do.

Here are the tell-tale signs of Fake Spirituality, so that you can test yourself to see if you've wandered into complacency in your walk with Jesus. Do you live with:

A nostalgia for the past, when you felt closer to God?
Devotion to a program or ministry that at one time served as a tool for your growth?
Longing for a person that God had used formerly to draw you to himself?
An attachment to a particular style of music, preaching, or worship service--and if you don't have your preferred style you "can't worship"?

When we have fallen in love with the forms over the Former, it means trouble for us spiritually. There is no method, no person, no program that God deems necessary, but many times we are quick to override him. We declare things necessary that God has not, and in that way we demonstrate our refusal to accept his lordship over our lives. We demonstrate our Fake Spirituality.

You see, it's easy for this to happen. In fact, it happens all the time--it's the Easy Threesy. Real Spirituality, a vital, authentic vertical relationship with God, takes concentration and effort. It takes focus and determination. But O! What a joy to walk closely with God! To sense his presence and care, to know his faithfulness and love, to rest peacefully in the midst of chaos, to rejoice in the middle of suffering--it is the most wonderful thing in the world.

What is it that's holding you back? Why not say "yes" to God right now, and enjoy a return to Real Spirituality?

You believe... but how much?

2009-06-22T09:16:00.003-05:00

In Mark 9:14-29, the Bible records an interesting story about a demon-possessed boy whom Jesus' disciples were unable to help. The demon had robbed the young man of his speech, and would throw him to the ground in foamy-mouthed convulsions.

When the father brought the boy to Jesus, Jesus made a comment that seems a little harsh and maybe even out-of-place: "O unbelieving generation! How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?"

Unbelieving? Really? It's not as if Jesus had been around. Prior to this, he had been up on the Mount of Transfiguration, with Peter, James, and John. In fact, he had only just arrived on the scene. So since the father didn't have access to Jesus, he tried the next best thing--he asked some of Jesus' disciples for help. He asked the disciples whom Jesus himself had already commissioned and given authority to drive out demons (Mk. 6:7) to liberate his son from the evil spirit that was controlling his life.

But it seems that Jesus' appraisal of the situation was right on track, after all (imagine that!). For the father says, "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." Jesus responds, "'If you can'? Everything is possible for him who believes." And the father immediately answers back, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.

What a very interesting statement. It seems that belief and unbelief are not mutually exclusive, that we can possess both simultaneously. There are not many opposites that fall into this category, making belief and unbelief a rather unique pair. For example, it would be difficult to see how a light or a TV or a stove could be turned off and on at the same time. Not many people would ever think of saying, "I am relaxed; help me overcome my stress!" But belief and unbelief seem to be different.

At a recent conference, Craig Groeschel, pastor of Lifechurch.tv in Oklahoma, made the insightful observation that Christians usually live with and move among three different levels of belief:

I believe in the gospel enough to benefit from it.
I believe in the gospel enough to contribute to it comfortably.
I believe in the gospel enough to give my life to it.

At the first level, we believe enough to accept and enjoy the benefits of following Jesus--forgiveness of sin, assurance of eternal life, peace, hope, joy, acceptance, self-worth--but we don't want our faith to cost us anything.

At the second level, we begin to realize that it's not just about accepting God's love for us, but about loving God in return. So we begin to contribute our money, our time, and our talents and gifts for his use. We might join a small group where we can practice loving other people, or begin serving in some ministry to benefit other people. But, of course, we don't allow our faith to get in the way of the things we really want, like weekends of camping, our golf league, and a flat-panel TV or a big house. We contribute--but up to a point--not in a way that's going to inconvenience ourselves.

At the third level, there is no longer a concept of serving oneself. Faith and life are intertwined, and every decision, every dollar, every priority is made from a perspective of how best to serve and grow the Kingdom of God. There is an abandonment of self and a total commitment to God and his glory.

Groeschel says that true clarity comes not from the identification of these three levels, but from understanding that success at level three, can easily cause us to slip back into level two. This is because level three is where we grow spiritually, where our capacity for impact is expanded, where our understanding of God is deepened, and as we adopt this new level of belief, allowing it to sink deep into our hearts and minds, in time it becomes the new "normal" for us. It becomes a regular part of our lives. What was once sacrificial and challenging, now becomes... comfortable.

To return to level three, we must listen closely to what new steps God is asking us to take--steps that will lead us again out of our level of comfort and into the level of radical obedience and trust. And if we consistently resist what God wants to do in us, if we keep on saying "no" to him repeatedly, we find ourselves back at level one. We aren't really contributing to the gospel at that point--no matter what it looks like on the outside. Our spirituality becomes a matter of keeping up appearances. We're really only in it for the goodies we get, the benefits we find.

Belief and unbelief actually live quite easily side-by-side.

So it's as if Jesus is saying to us, "You believe... but how much?" The Bible tells us that Jesus will not do miracles where there is a lack of faith (Mt. 13:58). Faith in him is a condition that he places on everyone who comes to him, asking for his help. And without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6).

In our church, we talk often about Real Spirituality, Real Community, and Real Story--our Key Three. Our Key Three are all about living out a level-three faith. But there is a level-two version of these values that we often settle for--Fake Spirituality, Fake Community, and Fake Story. Together, they make up an unconvincing, unattractive, unfulfilling life. Starting next week, we're going to be exploring these counterfeit rivals for the vibrant, level-three faith that Jesus died to bring us.

But until then, you might start asking yourself, "How much do I really believe?"

God Is...

2009-06-14T17:59:00.002-05:00

For One Prayer 2009, we're focusing on the topic "God Is..." I mentioned today that we could spend every week for 100 years on this theme and never exhaust the richness and depth of the identity, activity and character of God. So, just for kicks, I figured if I were going to preach on this for a year, what are the first 52 topics I'd be sure to cover:

God Is Infinite
God Is Sovereign
God Is Intense
God Is Holy
God Is Waiting For You To Do Something
God Is Calling Us
God Is Right Here
God Is Right On Time
God Is On Mission
God Is An Anchor
God Is Deep
God Is Compassionate
God Is God
God Is Community
God Is One Of Us
God Is A Shelter In Trouble
God Is Trustable
God Is The God Of Abraham, Isaac, And Jacob
God Is I Am
God Is Father, Son, And Holy Spirit
God Is Patient
God Is All About Relationships
God Is Unfoolable
God Is Mysterious
God Is Omni-Everything
God Is With Us
God Is Our Liberator
God Is Life
God Is Light
God Is Better Than Anything (Even Coffee!)
God Is Perfect
God Is Strategic
God Is Really Smart
God Is Awesome
God Is Hilarious
God Is Knowable
God Is Dying To Meet You
God Is Creative
God Is Emotional
God Is Inexhaustible
God Is Responsive
God Is A Parent Of Brats
God Is Right
God Is A Change Agent
God Is A Procrastinator
God Is A Being, Not A Philosophical Construct
God Isnowhere
God Is A Delegator
God Is Persistent
God Is Extravagant
God Is Not Willing That Any Should Perish
God Is Accepting Friend Requests

What does your list look like? Who do you know God to be? Let's hear it!

US National Conference

2009-06-08T19:30:00.005-05:00

This past weekend, Pastor Brent, John Fisher (our lay delegate), and I attended the National Conference for the United Brethren in Christ, USA, in Huron, OH. Representatives from UB churches from around the entire country were present; altogether, nearly 900 people participated. The weekend included business, inspirational speakers, workshops, worship, and great opportunities for interaction and connection with old friends and new ones. It was a fantastic experience, very worthwhile. Here are some of the highlights.

We elected a new bishop--Phil Whipple from Colwood UB Church in Caro, MI. The bishop is the spiritual leader and overseer of our denomination. He sets the vision for our churches, and provides direction to the various teams that equip us to accomplish the vision. Bishop Whipple and I aren't what you'd call close, but I do know him. I believe he will be a very capable, godly leader for our denomination, and I'm extremely pleased to serve under his leadership. His term will begin in August.
Our main speaker was Dr. Tim Brown from First Baptist Church of Clovis, CA (my old stomping grounds as a high schooler). He shared his story about how he was called by God to "the worst church on earth" (the words of the chairman of the search committee). Getting ready to celebrate its 100th anniversary, the church had split every ten years of its history, and was down to about 60 people from nearly 400 just prior to the most recent split. It had a terrible reputation in the community, and was full of contention and bitterness. Yet God has used him to lead the church to health and vitality, serving their neighbors, and advancing the kingdom. They are now running about 900 in attendance on Sundays. His stories of God's grace were extremely powerful and offered hope that no situation is too dire or beyond God's transforming power.
Saturday morning, we attended various workshops designed to help us apply the main theme: XLR8--spread the word rapidly. We each found ours to be beneficial and practical.
Saturday evening focused on UB missions, with a fantastic presentation of the history of UB work around the world, and inspiring worship with the praise team from a UB church in Jamaica. Global ministries director, Jeff Bleijerveld gave the message.
Sunday wrapped up with an encouraging message from outgoing bishop Ron Ramsey and the installation service of our new bishop.

If you like, you can check out more at http://www.usnationalconference.com/.

In many ways, the state of our denomination is not strong. We have many weak and unhealthy churches, few resources, and a lot of inertia. This has been our condition for a lot of time, despite the best efforts of many godly leaders to change it.

However, I do feel that a fresh wind is blowing. There is a clear call to us as pastors that we must lead our churches to fulfill the Great Commission, and I am seeing many pastors respond to that call. The denomination equips us and empowers us to accomplish the mission, and slowly churches are beginning to turn around. This is an exciting time in the United Brethren Church. I'm sad that only three of us from our church had the privilege of participating in this conference. In 2011, I hope to see a strong contingent from PCC at National Conference, to be equipped, inspired, and informed for Kingdom service.

May God bless his church, as we seek to serve him without compromise!

One Prayer

2009-05-31T14:17:00.003-05:00

Starting next week, our church is going to be joining thousands of other churches around the world to participate in One Prayer 2009. Last year, the inaugural year of One Prayer, over 1800 churches worked together to plant over 660 churches in four countries. As a result of those efforts, over 7000 people have been baptized, and over 44,000 are enrolled in Bible studies.

This year, in addition to continuing and expanding those efforts, One Prayer churches will help transform communities through humanitarian projects such as providing clean drinking water, literacy instruction, safe housing, and micro-finance training.

Here's the plan:

Plant another 500 churches in each of the currently engaged target areas through current partnership networks. Working in Southern India, Sudan, Cambodia, and Northern China, we'll be supporting indigenous church planting in the most densely populated, difficult, strategic areas remaining on the planet.
Start pilot programs with holistic community transformation initiatives in at least two (and up to four) of these geographical target areas. We'll be equipping the best and brightest of church planters in the existing One Prayer network to begin community transformation initiatives geared towards improving the living standards in their communities. These initiatives will be easy to deploy, grass roots, micro-interventions that make sense in their communities.
Add one additional target area in Northern India and plant an additional 100 churches. Northern India is densely populated with unreached populations that are predominately Hindu, Muslim and tribal/animistic, and this new church planting movement will allow One Prayer to make inroads into those communities. With the outbreak of terrorist attacks in Northern India, the One Prayer movement will be strategically positioned with a relevant and powerful response to the violence.

The One Prayer network tears down all sorts of barriers--big church/small church, evangelical/mainline, high church/low church, traditional/contemporary, Reformed theology/Wesleyan-Arminian theology. In so many ways it is the answer to the prayer of Jesus in John 17: "I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

Imagine what could happen if the churches of the world that claim the name of Jesus Christ were all united in the same effort--to bring massive change to the areas of our globe that most desperately need it! Planting churches, training pastors, and starting Bible studies in regions where very few, if any, people follow Jesus. Think of the difference that we can make!

One Prayer's vision is not just global, however. We'll also have the chance to impact our local community through serving them with tangible expressions of God's love. You'll be hearing more about these opportunities throughout the campaign. But make sure you're here next week as we kick it off and join in this exciting movement to literally change our world for Christ and his kingdom!

This June, let's take part in an extraordinary worldwide experience: One Prayer 2009. Unite with churches around the globe to share, serve, and give: http://www.oneprayer.com/

A Crash

2009-05-18T10:14:00.003-05:00

My heart aches this morning. On my way in to the office, I passed an accident that occurred on our road about 1500 feet before I turned into our church driveway. I could only see one car that had run off the road and up into somebody's front yard. The car didn't look like it was in too bad of shape--a little banged up, but it didn't hit a tree or anything. I said a prayer for the driver and prayed that anyone else who might have been involved was ok. The police were working the scene and directing traffic, so I didn't think too much about it.

But about a half hour ago, I learned that the driver of the car was a teacher at Flora List Elementary School, Mrs. Page; the accident happened as she was on her way to school this morning. She was ejected from the car and pronounced dead at the scene. There's a brief article here.

As we are located less than a mile from the school, I immediately called to see if there was anything we could do, but they informed us that they had all the help there that they could use.

I'd ask that you remember the Page family in your prayers, as they deal with this sudden and tragic loss. Pray also for the kids in Mrs. Page's classroom, and the other children in the school. Flora List is only for children in Kindergarten and First Grade, so these are very young kids who are experiencing this tragedy. Pray that each child (and adult) will receive the counseling they need.

Flora List is the school in which Kids Hope mentors from our church meet with the child that each of them has been assigned to. I don't yet know if any of our mentors have a child from Mrs. Page's classroom, but I'd also ask that you pray for any that might. They will have an especially important responsibility as they help their child process through this loss.

Every day matters. Every moment is important. This is why the Bible reminds us, "As for mortals, their days are like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more" (Psalm 103:15-16 TNIV). And that is why the Bible instructs us to root our lives in God, who "has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all" (Psalm 103:19 TNIV). We just never know what's around the next corner; the only thing we know is that life can't make any sense if there's not a God who is bigger and greater than we are.

Road Trip

2009-05-10T16:50:00.005-05:00

Over the course of my 34 years, I've had the privilege of joining in on eight major road trips, which have largely accounted for my having visited 46 states and eight countries:

With my family in a motorhome to Idaho;
With my dad and brother around the country on a three-week whirlwind tour of "guy-stuff" (MLB Hall of Fame, NFL Hall of Fame, Little League World Series, Mammoth Cave & more);
With my dad to visit potential colleges;
With a traveling music team on a three-month missions trip that went all over the countries of the United States and Venezuela;
With three college friends on a spring break adventure, covering 6400 miles in eight days;
With five college friends on a January-term adventure, as four of them sang in a gospel quartet in various stops along the way;
With my grandmother and 20-some other people on a tour bus around Italy (a college graduation present);
With Tanya on our "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" vacation, where we rented a convertible and drove with the top down along the Pacific Coast Highway.

In my mind, at least, there are several factors that distinguish a road trip from a simple vacation:

First of all, there must be more involved than simply going to a destination and back. In addition to these road trips, I've visited Disney World, New York City, and Hawaii. But the main focus of those trips was going somewhere and returning--not a road trip.
Second, if you're moving (no matter how far), it doesn't count. I've moved cross-country several times, but I'm not counting any of those. Road trips are supposed to be fun; moving is never fun--not a road trip.
Third, you have to be on the road for at least a week. Going to a friend's house for a weekend, being in a wedding, going to Grandma's for the holidays--not a road trip.

As a road-tripping veteran (maybe even expert??), I can identify several factors that make a road trip worthwhile and noteworthy:

Every day, different places. One of the great things about a road trip is that you keep on seeing new sites. The journey's the thing. There may be other things going on that you have to do along the way, but the trip itself is what you remember.
Every day, the same faces. It's the same people with you, day-in and day-out, in your car, van, bus, motorhome or vehicle of choice. So the memories you have, while they include places, they really center around people. It's the relationships that are central on a road trip.
Every day, new graces. Whenever you confine people to a limited space, it will always breed some form of conflict. But being committed to the trip, committed to the relationships, and committed to good memories forces the parties involved to work it out--to compromise, to extend grace, to communicate through misunderstandings. And that in itself is a wonderful thing.

In a lot of ways, a road trip is a good metaphor for the church. We're all joined together on a spiritual journey, where there is a destination in mind, but it's the roads we take along the way, the sights we see, and the people we share it with that make all the great memories. And as we're committed to the trip, committed to the relationships, and committed to good memories, we work together to resolve conflict and maintain unity, encouraging and supporting one another along the way.

In this particular road trip, we seek to pick up all the hitchhikers and strays along the way that we possibly can, always scooting over to make room for one more. After all, the more the merrier, the greater the variety, the richer the experience, the deeper the satisfaction, the fonder the memories.

Next week, we're kicking off our series, "Road Trip," an exploration of faith and community, an affirmation of relationships and the value of each person, and an inspiration for all of us to recommit to the journey and life together.

I'd encourage you to consider who you can invite to this series. The longing for connection and true relationships is deep in the human soul--it speaks to the very depths of what God made us for (Gen. 2:18). I'm sure you know someone who is longing to be loved, longing for acceptance, longing for belonging. And we can all find it at the foot of the cross. This series is good news of healing to a hurting world. Be sure to bring a hurting friend.

Taking Our Church To The Moon

2009-04-26T20:49:00.003-05:00

During the offering today, we played a short, parodic song by Sara Groves called "To The Moon":

It was there in the bulletin
We're leaving soon
After the bake sale to raise funds for fuel
The rocket is ready and we're going to
Take our church to the moon

There'll be no one there to tell us we're odd
No one to change our opinions of God
Just lots of rocks and this dusty sod
Here in our church on the moon

We know our liberties, we know our rights
We know how to fight a very good fight
Just grab that last bag there and turn out the light
We're taking our church to the moon
We're taking our church to the moon
We'll be leaving soon

I think this is such brilliant satire about the way we as Christians have sought to use the church as a vehicle to insulate ourselves from the world around us. That impulse, while perhaps understandable, is always wrong.

Christ calls his followers to be agents of his kingdom in this world, actively bringing salt to the decaying and light to the darkness. The church is an outpost for his kingdom, not a retreat center for us.
Christ himself, as our model and example, gave primacy to the needs and nurture of the people he encountered each day--from his disciples to his benefactors to the crowds of people to the random person he might come across. He never struck a posture of retreating from the world and its needs, but rather charging headlong into them. In fact, if his object had been shelter from the world, he need not have come here at all, but simply stayed in heaven.
To the degree that one views the church this way, it mitigates even the possibility of mission. The more removed the church is from the world, the more impossible it is to call anyone out of the world into the love of God found in Jesus Christ.

We would never be so ridiculous as to take our church "to the moon." Instead, we just take it to the suburbs, where we don't have to deal with homeless people, racial tensions, or poverty. Or we might not physically relocate, but we could take our church out of the life of the community that God has called us to reach--present in architecture, absent in impact, absorbed in our own internal machinery. It might as well be the moon, which I believe is the point of Sara's song.

Our church... our opinions... our liberties... our rights...

Our language is revealing. Where is God in this song? Is he leading, directing, moving, working? Is his power evident? Hardly. This is a song about a group of people who have come to see their church as their own private possession--an asset to be handled and manipulated by mutual consent for each one's own personal benefit. And now, these ingenious innovators have discovered the most effective way possible to achieve their aims of isolation and irrelevance... simply ditch the planet!

This is all (ostensibly) part of fighting the good fight--quite a twist on Paul's original idea in 2 Tim. 4:7. Whereas he had lived his entire Christian life for the purpose of bringing as many as possible to a saving knowledge of the Son of God, these "Christians" of the Church On The Moon have lived their entire lives for the purpose of avoiding anyone who might challenge them, change them, or bring any kind of discomfort to them.

It's easy to laugh at these simpletons in Sara's song, but are we really laughing at ourselves? Why do we call our meeting room a "sanctuary"? What does it provide sanctuary from? What do we mean when we say "our church" or "my church"? How often do we moan about the perceived loss of our rights? Why are there 193 million hits on Yahoo! for the phrase "church politics"?

The Immediate Vision of Pathway Community Church is to trigger a dramatic reaction between our neighbors and Christ in a fusion of real needs and real love. It is a vision designed to shield us from many of the errors that are commonplace in Christ's church in America these days--isolation, alienation, introspection, apathy, selfishness, arrogance, irrelevance, and more.

It's an antidote to The Church On The Moon.

My only hope is that it sinks down deep into the fiber of who we are so that we truly are immune against the sicknesses that have infected Christ's church, so that we can become the church he is calling us to be.

There will be no blog posting next week. Tanya and I will be headed to a pastors' retreat center in Wisconsin for a much-anticipated week of just-us-time.

Town Hall For Hope

2009-04-19T18:02:00.007-05:00

This Thursday, along with over 6,000 other venues nationwide, we'll be hosting a live feed of financial advisor and media personality Dave Ramsey's Town Hall For Hope. This event is entirely free! And it is sure to be one of the most inspiring experiences of your life related to money.

If you're not familiar with Dave Ramsey, you're simply missing out. He is doing the kind of work that I wish more Christians were--occupying "secular" space in the public square and bringing to it an informed, competent, practical, uncompromising, compelling Christian voice. Both his radio program (6:00pm, 970 WKHM) and his TV show (8:00pm & midnight, Fox Business Network) focus on the financial questions, problems, and needs of all kinds of people. Dave listens to the questions with patience and compassion and answers them with a clear, no-nonsense message that is rooted in biblical principles.

While Dave is unabashedly Christian (his signature sign-off for each hour includes the injunction: "And remember, the only way to financial peace is to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus"), he is not a Bible-thumper or a blowhard. He understands that he has an audience with a diverse spectrum of beliefs, and his goal is to help each one of them, but he does so always using sound, biblical financial principles. While his answers and comments are always consistent with scripture, he only occasionally makes the conection explicit for his audience because his show is not intended to be a biblical studies class. And yet his audience knows clearly where Dave is coming from.

One of Dave's great strengths is to bring a calm head to any financial situation--whether a caller is struggling under mountains of credit card debt or simply wanting to know the best way to diversify their portfolio. He has a clear, easy-to-understand, practical way of explaining finances that ordinary people can understand. He's funny and engaging. And, perhaps more importantly, he gives people a roadmap to travel by, empowering them to make good financial decisions and imparting hope that they can actually get to their desired destination.

In Jackson, there is a great deal of economic struggle, and this has been our condition for some time. The recent national/global recession has only intensified our local one. Unemployment in our county is now at 12.7%; statewide unemployment is 10%, highest in the nation. The daily news about the auto industry leaves little optimism that anything is likely to change here for the better soon. And yet each one of us has the power to make our own decisions and chart our own direction. Even in today's economic climate, there are things that each of us can do to take charge of our financial present and future--regardless of what our past experience has been.

All of this is why I'm so glad to be able to bring The Town Hall For Hope to our community. We are an area in need of hope. Each of us are surrounded by neighbors and friends and family in need of hope. All of us need to be reminded of our ultimate hope, which rests in Christ. This is yet another opportunity for us to trigger a dramatic reaction between our neighbors and Christ in a fusion of real needs and real love.

I want to urge each of you to carve out a little bit of time on Thursday evening to attend this nationwide event. I'd encourage you to also bring someone with you that you think may benefit from a message of hope and encouragement. Let's bring hope to Jackson!

Keeping Score (Part 2)

2009-04-06T15:41:00.002-05:00

...Continued from last week

4. Conversions & Baptisms vs. Amoeba Movement
We've always kept score of people who make first-time decisions for Christ (as best we can tell) and people who make the decision to be baptized. While these continue to be important decisions that people make, we recognize that there are other important decisions as well. Spiritual growth isn't just about being "in" or "out" of a relationship with Christ. Both those in and out are engaged in a process, a spiritual journey. In our church, we relate that to an amoeba, where Jesus is the nucleus, and we want to encourage people to keep moving in toward the center. Someone who is hostile toward God or Christianity, for instance, may become open to engaging in spiritual dialogue as we demonstrate love toward that person. Someone who has been attending church for a while may decide to join a small group or get involved in serving in a ministry. These kinds of decisions--and others as well--are all important. Anytime anyone takes a step in their spiritual growth, we want to make note of that, and consider that a "score"--not count just certain steps.

5. Under Budget vs. Community Presence
Formerly, we would consider an event a success if it came in under budget. If the money that was spent was less than the money allocated, then it was considered to be used wisely--regardless of the outcome of those expenditures. But what we are realizing is that even if you spend only $400 of $500 that you could have spent, it still may not have been used wisely. In fact, it might be even better to spend the extra $100 if it will increase the credibility of our church in the community. For the extra $100, if we can increase our community impact and community presence, then we should do it. On the other hand, if we can increase our community presence for free, that's even better. There are many things that don't cost any money at all--time, love, service, kindness, humility, relational contact--and those are the things that we need to focus on, not the bottom line (even as important as the bottom line is). Those are the things that will help us win, regardless of the balance in the checking account.

6. Did we have fun? vs. Did we trigger a dramatic reaction?
In the past, we would judge the success of our events largely based on whether we had a good time doing them. If we enjoyed it, we would plan to do it again. While ministry should be fun, I think a much better gauge of success is whether we actually trigger a reaction in the people that we're serving. If nobody is changed or impacted, it really doesn't matter how much fun we have because the mission of the church is not to be an amusement center for the members, it's to bring people into an ever-deepening relationship with Jesus Christ.

So these are the ways that we're trying to change how we keep score. Only if we have a proper scoreboard can we know if we are actually winning (i.e., advancing the mission of our church). Each year, we want to do better than we did the previous year. And while there's nothing bad or wrong about things running smoothly, being under budget, having fun, and so forth, we've decided those aren't the right criteria for evaluation. They're not bad... they're just off-target. If we really want to win, we have to have the right tools for judging ourselves.

This week, we have the free movie for the community at the Michigan Theatre on Friday at 7:00pm. (Check out our website for more information on that!) Then we have the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday (registration at 10:30am, hunt at 11:00am). Then we have the Easter services on Sunday at 9:30 & 11:00 with breakfast available before each service. We're keeping score! Let's see how well we do in engaging in relational contact, helping people move through the amoeba, bringing unchurched people, increasing our community presence and reputation, triggering a dramatic reaction, and claiming ownership of the various activities of our church.

Keeping Score

2009-03-30T19:55:00.003-05:00

In January, I announced that we would be waging an all-out assault on losing in our church. For more on that, you can read this post. But part of being a winning church is making sure that we are keeping proper score. What constitutes a "win"? How do we know when we've hit the target (or missed the target)? What is it that counts?

This is a conversation the elders and I have been having for the last several weeks, and here are some of the things we've come up with. We recognize that there's been a faulty scoreboard that we've been using, and we're trying to replace it with a more accurate one. Here are some of the changes that we're working on. I'll be covering three of the paradigm shifts this week, and three next week.

1. Number of People vs. Number of Unchurched People
In the past, if it was Soccer Camp or a worship service or a Primetimers picnic, we gauged the success of an event by the overall number of people. We still want to keep track of everybody, but now we're most interested in the number of unchurched people that we can get involved and connected to our church. The reason is that we will never bring unchurched people to a growing and deepening relationship with Christ if we can't get them established in a community that will support and encourage them on their spiritual journeys. The number of unchurched people is an indicator of how well we are accomplishing our mission.

2. Percentage of PCC People Involved vs. Percentage of PCC People Who "Own" It
In the past, we would consider something successful if we could get a large percentage of our church actively involved. Soccer Camp, Dinner Theatre, Trunk Or Treat, 40 Days of Community, and small groups are all examples of things that we have encouraged "everybody" to be a part of. But not everybody needs to be involved in everything that comes around. We are realizing that we need to allow people to decide for themselves what is going to be the best use of their time, talents, and resources for God's kingdom, rather than trying to give them the "hard sell" to get involved. Rather than grumpy, reluctant participation, what I'd much prefer is for someone to not be involved but nevertheless excited about what their church is doing. I'd rather have someone brag to their friend about something they're not personally involved in than to have their arm twisted so that they're burdened down by yet another church activity. And I want everyone who does choose to participate to do so because they're genuinely excited about this opportunity they have to serve and give of themselves.

3. Everything Runs Smoothly vs. Relational Contact
In the past, we placed a heavy emphasis on a smooth-running operation. We wanted ministries and events that were well-organized and well-executed. And while there's nothing wrong with that, it has led us often to fuss over minor details and neglect the opportunity to engage with people standing right in front of us. If someone comes to a well-oiled event, they may have a good time, but if they are personally engaged and someone takes an interest in their real life and their real needs, they're much more likely to be impressed with PCC as a place that oozes love (which is what Jesus said would be the hallmark of his church in Jn. 13:35). Now, rather than observing the administrative details, we'd rather hear stories about new relationships that were established and existing relationships that were strengthened. We are additionally trying to think of ways that we can make our ministries and our events more intentionally relationship-intensive.

Tune in next week for three more shifts that we're making in evaluating the effectiveness of our ministries and events.

The People Business

2009-03-26T18:22:00.004-05:00

I wasn't able to get a blog post up earlier in the week, like I usually do, and I apologize to those of you who are regular readers here, and maybe wondering what I'm up to. It's been quite a week, but most of it has been really good.

For the most part, I've been engaging in the people business. On Sunday, we talked about how the call of Jesus on Peter's life in Luke 5:1-11 was a call out of the fishing-for-fish business and into the fishing-for-people business. People matter. People are important. People are what God has been concerned with ever since he created us.

And yet people can be infuriating. People can be irritating. People can be frustrating and maddening and insufferable! People will disappoint you. People will fail you. People will lie to you and use you and manipulate you. People will betray you. People will undermine you.

That's what they did to Jesus, at least. If you decide to hang around people long enough, they'll do it to you too. So then the question is this:

How will we respond?

This is an important question. It's one our whole life really hinges on. It's one that determines our reputation, our integrity, our usefulness for God's kingdom, and maybe even our salvation (at least, that's what Jesus seems to suggest in Matthew 25:31-46).

So what's it going to be? How will we respond?

Because the call for Peter was not an isolated moment in time, and it wasn't directed at just him. It's a call for all of us who claim the title of "Jesus Follower."

If you're a member or attender of PCC, I want to encourage you not to miss this Sunday. From time to time, I know we might all skip a week here or there. Please don't skip this one. I believe this Sunday's message is one for all of us, and it's one we all need to hear--me included. It's a message about the call of Christ--and what we do with it--when we feel like we'd rather just quit.

So get the word out! Make sure you're there, and make sure everyone else is too!

Economic Realities

2009-03-15T15:51:00.003-05:00

I don't publicly discuss financial factors related to the church very often, and there are several reasons for that:

The Bible tells us, "Each person should give what they have decided in their hearts to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7 TNIV). I don't want to do anything that would cause people to feel that they have to give or that would cause them to give reluctantly. My own sense is that on the few occasions I have discussed the church finances, the result is that people are made to feel guilty. That's not my intent, so my inclination is to avoid the subject, rather than to handle it wrongly.
The economy in Jackson has been bad for as long as I can remember. Even when it was better, it was bad. Now it's practically on life support. I know that many in our church are in worse financial shape than they were a year ago, or five years ago. For those invested in the stock market (which includes some of our retirees), their assets are now worth what they were nearly 12 years ago. I hate to tell people who were laid off or whose businesses are strugling or whose portfolios are decimated that the church needs money.
It's not something I really want to broadcast to the world at large. We don't want to address our church's money woes in front of visitors and people who are just beginning to consider the claims of Christ and what it might mean for them to follow him. The world thinks the church is only after their money anyway; we sure don't want to give them a reason to believe they were right all along.

So I'm not going to talk about this in a worship service from the platform. But I think I will give it a go here on the blog. Yes, this is out on the Internet for the whole world to see, but largely the people who read this are people who are committed to and invested in our church. So, if you're reading this and you're not a PCC person, just understand that this is intended to be primarily an "in house" discussion.

We had a Church Council meeting on Thursday in which we learned that we are once again operating in the red. Almost two years ago, we implemented our Emergency Budget, which was intended to stanch the bleeding--ministry budgets were cut, hourly staff hours were cut, salaried staff saw their pay reduced by 15%. That's when I began working part-time at Olive Garden.

For a long time, those measures were effective. And in 2008, things were even looking up. We ended the year significantly in the black. Leadership began talking about what criteria would move us off the Emergency Budget and back onto our Regular Budget. But around the end of 2008, that picture began to change rapidly.

For 2009, we have been averaging around $2700 per week in general fund giving; our Emergency Budget is based on a threshhold of $3000 per week (a full budget is based on over $3500 per week). So we've been losing about $300 per week for nearly three months. If this trend continues (and I'm not sure what would change it), we will be entirely out of funds in a few months.

The ministry budgets have already been slashed as far as they can go. Many ministries operate on the basis of the ministry team members supplying the necessary items they need for various events, and simply eating the costs themselves. In the lobby, there are boxes for people to give food to the youth group and candy for the Easter Egg Hunt. On Saturday there's a dessert auction to benefit the youth, and I've encouraged people to give to the movie event at the Michigan Theatre on April 10. All this is because there's nothing budgeted for these ministries. Even if it were in the budget, it's not in the checking account to be able to cover it.

$2700 per week is not even enough to cover staff pay and utilities, let alone conduct any ministry. There are very few options left for us, and none of them are very pleasant. I bring all this up for several reasons:

I feel that the people who are invested in and committed to this church ought to know what the financial condition is;
I want to ask for your prayers as elders and church council members discuss options. Pray that God would give us wisdom and discernment to make good decisions that will bring the most glory to him and that will put us in the best situation to advance his kingdom;
While you're at it, pray for a miraculous infusion of money that will keep us solvent. This is certainly not beyond God's control or ability;
Finally, I want you to be ready if drastic measures need to be taken (I'm not sure yet what those would be)--understand the basis and necessity for those decisions.

This is not a very encouraging or uplifting posting, and I apologize for that. However, I do want to conclude on a high note.

I believe that as a church we are on the right track. We have an alignment and an excitement generated by our Immediate Vision that is palpable.
I believe that these challenges will not overwhelm us, will not kill us, and will make us stronger and leaner.
I believe that Satan wants to discourage us and use whatever tools he has available to that end, but he will not have victory here. Not this time! Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world!
I believe that all these challenges are part of God's plan for us--that he has things he wants to teach us, and a purpose that is bigger than we can see. Nothing catches him by surprise, and he has positioned us where he wants us to be.
I believe this church's greatest days are ahead; we will become the church that Christ intends us to be!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever! Amen!!

Lord, Save Us!

2009-03-09T14:57:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, in the worship service, I showed a couple clips from a documentary movie called, "Lord Save Us From Your Followers," whose aim is to invite people from all walks of life into a respectful dialogue about faith, religion, spirituality, Christianity, and Jesus (subjects that are all related, yet distinct as well). The film expertly combines man-on-the-street segments, and snippets from various TV news shows, as well as extended interviews with notable figures such as Tony Campolo, John Perkins, comedian-turned-Senate candidate Al Franken (D-MN), Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), and Ron Luce, among others.

This film was created in 2008, yet has not found a distributor, which is why you haven't ever heard of it or come across it. The movie has been shown on some college campuses around the country, both Christian and secular (including Spring Arbor University). In fact, on one campus, the movie was co-sponsored by Christian and secular student organizations for the purpose of inviting dialogue.

We have the exciting opportunity to share this movie with our Jackson community, letting people know that we are a church that invites respectful conversations, spiritual questions, and honest sharing with one another in an environment of mutual openness and tolerance. This doesn't mean that we have to agree, or endorse another's position, but it does mean that we can be in a room together without demonizing, dismissing, and denigrating one another.

I've also been in conversation with the Michigan Theatre downtown, and as God would have it, the one Friday that they have open in their schedule until May is April 10 (Good Friday). I think this event could be a huge opportunity for us to invite people into a religious dialogue at a time when many people in Jackson are hurting, struggling, searching, and needing hope. Not only that, it comes at a time of year when people are more open to Christian dialogue than any other time of year. Even people who never attend church think about Jesus around Easter.

We can use this event to invite people to attend our Easter services, and the series that kicks off that week, "Brokenchurch," an examination of the misconceptions and misapplications of church and false ideas of what church is really about (dressing a certain way, having everything "put together", wearing masks and hiding problems, denouncing and dismissing everyone who's not like us, etc.). So this movie is a natural tie-in to that series, and could be a great forum to invite people to consider a life wrapped around Jesus, instead of the trappings of church.

We're also hoping to hold a panel discussion at the Jackson Coffee Co. immediately after the showing of the movie for anyone who is interested in engaging in dialogue after seeing the movie.
Details for all of this are still being worked out, but we are committed to making this happen. I met this morning with Andy Merritt, the pastor of rivertree community church, which meets at the YMCA downtown, and they are going to enter into this endeavor with us as co-sponsors. We are very excited about this partnership, and I am going to be in conversation with some other pastors and organizations this week.

More information will come out as plans get put together, but here's what I want you to know at this point:

The public screening will be Friday, April 10, at 7:00pm.
There will be a screening at our church on Friday, March 27, at 7:00pm so that you can see it in advance, ask any questions you might have, get excited about inviting your friends, and so forth.
Admission will be absolutely FREE--we want to get as many people as possible to come. So if you know anyone looking for free entertainment... invite them to the movie!!
You can contribute to helping with the cost of putting this on by making a check out to the church and designating it "movie"--these donations are tax-deductable.
You can promote the event through Facebook by indicating that you'll come and inviting other people.

Get the word out, people! This is going to be an INCREDIBLE experience!

A Fusion Of Real Needs And Real Love

2009-03-02T16:03:00.003-05:00

On Sunday, there was a green insert in the bulletins detailing a few of the different service opportunities that exist for our congregation to show God's love to our Jackson community. You'll be hearing more about this in the coming weeks, but this is something that's going to be staying in the bulletins every week.

The immediate vision for our church is to trigger a dramatic reaction between our neighbors and Christ in a fusion of real needs and real love. This menu of service opportunities is one way to help us accomplish that. Here's an overview of what it contains:

Habitat For Humanity (contact Taryn Barlow)

Clerical/Inventory/Cashier volunteers
Delivering lunches to Habitat builders
Phones/Office volunteers

Jackson Medical Care Facility (contact Jane Wagner)

Helping seniors with bingo, crafts, games
Sewing, polishing fingernails for residents
Helping with outings
Ice cream socials, birthday parties

Grace On Wheels (contact Sande Ratliff, Connie Gray)

Providing transportation for people without a car who need to get to an appointment or to the store

Bundles For Babies (Contact Sande Ratliff, Connie Gray)

Delivering supplies for needy parents

Kids Hope USA (Contact Janet Courtney)

Providing weekly mentoring for at-risk children enrolled at Flora List Elementary School

Share 'n' Care (Contact Janet Courtney)

A pantry closet operated by our church. Immediate needs include: Baby food, baby formula, baby cereal, diapers. Drop items off in the box in the lobby

A couple other opportunities will be coming this summer with Habitat for Humanity and Lazy B Ranch.

The idea is to get out beyond ourselves, to carry the light of Christ into our community. This is the kind of thing that Jesus did, and encouraged us to do as his followers--direct engagement with people, and direct investment in their lives, no strings attached.

Some of you may be familiar with "The 5 Love Languages" by Gary Chapman. The idea of the book is that different people have different ways that they understand how to communicate and how to receive love. It can be a real problem in families where different members don't all speak the same "love language." For instance, a lady craves quality time, but she's married to a husband who equates love with giving gifts. The wife appreciates the gifts fine enough, but they don't make her feel loved and cherished. The husband is frustrated because no matter how many gifts he gives her, she's not happy. They're both trying to give and receive love, but they speak different love languages.

Well, Jesus has a love language too. But it's not any of the five. The love language of Jesus is... (are you ready?)...

People.

We love Jesus by loving people. That's it. It's hard, it's messy, it can be exasperating. People can be unappreciative, unreceptive, and uncooperative. But Jesus still wants us to stay in the game. We aren't allowed to ever give up on people. That's why we've developed this vision for our church. We want to love Jesus by loving the people that he's placed around us.

Leadership in Proverbs

2009-02-22T15:59:00.002-05:00

Leadership is a hot topic these days in many spheres of life. In business, in politics, in churches, in schools--essentially anywhere that people are joined together--there is a recognition that there seems to be a real dearth of quality leadership in our world today. Everyone has their own ideas of what a leader is or what a leader does, what qualifies one to be a leader, and how leaders ought to lead. But one thing is clear--people are crying out for effective leaders.

Leadership books continue to be published by the hundreds every year (currently over 2000 leadership titles are available from Amazon). They mostly say the same thing all the other books have said, but people are still clamoring to read them.

My own personal opinion is that for every organization, its fate rises and falls on leadership. When I examine the Bible and human history, I observe that there has never been any mighty move of God that did not occur without human leadership in place for God to use. That's not to say that God can't operate some other way, but my observation is that he never does. No company, no government, no school, no family, no church has ever been successful without effective leadership in place at the top.

And here's why: The foundational choices about charting the course for an organization are always made by leaders. The choices that other people make in an organization can only enhance or hinder the decisions of the leader, but they can never fundamentally change them. If the leader is not a capable leader and has chosen a disasterous direction in which to lead, no amount of hindering will produce success--it will only blunt the damage.

That sobering reality has caused me to consider what I can do to become more effective in my own leadership, and how I can help develop the other leaders in our church as well. If we are to be effective as a church, the responsibility for that falls primarily to me, as the principal human leader under the direction of Jesus Christ.

For the last little while, I've been personally studying the book of Proverbs, looking especially to see how its instructions might relate to my understanding of how to lead effectively, and it's proving to be a very fruitful study. I just want to share with you some insights from the first seven verses, which serve as a Prologue to the book:

1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight;
3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young--
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance--
6 for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

These verses tell us why the book of Proverbs was written, and these all just happen to be necessary traits of a godly leader--wisdom, discipline, understanding, insight, prudence, righteousness, justice, knowledge, discretion, and guidance. Now the acquisition of some of these traits will enhance a leader's skills, but all of them redound primarily to character.

It is personal character that God is most concerned with, and which will ultimately determine whether an enterprise succeeds or not. Ultimately, all real deficiencies of a leader are, at their heart, character deficiencies.

Unwillingness to make hard decisions;
Compromising core principles for some other perceived benefit;
Contempt for the people they are leading;
Allowing competing priorities to eclipse the central mission;
A lack of prayer to seek God's direction;
A cavalier attitude that fails to take seriously the importance of the mission;
A refusal to listen to advice;
Placing personal benefits above the good of the organization;
An inability to admit mistakes;
Hypocrisy, corruption, deceit, etc.

A leader can overcome a number of challenges related to competency. They can ask for help from those who have abilities that compensate for their weaknesses. They can acquire the abilities that they need through practice, reading, or coaching. Or they can simply find coping mechanisms that offset the consequences of their weaknesses.

But if their character fails, there are no coping mechanisms, there is no help that can be given, there is no solution to the problem. A leader can never delegate character. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." Humility and submission before God is the first requirement. If we will not first bow to him, everything else is hopeless.

I believe people are ok with a leader who needs to work on communication, organization, delegation, advance planning, or strategic thinking. But they are absolutely crying out for the chance to follow people they can respect, people of character.

Movies and Metaphors

2009-02-15T21:02:00.002-05:00

Today, we kicked off our series, "Building Your Dream Home," and we said that the Bible teaches that building a life is like building a house. I didn't exactly try to prove that point, but that is what the Bible teaches; that metaphor is repeated over and over throughout scripture:

We always do our teaching in series, and there are several reasons for that. For one, it allows us to explore issues more in-depth and with more thoroughness than simply trying to skim over everything in one week. Secondly, it provides some sense of comfort for people checking out the church that they'll have some idea what is coming--they'll know that it will at least be related in a clear way to what they observed today. Finally, it gives us the opportunity to explore biblical themes from more than one angle.

It's that last point I'd like to explore further. I'm often told by those members of our church who are more comfortable with a traditional worship service that they just don't "get" the video clips and the secular music and the skits that we incorporate into our services. For some, they get so distracted that they lose their train of thought; others just patiently sit and wait for me to start preaching again so that they can experience their preferred communication style.

Now, I sympathize with these individuals; I understand where they're coming from. What we do on a Sunday is very different than what they're used to experiencing in church all their lives, and it's a big change for them to adjust to. Not only that, they're sticking it out at PCC not because they personally enjoy the changes but because they believe in the church's mission, vision, and values, and understand that these changes are going to help us be more effective in communicating to the people of our community the message of Christ. So kudos to them--I think they deserve a lot of credit for being flexible and willing to change for the benefit of others whom they haven't even met yet.

Having said that, I'm still amazed at all the things that people fail to "get." When we show a video clip of a coach challenging his football player to keep going, don't quit, don't be satisfied with just what he thinks he's capable of, but keep pressing on and giving everything he's got, and we relate that to the Christian life (where God is calling us to keep going, don't quit, don't be satisfied with just what we think we're capable of, but keep pressing on and giving everything we've got), I don't get it when people say, "I don't get it." What better illustration is there for us to inspire us and cause us to want to become unstoppable?

I understand that there's a generation gap, that our society is transitioning from a modern mentality to a postmodern one. The modern mind is linear, concrete, logical, scientific, concerned with facts, and ruled by rationality, while the postmodern mind is connectional, abstract, experiential, emotive, concerned with relationships, and ruled by subjectivity. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

But regardless of what generation one belongs to, the Bible is a book that is filled with metaphor, word pictures, and the meaningful connection of dissimilar ideas. Just look at some of the sayings of Jesus:

I am the door.
I am the bread of life.
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment.
Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees.
The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
I am the Good Shepherd.

In fact, if you just read through the gospels, you'll find that almost nothing Jesus said was literal--he was constantly speaking figuratively, metaphorically. But it's not just Jesus--the psalms, the prophets, the proverbs and the other wisdom literature--are all full of symbolism and metaphor. And if we don't have the ability to think in pictures, we really can't understand in any meaningful way what the Bible is about.

So I want to issue an invitation to all of you who don't get it--keep trying, don't give up. There's something to be gained and grasped by linking these things together. This thing that we're talking about now--building your dream home--it's not my idea, it's not my metaphor. I got the idea from the Bible. So the skits about building, the video clips, the songs--they all reinforce the same biblical theme. If you don't get them, you're not getting what it is the Bible is teaching--you're missing God's word and the opportunity to understand it, to apply it and to live it in your life.

Worth Celebrating

2009-02-09T19:25:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, we held our Annual Church Meeting & Celebration. A lot of what I had to say about being a church that wins was actually a reiteration of the retreat we held for our leaders in the fall. You can find a summary of the fall leadership retreat here.

But in celebrating, we focused on the wins that we've experienced and are experiencing as a congregation:

Individuals like Lon Hayes and Julie Klavon who a year ago were unconnected with any church family, and who have now found a family and a growing relationship with God at our church;
Leaders who have set clear goals for 2009 of what they believe God wants to accomplish through their ministries, and a path to see those goals realized;
The Outreach Support Groups, which will serve as a training tool, a fellowship, a motivational system, a support team, and a re-focusing agent to help us as PCC people to reach out to the unchurched people within our sphere of influence.
The birth of our new Immediate Vision to trigger a dramatic reaction between our neighbors and Christ in a fusion of real needs and real love, and what that is going to look like as we move forward.

In my mind, those are things worth celebrating. It was so much fun being able to talk about those things, to share those things, to celebrate those things that God is doing among us. These are the great things that are happening, but we can experience much, much more of God's blessing and power. I believe that a major part of us being able to become a more dynamically successful congregation has to do with our expectations.

I relayed the story of Sean McHugh. McHugh was part of the 2009 Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, but he didn't start out the year at Pittsburgh. In training camp, McHugh was a Detroit Lion, serving as a backup fullback. Before the first snap of the season, however, he got called into the General Manager's office and was told that his services were no longer required. A few days later he signed with Pittsburgh. But as the season went on, Detroit eventually amassed the worst record that any team had ever produced--the first 0-16 season in NFL history. McHugh went on with the Steelers to win the Super Bowl. You can read the whole article if you wish. But I thought the most important line was this one related to the Steelers' "culture of success" that the organization has established within itself:

“There is an expectation when you become a Pittsburgh Steeler that you’re going to win. And anything less than that is not acceptable. In Detroit it was like you were hoping to win.”

I think that as a church we've been hoping to win. But that's not good enough anymore. The only reason we exist is to succeed at our mission. The stakes are too high, the price is too steep, the consequences are too great for us to fail. This is God's church--we don't own it, we just manage it for him--and we represent him. He's a winner, and it's our job to win too.

So we're not just doing one thing that's going to be the magic bullet. We’re working with leaders, we’re working with ministries, we’re working with individual people, we’re talking about it church-wide in forums. We’re launching a full frontal assault on losing in this church. And I’m anticipating 2009 as the year that we look back and say, “We were here. We got to see this.” I believe this is the year that God does big stuff at PCC.

And that is worth celebrating!

The Immediate Vision

2009-01-25T20:34:00.002-05:00

Today, in my annual State of the Church Address, I shared for the first time publicly a new vision that the elders and I have developed for our church. It doesn't replace or supplant our current vision, but rather it adds to it--it provides a stepping stone for how we get from here to there.

Our initial vision we are now calling our "Broad Vision": To become actively involved in planting new churches to reach the 100,000 people in Jackson County with no church family.

And our new vision we are terming our "Immediate Vision": To trigger a dramatic reaction between our neighbors and Christ in a fusion of real needs and real love.

The Broad Vision is broad geographically, chronologically, and demographically. It encompasses all of Jackson County; it will take time to realize; it is something that we need to build toward and work toward, getting ourselves ready to make it become a reality.

The Immediate Vision is immediate in all the ways the Broad Vision is broad. It relates specifically to our neighbors--the people in our immediate vicinity. It is something that we can begin making a reality right now--we don't have to wait for it.

In some ways, our church is already engaged in the fusion of real needs and real love.

The Kids Hope mentoring program at Flora List schools is a great example of what we are talking about. We are coming alongside at-risk kids to invest in their lives and help them experience success and gain confidence to change their future. This is a ministry not only to the kids themselves and their families, but also to the teachers and school administrators, who were begging for mentors to invest in these kids.
Our Share 'n' Care ministry, which includes a food pantry and clothes closet, though its scale is small, has helped a number of needy families in moments of crisis.
S.P.L.A.S.H. (Single Parents Letting Another Supply Help) is a summer ministry to single parents to care for their kids for a few hours each week so that they can have a break, run errands, or have time with friends during the summer when kids are not in school.
At Christmas, we have done an Angel Tree for several years, in which we help needy families with gifts that they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford.

So this ethos of expressing practical and tangible love is already a part of our identity as a church. But our Immediate Vision raises the bar for us by inspiring us to "trigger a dramatic reaction" through the fusion of real needs and real love. In other words, we aim to have people take notice. We want to demonstrate the love of Christ in such a potent way that it is un-ignorable by our neighbors in the Northwest community.

Wherever Jesus went in his earthly ministry, people had a dramatic reaction to him. Some adored him; some hated him. Some surrendered their lives to him and followed him from place to place; some devoted their lives to defeating his movement. Some were amazed by him; some were threatened by him. But nobody was indifferent toward him--that's not a choice that he left to people. And yet we have an entire community around us that is largely indifferent toward Jesus. What a tragedy! Our aim, our vision, is to hold Jesus out so clearly and unflinchingly that people cannot ignore him, that they will take notice, and have some clear response.

These two visions are actually just two steps of the same vision. Together they provide the formula for igniting a spiritual movement in our area. But to spark a spiritual movement it must first start in us, then spread to the people immediately around us, and ultimately across the county, and beyond.

Our Immediate Vision involves the shining of light in the darkness (fusion is the energy process of the sun), and the result of that is that some will be attracted to the light. When God indicates that we are ready, we will launch the Broad Vision in earnest--making the concrete plans to start planting churches throughout our area, which will shine more light to more people than we ever could from our one location.

In both of these visions, the aim is to get our focus off ourselves and look instead to the needs of the people around us and to the God who calls us to be his witnesses. Enriched by God's grace, infused with God's power, immersed in God's cause, and emboldened by God's call, there is no reason for us to fear or to fail:

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see... And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Heb. 11:1, 6

How We Obtain God's Power

2009-01-18T18:26:00.003-05:00

This morning, we had 31 people in our services who made a solemn, public commitment to live lives that are fully surrendered to God. These commitments came as a result of the challenge issued by Pastor Brent in his message that the Unstoppable Force of God's Holy Spirit is fueled by an unstoppable resolve inside us, the understanding and the acceptance that we must do whatever it takes to be obedient to God, our Ruler and Lord.

Scripture shows us that God has willingly surrendered what is by nature his--the right to enforce his good and perfect will on this world--because of his desire that we would truly love him. After all, love that is demanded or forced is not love at all. So he lays out his plan, he unfolds his wisdom for us to see, he demonstrates his great goodness and love for us, he woos us and calls us to himself... and then he waits for us to respond.

But our response doesn't happen all at once, for what we find is that as we surrender to him, he then invites us to take another step toward him, and another, and another, and another. At every point along the way, he invites us, and then waits for us to respond. So a life of following him, a life of maturity and discipleship, is acquired by adopting a lifestyle of continually responding to God.

Instead of responding to God as a lifestyle, what most of us settle for is responding to him in a moment, or at several moments over our lives. And instead of God shaping us, coloring us, indwelling us, and empowering us throughout our whole lives, what we have is little islands of God's influence in a sea of self. This is ultimately not a very satisfying way to live, nor is it very attractive to a skeptical world. And Satan seems to be more than happy to allow people to claim the name of Christ as long as their lives are basically ineffective and still usurrendered. Perhaps it's because he knows he still owns them.

The other choice we have is not perfection, but rather response. To say, "Well, no one's perfect" is a rather lame protest. It's true that no one but Jesus is perfect, but it's also true that there is a profound difference between those who live in continual response to God's call and those who do not. There are occasions in which I fail God, and they are far more frequent than I would like. Nevertheless, the continual cry of my heart is that God would keep showing me where he wants me to go, that he would give me the courage to do it, and that glory and honor would come to him through my obedience.

This is what 31 people have signed on for: a lifestyle of response to God's invitations--no matter what. This matters, because we become what we commit to.

I am praying for those people. I am praying that:

They would experience new-found power in areas of their lives that have seemed to be insurmountable problems in the past;
They would find peace in surrendering, hope in trial, and joy in victory;
They would be ready for the reisistance that comes from following Jesus;
Both the victories and the resistance would open up opportunities for them to share with others about their relationship with God.

What is worth giving our lives to? A moon mission? Global warming? Wealth and power? I think it all pales in comparison to the cause in which Christ has already enlisted us--the spread of his rule on this earth, starting in my own heart and emanating out to the rest of the globe.

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 NIV

The Ups And Downs of Pastoring

2009-01-11T21:04:00.003-05:00

I try to resist as much as possible the efforts that some people make to put me on a pedestal, or elevate me to a different category of human being, by virtue of being a pastor. For instance, I've been told that people really need to come to our church in order to hear me preach, and what I've said back is, "No, people need to come to our church and have their lives changed by starting a relationship with Jesus." Because our church is not about me; it's not a showcase to display my gifts, or a forum where I tout my personal views, or a fiefdom upon which I enforce my will.

One of the things I've learned in life is that people--all people--are just people. Famous people, poor people, educated people, homeless people, rich people, powerless people, black people, Asian people, incarcerated people, and anonymous people are all just people. Authors, athletes, royalty, gang members, bad drivers, and even pastors--we're all just people.

So I try to convey through words and actions as often as possible, that I'm just a regular person. Even though I'm a pastor, I'm just a person.

Having said that, I also believe that pastoring a congregation is probably unlike any other experience in the world. Oh, it's similar to being a coach, a teacher, a parent, a counselor, a business owner, an umpire, a shepherd, and probably other stuff too. But it's also dissimilar to all these things in important ways. Many pastors will attest to the fact that a life devoted to leading God's people is met with very high highs and very low lows.

Sometimes, in presenting myself, in talking about my life, I'm torn between these two equally true notions:

I am, at my foundation, like every other person with the same needs and the same joys as anyone else.
I work in a vocation that brings a completely unique set of demands and challenges, and which no one can fully appreciate unless they have personal experience.

This morning, during our worship service, I conveyed some of the discouragement that I had felt during the previous week, but also how God had used some key people at key points to help me realize that my feelings were not well-founded and to put me back on the right track. I debated about whether to share this example. On the one hand, it was an opportunity to show how I am imperfect, just like everyone else, and how I need to rely on God's guidance and grace. On the other hand, I was worried that my story might be misunderstood and misconstrued to be an indicator of fatigue or burnout.

Indeed, I had three different conversations with individuals who were concerned about whether I was growing weary in the demands of pastoring. Every single one of them were well-meaning, full of love and grace, supportive, and encouraging. And I appreciate the affirmations that each of them gave to me.

But I want to be clear: I am further now from giving up than I have ever been.

Part of my discouragement was due simply to the physical exhaustion of holidays and cross-country travel. But most of it was due to wrong thinking on my part (which God has revealed to me)--and that's what I was trying to convey. When we are a community on-mission, personal popularity doesn't matter. I need to make certain that I care more about the mission than I do about whether someone is on-board with me or not. My story was a perfect opportunity to illustrate that point in a personal way... and to put the lie to the idea that I never struggle, or don't have problems, or don't fail.

I think we're so used to pastors being either "perfect" (at least, in our perception) or failing in big, massive, embarrassing ways. The reality is that most of us live in the middle--we're just people, people with jobs that are nearly impossible to describe. But I do think some of the things in the Bible help us realize what pastoring is like:

But thanks be to God, who ... through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? (2 Cor. 2:14-16)
I have been in danger... from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; ... Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? (2 Cor. 11:26-29)
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Heb. 13:17)
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, beacuse you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (Jas. 3:1)

I believe this is why the Bible says, "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching" (1 Tim. 5:17).

Pastoring is a heavy thing, but it is also a joyous thing. It is a wonderful thing, and a mysterious thing. Above all, I know that it is what God desires for my life, and because of the fire that he has lit inside me, I can do nothing else. It is such an honor to serve him in this way, and it is one I don't take lightly or casually. I am especially grateful for all of you who pray for me regularly. I believe God honors those prayers, and they keep me aligned with him--the exact place I always want to be, no matter what I might be facing next.

Unstoppable Mission

2009-01-04T16:53:00.002-05:00

We launched our new series today, "Unstoppable." Little did I know the series title would refer not only to the power of God in us to serve him and his cause, but also to the freezing rain that fell on Jackson this morning--a weather phenomenon that did manage to stop many of our people from venturing out.

Since most of our church was unable to make it to worship this morning, I wanted to give a brief recap of the service here on the ol' blog.

We first talked about football teams, who work and prepare the entire season for this part of the year--the postseason. Everything they've worked for comes down to this moment. This is what they've given their heart, their time, their effort, their lives for--it is the purpose for their playing, to win "the big game." Christ has also given us a "big game," a purpose for living, something to give our hearts, our time, our efforts, and our lives for; it is the unstoppable mission of the Church, summed up in Acts 1:8:

"You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Lots of people claim the name of Christ, but they don't accept his mission. They call him "Lord" with their lips, but they don't allow him to set the course for their lives. So how can we know if we are on-mission? If we are accomplishing the unstoppable mission of Jesus, three things are true about us:

1. Everyone Is Included
The scope of the mission is colossal--local and global. Every single person that God has created is included in the scope of the Church's mission. To reach the ends of the earth, we partner with others who extend the mission of PCC in regions beyond Jackson County. We have PCC outposts in Indonesia, Peru, Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Mexico, and elsewhere.

But we are responsible for our own area in which God has placed us, so for us, the mission includes 100,000 people in Jackson County who have no church family. So often we write people off by saying, "Oh, he'll never come to Christ," or "She doesn't care about spiritual things." Sometimes, we write off our whole society: "Nobody cares about God anymore; everybody's just doing their own thing." But we are not permitted to do that--everyone is included in the scope of Jesus' unstoppable mission.

2. Everyone Is Needed
Because the scope of the mission is so large, every single person is needed. Everyone who claims the name of Jesus ought to have a ministry. Ministry is not reserved for professional clergy--that was never God's design for his church--and no church in the history of the world that has experienced success has been organized that way. Ministry is for all Christians everywhere; if you're a Christian, you're a minister. (see 1 Cor. 12:12-27)

The pastor's job is to equip the church, to prepare them for their ministry, so that the whole body of Christ will be built up (see Eph. 4:11-12). Christ has given each of his followers a spiritual gift, and it was given so that it would be used. Our ministries at PCC are designed to advance the mission--every single ministry is missional. We promise not to waste your gifts and talents; now, will you make the same promise--not to waste your gifts and talents?

3. Everyone Is Changed
The Greek word for "witnesses" is martyrioi, from where we get our English word "martryr." To have a story to share, to have something to tell, we have to have a genuine experience of God in our lives. That means dying to ourselves and surrendering to God's plan and direction (see Mark 8:34-35). The function of the Holy Spirit in our lives is that we are changed into different people.

The reason for the Holy Spirit, the power that he brings in our lives, the change that he produces in our lives, the spiritual gifts that he gives us, and the whole divine plan--is so that we would be witnesses! A witness tells the story of what they have seen and experienced.

This is what we call "Real Story," one of our Core Values, our Key Three. The Core Values work together in a single process. As we tell our stories, we invite people to enter into this Real Community of faith. As they gain exposure to what the Christian faith is all about, they come to the point of surrender to God and experience a new spiritual life, an experience of Real Spirituality. When they have an authentic relationship with God, it produces in them the necessary ingredients for them to share their Real Story, and the cycle starts all over again.

Real Story --> Real Community --> Real Spirituality --> Real Story

The objective of our church is to get this cycle going around and around and around, gaining momentum and traction so that we become unstoppable.

We wrapped up the service with a look at President Kennedy's moon speech, in which he declared that the US would land a man on the moon and safely return him to earth before the decade was out. This goal took tremendous focus, determination, commitment, sacrifice, and cooperation on the part of many countless people. But it was accomplished.

From the beginning of time until 1904, man had never flown. And yet only 65 years after the Wright brothers flew 100 feet at Kittyhawk, NC, Neil Armstrong landed on the moon.

Winning bowl games and landing on the moon are great goals, but they pale in comparison to the importance of the mission that Christ has given his Church, a mission that seeks to change the eternal destinies of every person in the world. This mission is worth giving our lives to, worth sacrificing for, and worth devoting everything we have and are to it.

We aim to be a church where everyone is included, everyone is needed, and everyone is changed. To apply these principles on an individual basis, to know whether or not we are on-mission, we have three action steps that we can take:

1. Name three people you're going to invite to join you at church next Sunday.
2. Name your ministry that advances the mission Christ gave us. If you don't have a ministry, click here, and pick one.
3. Write down how a relationship with Jesus has changed your life. This becomes your Real Story, your witness to share with others. Just tell what you have seen and experienced.

This is the most important, worthwhile thing we can be involved in--the unstoppable mission of Jesus Christ. His purposes will always prevail. Nothing will stop this mission. The question is whether or not we'll be a part of it. It's time for us to get on-mission.

Christmas Vacation

2008-12-21T08:09:00.002-05:00

I will be on vacation from Dec 22-29. Therefore, I won't be posting anything else on the blog for the rest of the year. Have a great holiday, and I look forward to sharing with you in 2009!

Give Me Something To Believe In

2008-12-15T20:39:00.005-05:00

Last week, I blogged about accountability. I said that I'd be working with our leaders to establish goals for 2009, and once the goals are set, they would become the benchmarks, the standards, the scoreboard by which their leadership and their teams will be evaluated. And our leaders will be held accountable for achieving their goals. Accountability provides a clear measuring stick of what is expected. It provides a scoreboard that will tell us if we're winning or losing. It raises the stakes for our ministries and our leaders, and if we pick the right standards, it will be self-evident that these endeavors are well worth our best efforts.

It's this last idea that I want to explore a little bit more this week: Inspiring goals generate our best efforts.

You don't have to be around churches long before you hear somebody lament about a lack of commitment, a lack of people, a lack of workers, or some other version of the same thing. Churches are notorious for being long on need and short on supply. Part of that has to do with the enormity of the mission that each local church is engaged in ("Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation"--Mk. 16:15)--you're never going to have enough people for a job that colossal.

On the other hand, you'd think that we could at least staff the nursery, or find some people to be in a skit, or listen to kids recite their verses, or help out at VBS. That's the reality of most churches--they struggle to keep their basic programs and ministries operational.

But here's what I've observed: Churches that are effective in accomplishing their mission have people that are totally committed to the ministries they're involved in. I've seen churches where members would rip off their own arms and legs if they thought it could advance the mission of the church, and these churches are located right down the street from other churches that are busy lamenting their lack of committed workers on a weekly basis.

What's the difference? It's not the area, it's not the culture, it's not the gospel, it's not Jesus, it's not their kids' sports schedules. All that stuff's the same. The difference is in churches that communicate a compelling vision for service. I believe people are ready to commit... as long as they know that their commitment, their involvement, their investment of time, talent, and energy, is not going to be wasted.

I believe that churches too often simply assume that everything they do is worthwhile. It might even be true (although, usually it's not), but I guarantee that the average person in the pew does not make that same assumption. The average person wants to know, "OK, if I give my time to this thing, what difference is that going to make? What's the impact that my contribution is going to have?" And if we can answer that question satisfactorily, we'll find people lining up to serve because every single one of us has an innate, God-given desire to make a real difference with our lives.

Part of answering that question satisfactorily, however, lies in our ability to own up to the fact that we have in fact wasted people's time and efforts in the past. We have invested them in places that really didn't make any difference. We have created ministries that were not strategic, that were not well-planned or excellently executed. We have mis-shepherded the hearts and lives of our people and put them in positions where they were destined to fail, usually due to no fault of their own.

So we must commit to not doing that anymore. We must solemnly promise (and then, of course, follow through on that promise) to do our part in developing ministries that matter--ministries that really allow those serving to make an impact or an investment in the lives of other people, ministries that tangibly bring glory to God, instead of simply supporting our structure. And the best way to do that is to set clearly defined, concrete goals that spell out plainly what will be accomplished through any particular ministry.

One of my goals is to personally invite at least one unchurched person to an event or worship service at our church each month. Another goal is that our church would contribute to at least six adult conversions in 2009. These are inspiring goals to me, and they motivate me to give my best effort in a focused and concentrated way on what I have determined to be the most important facets of my leadership and ministry for the coming year.

As I work with other leaders, we'll be setting goals for each area of our church, and those goals will become our promise to each of you: If you invest yourself in this ministry, we're going to work together to do everything possible to achieve these outcomes. What outcomes? That will differ according to the various ministries of our church. But between all of them, we'll be working to produce:

Concrete expressions of God's love demonstrated to those who have given up on God;
More opportunities for people to begin a relationship with Jesus;
Excellent worship services that inspire, inform, and interact with Northwest Nick's daily life;
A relationship-centered faith community that is easy to penetrate and connect with others;
Growing trust in God, resulting from a personal knowledge of his purpose and his person;
Safe, fun, and faith-building environments for kids to come to know Jesus and grow in him.

In short, every single ministry in our church will strategically, specifically, and intentionally spell out exactly how it contributes to and advances the mission of our church--"To meet people where they are on their spiritual journeys and lead them to become fully devoted followers of Jesus." By defining a clear vision, we'll give you something worth investing in, something worth giving your life for, something worth our very best efforts.

Accountability

2008-12-07T18:55:00.005-05:00

Accountability is not one of the most popular words in our language; it often gets a bad rap and carries negative connotations for most people. Usually, when we think of holding people accountable, it means coming down on them for failures or shortcomings, lowering the boom, dropping the axe, rolling some heads, or whatever your favorite turn of phrase may be.

But accountability is actually a positive thing. God holds us accountable, and he uses that accountability to produce good results in our lives. As Christians, we live our lives conscious of the fact that we will one day stand before him and have to give an account of our lives--how we spent our time, how we used our talents, what we did with our money and assets, the way we treated people, and the manner in which we nurtured our relationship with him. That knowledge should motivate us to keep learning how to do better, how to be wiser, and how to bring more glory to God through our lives.

Looking forward to 2009, I've been thinking a lot about how we're doing as a church--how we spend our time, how we use our talents, what we're doing with our money and assets, the way we treat people, and the manner in which we nurture in them a growing relationship with Christ.

And one of the things I've been reflecting on is that our systems lack accountability. There are very few clear standards or expectations that we have for our minsitry teams, our staff, or our leaders. A lack of accountability has contributed to some unfortunate outcomes:

A ho-hum attitude that the actual results of our efforts don't really matter;
The assumption that "a good try" is all that is necessary for a ministry to be deemed a success;
Difficulty in involving others in ministry--after all, if the results of our efforts don't really matter, why should I put forth the effort?
Difficulty in generating excitement, passion, commitment, and buy-in among the congregation;
The "warm body" approach to ministry and leadership (i.e., if you're breathing, you're qualified!)

Accountability goes a long way toward eliminating these problems because it provides a clear measuring stick of what is expected. It provides a scoreboard that will tell us if we're winning or losing. It raises the stakes for our ministries and our leaders, and if we pick the right standards, it will be self-evident that these endeavors are well worth our best efforts. Accountability will sort out those who are competent and those who merely wish they were competent.

Perhaps, one of the most important aspects of accountability is that it must be applied consistently. Not only is it unfair, it doesn't make sense to hold one ministry or leader accountable to standards, while ignoring others. So I've told the elders that I want them to hold me accountable, first and foremost. I'm working on developing a list of goals for 2009--goals for myself as well as goals for the church as a whole--and I expect the elders to hold me accountable to reaching (or at least approaching) every single one of those goals.

In January, I'll be meeting with each of our Core Team leaders to establish goals for their areas of ministry. I won't be dictating to them what their goals ought to be; on the contrary, I'll be guiding them through the goal-setting process, offering coaching for them as they set their own goals. But once the goals are set, they become the benchmarks, the standards, the scoreboard by which their leadership and their teams will be evaluated. And they'll be held accountable for achieving their goals.

For truly effective leadership, three components are absolutely required--authority, responsibility, and accountability.

If you tell people that they're responsible for an area of ministry, but you don't give them the authority to make decisions, they are constantly undermined and can't lead effectively.
If you tell people that they're responsible for an area of ministry, but you don't hold them accountable, there's no motivation for them to lead effectively, and no mechanism for removing ineffective leaders.
If you hold people accountable for areas that they are not responsible for (or have no authority in), you're only going to frustrate them and create resentment.
If you give people authority without responsibility or accountability, they'll be prone to let the power go to their heads.

In the end, accountability isn't about punishing anyone or impugning them--it's about creating a system in which we are all highly motivated for excellence. It's about clarifying the rules so that we know what constitutes a "win." It's about raising the stakes so that we can become constantly conscious that everything we do matters for eternity.

I Don't Have All The Answers

2008-11-30T16:34:00.002-05:00

Periodically, people in the church will email me with various questions that cover a smorgasboard of topics. I try to give my best answers based on what I see in God's word. But I'll be the first to admit I don't have all the answers. Here's a (partial) list of stuff I just don't get:

Why God chooses not to accomplish anything in this world, except through people (especially since we're so undependable);
How people can make a conscious choice to reject the God who gave them life;
The unconditional love for me shared by my son (age 3) and my Father (The Rock of Ages). No matter how often or how deeply I disappoint them, they still just want to be with me;
People who attend church their whole lives, yet never change their lives in any perceivable way;
Why we make the automatic assumption that God agrees with all my opinions (of course!);
How anyone can find a lukewarm faith satisfying;
Christians who can't explain why they believe in Christ;
Why there's so much antagonism toward anyone in authority, simply for exercising that authority;
How anyone can look at a sunset and not believe in the existence of the Artist;
The depths to which sin can take people enslaved in its grasp;
How love, fear, anger, and hope can all feel nearly the same;
Why God allows so much to ride on our prayers;
The bizzare combination of innocence and evil in children;
How Satan makes wealth so seductive, even when we can easily see that so many wealthy people are miserable (although, to be fair, many poor and middle-class people are miserable too);
How God can make such a consistent universe that is still so rife with paradox (that, in itself, is a paradox... and yet consistent with God's pattern);
Why people expect the solutions for their lives to come from the government, instead of the God who designed them with a purpose they're not fulfilling;
The way God can bring good out of any evil. His powers of redemption are incomprehensible!
How I can learn so much every day from a kid who still can't pronounce his R's properly;
Why God chooses to use people who are totally unqualified for the tasks to which he calls them;
The simultaneous greatness and smallness of humanity.

This is a mysterious world. That doesn't mean that we are incapable of understanding it, but we are incapable of understanding it fully. That is why we must live lives of faith--accepting God's pronouncements, believing his promises, trusting in his goodness and justice, and yielding to his commands.

To remove mystery is to remove humility and therefore to renounce God's grace (Jas. 4:6).

Juggling Christmas

2008-11-25T13:37:00.004-05:00

Well, I can tell you, after being down-and-out with the flu bug on Sunday, it sure is good to be back to my old self again. Thanks to Pastor Brent for preaching for me--I hear he did an exceptional job.

Sunday's message was about "Thanks & Giving", and I hope everybody enjoys their turkeys on Thursday, but it seems like this week's holiday is almost completely eclipsed by the monolith that is Christmas. Already, there are Christmas displays in all the stores, door-buster sales, Christmas trees at Kroger, and a nativity scene at the BP station at Parnall & Lansing. Already, the news media is wringing its hands about the impact the soft economy is going to have on the "Christmas shopping season"--that is, the season formerly known as "fall". Today, I got my first, "Are you ready for Christmas yet?" (I told the asker that I was ready for Thanksgiving.)

On Thursday, after our meal-induced naps, many of us will pore over the sales papers, readying our battle plans to take on the stores on Friday. And despite the dire predictions, we will still buy digital cameras, flat-screen TVs, and entire seasons of syndicated TV shows on DVD. It will still be impossible to find a Nintendo Wii, and the traffic at Jackson Crossing will still be awful.

All of this is why we're starting our new series next Sunday called "Juggling Christmas." It seems that "the most wonderful time of the year" has actually morphed into the most stressful, chaotic, exhausting, expensive, can't-possibly-fit-in-one-more-thing time of year. Between the presents, the gatherings, the office gift exchange, the secret Santas, the parades, the candy, the expectations of family, the traffic, the weather, and the lines at the mall... well, it's tough to keep all the balls in the air.

Truth be told, our lives are probably already too complex, and trying to appease the beast of Christmas is a pretty daunting proposition.

The greatest tragedy of all is that all of this activity is meant (allegedly) to commemorate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ--a birth that was simple, quiet, and largely unnoticed. But in reality, most of the time the manger gets lost in all the hoopla. Oh, certainly, we trot it out as one of our decorations to adorn the mantle or the table or the hutch, and we may attend the Christmas Eve service, or read Luke 2 on Christmas morning. But is it really for Him that we rev up the Christmas machine? Or rather do we do it for ourselves? Or for other people who expect us to do it?

The message of this series is a basic one: SIMPLIFY. We have a month. What can we chuck? What can we dump? What can we unload to make this Christmas different, more meaningful, less a production and more an act of worship? Because if the frenzy of our Christmas doesn't center around Him, then why even do it?

Praying On Purpose

2008-11-16T17:43:00.002-05:00

Last week, I talked about "Winning on Purpose," and I think a huge part of that (whether we're talking about all of us winning together as a church, or each of us winning individually in our spiritual lives) is rooted in praying on purpose.

So many times, our prayers are actually aimless. They lack genuine thought, conviction, or a clear objective. We say things like, "Bless them... be with me... help her..." and after that, we've pretty much run out of ammunition.

But if we want to win spiritually, we need to learn how to pack more power and purpose into our prayers. They are our main weapon for attacking the strongholds of our enemy, Satan.

To help us, I want to take a look at one of the prayers of the apostle Paul. If you want to learn how to pray for somebody--to really pray for them--he provides us with a great example. Here's what he writes in Colossians 1:9-12:

Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

Here are some of the important features of a purposeful prayer:

Persistance. "We have not stopped praying for you." For myself, I find this is a great weakness for me in my prayers. I have so many different concerns that are new each day, I often forget about what I have prayed yesterday or last week or last month. It just sort of slips off the prayer radar. But the Bible does instruct us to be persistent in prayer (Luke 18:1-8) and not to give up. Our needs are ongoing, the opposition of the enemy is ongoing, so our prayers should be ongoing too. If it continues to be important, it should continue to be included in our prayers.
Comprehensiveness. "fill you with... all spiritual wisdom and understanding... please him in every way... every good work... all power..." Many times, our prayers are too small, and we don't ask for very much. But God wants us to be bold and to be outrageously successful in our struggles against the forces of darkness. So let's lay claim to all the power of God, all the wisdom of God, all the faithfulness of God to be brought to bear in every situation, every relationship, every conversation, every decision, so that we can bring him all the glory possible through our lives.
Goal-Consciousness. "We pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way." There is a clear reason for the prayer, a specific aim that Paul has--something that he wants to see take place in the lives of the Colossian Christians. Truth be told, sometimes we can't even express what exactly we're praying for. We might say something like, "Lord, help Sam on his test today." And what does that mean? Do we want God to help Sam pass the test? Get an "A"? Do we want God to supernaturally help Sam get a better score than he deserves because he hasn't really studied that much? Do we want God to help Sam stay calm? Be intense? Undistracted? What kind of help are we looking for, and why? Probably, we can't even really say what we're praying for. But a purposeful prayer has a clear objective.
Kingdom-Focus. "worthy of the Lord... please him... bearing fruit... great endurance and patience..." This whole prayer is built around the idea of propelling God's kingdom forward. It's all oriented toward his glory, his cause, his plan. Notably absent from Paul's prayer are the sorts of things we often center our prayers around--make things easy for us, keep us comfortable, bless us, make it go smoothly, keep us safe. Instead, Paul prays for development of the kind of character that will help the Colossians be victorious through their trials and struggles, rather than praying that they could avoid them.
Eternal Perspective. "the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." So often we get bogged down in the day-to-day stuff that we exaggerate its importance. Even small details become "urgent" and "critical" and "essential." But a purposeful prayer sorts out what is ultimately necessary in light of eternity. We relinquish our own desires and preferences, and we let God declare what truly matters. If we pray with an eternal perspective, we might find ourselves completely letting go of many of the things that keep us stirred up.

There's a ministry of our church called the Prayer Posse; it's composed of individuals who have committed to praying at least once a week for the mission, vision, and values of our church. I send each of those individuals a weekly email (we place a paper copy in the church mailboxes of those Prayer Posse members without email), asking for specific prayer requests. If you want to sign up, you can do so by simply sending me an email. It can also become a helpful tool for learning how to pray on purpose.

If we adopt a strategy of purposeful prayer for ourselves, our families, our marriages, our church, our county, our nation, and our world, not only will it change our lives, it could change eternity as well for the people we're praying for.

Winning

2008-11-09T16:09:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, I led a retreat here at the church for our leaders (elders & Church Council members). The main focus of our time centered around the idea of winning. Sometimes, in church culture, we get uncomfortable talking about winning. The reason for that reluctance is because so many churches are actually losing, and it's not considered "nice" to point that out, or to suggest that failure is not ok.

But the principle of winning is woven throughout the Bible:

There are many, many other passages I could have listed here. I'd encourage you to look through each of these, but I think the most significant ones are the first and the last. Genesis 3 is the point in human history at which sin enters the scene. Revelation 19-22 is the end of the Bible when God's plan is brought to completion. From the moment sin is inserted into God's creation, he declares his intention to win, to beat it down, to destroy it. The rest of the Bible is the unfolding of his plan, until its culmination in Revelation 19-22, when GOD WINS!!!

In the Old Testament, God is concerned about Israel winning wars. He is concerned about them being successful in taking the Promised Land. He is concerned about them being victorious over the nations that they are supposed to drive out.

In the New Testament, God is concerned about the church winning over the gates of hell. God is concerned about winning people to faith in him through his son Jesus. He is concerned about us winning the prize of the heavenly reward that is in store for us if we are faithful and fruitful.

God wins on purpose, and he wants his followers to win on purpose too. In his book, Winning on Purpose, John Edmund Kaiser writes: "Thinking of success in the church is neither an encroachment of corporate business culture nor an inherently modern fixation of Boomers. Even the sports metaphor in [this book] dates back as far as 1950--1950 years ago that is. See Paul fight. See Paul run. Run, Paul, run. The emphasis of this image in 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 is not on the discipline of training but on the purpose for the discipline, which is to win the race. Wait, doesn't God love losers? Of course! In moral terms, all of us sons of Adam and daughters of Eve are losers. But God doesn't love us because we're losers. And his love doesn't leave us as losers. God is the Ultimate Winner, and he makes a place for us on the winning side. The name of his team is not Losers Anonymous, it is Those Who Overcome. God has a redemptive purpose in the world and is serious about prevailing." (pp. 18-19)

As a church, we can never win unless we boldly declare our full commitment to winning.

Good intentions and good tries are not enough;
Purposeless, aimless busyness is not enough;
Thinking that winning is a nice notion is not enough;
Feeling that we compare favorably in some way to other churches we know of is not enough;
Continuing to pay the bills and keep the lights on is not enough;

Let me say it clearly. There is only one reason we exist as a church. There is only one thing that we do. There is only one thing we aim at. And that is winning--i.e., accomplishing the mission of the church.

Anything less or other is unacceptable. It is failure. It is losing. We cannot be content with losing. We play the game to win. Only, it's not a game. There is nothing more real, nothing with higher stakes, nothing more important. It is eternal, it is infinite, it is the center of what this life and this universe are all about.

UB Musings

2008-11-03T14:42:00.002-05:00

Most of my posts here relate to our local church and the mission we pursue. But from time to time, I also like to share some perspectives on the goings-on in our denomination. Next June, the United Brethren in Christ will be having our bi-annual National Conference in Ohio, where we will elect our next bishop. Our bishop sets the vision and direction for our denomination and leads us to stay true to our heritage, our purpose, and our joint mission.

Our current bishop, Ron Ramsey, stated at the beginning of his term that he would not be seeking reelection; he took the job intending from the get-go to be a one-term bishop. On a recent bishop blog, we learned that Pat Jones, our current Director of Healthy Churches, who serves as the bishop's right hand man, will likewise not be seeking the office of bishop.

This announcement leaves a leadership void at the top of our denomination, and it leads me to wonder who might be qualified to take the reins of leadership for the United Brethren in Christ. In my mind, there are only two types of potential candidates:

1. A well-respected UB pastor who has demonstrated a high capacity for leadership and is currently leading a healthy, dynamic church that is successfully fulfilling the Great Commission. This person would need to be someone who has a proven track record and is adept at leading with gentleness and firmness (someone who is a velvet-covered brick).

Unfortunately, the list of qualified candidates in this first category is exceedingly short. Due to many factors, our denomination is composed of largely dysfunctional congregations led by dysfunctional pastors. An embarrassingly significant percentage of our approximately 200 churches in America had an average attendance last year of fewer than 30 people. With an average attendance of 125, we are in the top 25% in terms of size.

There are probably fewer than 10 people (and I think that number is optimistic) who meet the criteria I've set out here. And I'm not sure any of them would want the job. Why give up a rewarding, successful, exciting ministry leading a local church to take on a discouraging, frustrating one that brings endless attacks from pastors who do not want to be faithful to the Great Commission and who do not want to be led?

2. The second type of candidate is someone from outside the denomination who has experience leading a denomination or a district or some other group of churches. This person would preferably have demonstrated an ability to help unhealthy groups become healthy again.

In many ways, I believe this is the right choice.

It begins to address one of the main weaknesses of our denomination--a paucity of true leaders. One of the reasons we have so many unhealthy churches and unhealthy pastors is because instead of allowing leaders to lead, we have handcuffed them, and they have decided to minister in other denominations. We need to bring effective leadership back into the United Brethren.
A fresh perspective is certain to help us identify our blind spots and the weaknesses we have that we weren't even aware of. Such a person can provide us with other ways of addressing issues and tackling problems that we haven't heretofore considered or known about.
It is a quintessentially "UB-thing" to do. Our denomination is predicated on the importance of majoring on the majors and minoring on the minors, tearing down the barriers that separate Christians for the purpose of boldly advancing the kingdom of God. It is naive and arrogant to cling to a UB-only stance, as if God is incapable of using someone from outside our current circles.

I'm not opposed to choosing someone from the first category--if they truly are qualified, if they truly believe God is calling them to the position, if their church is truly supportive in surrendering their pastor for the sake of the denomination. But if those criteria cannot be met, I am opposed to someone rising to the bishopric who lacks the leadership abilities necessary for continuing to move our denomination forward.

Trunk Or Treat In Review

2008-10-27T14:10:00.003-05:00

Well, folks, another Trunk or Treat has come and gone. This was our third annual, and there are a lot of great things to report. First, let's take a look at Trunk or Treat by the numbers:

We served approximately 300 kids (the number is approximate because only 260 registered--some families skipped the registration table and went straight for the first trunk, especially toward the end of the event). Of those who registered...

121 unchurched kids
124 churched kids (including 19 of our own)
15 kids' registration cards were unmarked regarding church involvement

Those 260 kids come from...

62 church-going households (including 10 PCC families)
71 unchurched households
9 undesignated households

Once again, we had fantastic support from our own people, although many came through (sometimes literally!) at the last minute, which made planning somewhat challenging. Altogether, we had 47 adult and teen workers, providing:

14 Trunks
A Fun House in the church basement (first time we've done that)
Apple Bob in the Fellowship Hall
Refreshements (hot dogs, popcorn, hot chocolate)
A giant inflatable bounce house

Looking past the numbers, here are some of my thoughts and reflections:

This was our first year providing a Fun House in the basement. After collecting candy from the trunks in the church parking lot, the kids went down the back steps and weaved their way through the classrooms, which had covers over the windows to keep them dark. They were decorated with Halloween lights and glow-in-the-dark spider webs. Kids stuck their hands in various places (bowls of peeled grapes, cold spaghetti noodles, etc.), walked through wet yarn hanging from the ceiling, and (most importantly!) collected more candy. I heard lots of great comments about the Fun House and how much the kids enjoyed it.
Even though Trunk or Treat is an Outreach event and falls under the Outreach Core Team, the Fun House idea was developed and executed by the Community Core Team. I think this is a great example of our ministry teams working together, and it was really great to see such wonderful cooperation.
I got to look around at every part of the operation throughout the evening. It seemed everything was running very smoothly. About three trunks ran out of candy at one point in the night, but we were able to get reinforcements to them fairly quickly. Great Job, Pam O'Neil and the Outreach Core Team!! Great Job, Judy Wilkes and the Community Core Team!! Kudos to you!
In talking with several parents, they all were very pleased with the event. One mom I spoke with has five kids and told me that she needs to get connected to a church. She believes in God, but has been finding life difficult lately and feels something is missing. She was hoping to make it for the start of our new series next week.
We're going to be taking the 260 registration cards and entering the information into our PCC database. There is already a team of people put together who handles that. We use that information to follow up with the people who are unchurched to try to further develop the relationship that we've established with them. We'll especially be intentional about keeping them informed of other events and ministries their children might enjoy (Easter Egg Hunt, Soccer Camp, Awana, SPLASH).
Events like this are not a substitute for relationships. In fact, outreach is effective really only when it's relational. But events serve as an excellent forum both for establishing new relationships, as well as developing existing ones further. Some of the people who came were ones I recognized from Soccer Camp and SPLASH, earlier this summer. The more contact we can have with them, the more likely it is that they'll show up on a Sunday some week. In addition, Trunk or Treat and similar events provide an opportunity for us to invite our friends, family, and neighbors to come to something that's not intimidating, giving us an opportunity to develop the relationships God has already provided us. When we think outreach, we need to think relationships.

I think this event was a huge success, and I want to thank each person who was involved in making it so effective. Let's pray that God will keep using it to impact the lives of the people we saw last night, and draw them to him.

Persecuted Church

2008-10-20T10:22:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, we had a special service that highlighted the suffering of Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith. For those who weren't able to be there, I want to make sure you have access to the same information that was available to those in the service. For more, you can visit these websites, which are all run by various organizations that work on behalf of persecuted Christians:

http://www.persecution.org/
http://www.gfa.org/
http://www.opendoorsusa.org/
http://www.persecution.com/
http://www.prioneralert.com/ (send letters to Christians imprisoned for their faith)
http://www.kidsofcourage.com/ (helping kids understand persecution against Christians)

Persecution against Christians usually comes in one of two forms--either from governments or from practicioners of other religions. These two forms are fused in the case of Muslim governments that enforce mandatory adherance to Islam.

More Christians have been killed for their faith in the last 100 years than the entire rest of church history combined. Countless more have been beaten, imprisoned, tortured, impoverished, mutilated, burned, or maimed. It's our responsibility to stand by our brothers and sisters around the world, and there are three ways we can do that:

Defend. Be a voice for them. Visit the websites above, and arm yourself with information. Speak up for those who are persecuted for their faith, and plead the cause of the oppressed.
Encourage. Send messages to those who are in prison or to their families through the websites listed above. Give money to the organizations who work on behalf of the persecuted.
Pray. Pray regularly for those who are victimized because of their faith in Jesus. Pray that God would strengthen them, that he would comfort them and be near them. And pray also that their character would remain strong under suffering and would be a witness to their torturers, to the other prisoners, and to others who have contact with them, and that they would be an encouragement to one another. Pray for the families who have breadwinners in prison--they often suffer just as much.

During the service, I read a selection from an excellent book that I read this summer called "The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun." It was one of the best books I've ever read. Much of the book focuses on the various trials that he underwent, but there are also many stories of deliverance and miracles. Through all of it, it is mostly about the power of the gospel to transform lives. I'd like to share a few more passages:

The next morning the guards took me out from the cell and practised martial arts on my body. They kicked and punched me to the ground and ordered several other prisoners to stamp on my chest and private parts. Blood gushed from my mouth. I was dizzy and in great pain. I was sure I was going to die. pp. 89-90

I cried out to the Lord and said, 'Jesus, I can no longer endure. Why are you allowing me to be tortured like this? Please receive my spirit now.' The guards travelling in the back of the van switched on an electric baton when they heard me praying and jolted me with shocks. The pain was too severe for me and I felt my heart and my brain were going to literally explode from my body. Again I cried to the Lord, 'God have mercy on me. Please receive my spirit now.' The word of the Lord came to me clearly, 'The reason you suffer is so you can partake in the fellowship of my suffering. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.' In my proud heart I'd been thinking that I was important to the church, that they needed me to lead them. Now, I vividly understood that he is God and I am but a feeble man. I realized that God didn't need me at all, and that if he ever chose to use me again it would be nothing more than a great privilege. Suddenly the pain and fear left me. p. 92

Since my escape from China in 1997, I've been responsible for the training and implementation of the Back To Jerusalem missionaries. When the first batch of 39 missionaries left China in March 2000, 36 of them were arrested. They didn't lose their vision, however. They went back home, prayed, and found another way to get across the border. Little more than a year later, the number of Chinese house church missionaries outside China already exceeded 400 serving in more than 10 countries... Each missionary receives training in several main subjects:

1. How to suffer and die for the Lord. We examine what the Bible says about suffering, and look at how the Lord's people have laid down their lives for the advance of the gospel throughout history.

2. How to witness for the Lord... under any circumstance: on trains or buses, or even in the back of a police van on our way to the execution ground.

3. How to escape for the Lord. We know that sometimes it is the Lord who sends us to prison to witness for him, but we also believe the devil sometimes wants us to go to prison to stop the ministry God has called us to do. We teach the missionaries special skills such as how to free themselves from handcuffs, and how to jump from second-storey windows without injuring themselves.

This is not a 'normal' seminary or Bible College! pp. 289-290

I can tell you, in my four years of Christian college and three years of seminary, I never once had a class on how to suffer or die for the Lord, but I think I probably should have. This is the normative experience for Christians around the world who want to follow Jesus. It was he who said, "They will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me." (Luke 21:12-27 NIV).

And we complain about being tired and busy.

Journey Classes

2008-10-05T16:13:00.004-05:00

During today's services, we had our first recognition ceremony for our Journey 401 Class graduates. The 401 Class was offered for the first time in June, and we had nine participants. The journey classes represent a significant component of our discipleship ministry, so I thought it would be worth taking the time in this space to give a brief overview of each of the classes, how they work together, and how they help students experience spiritual growth.

The four four-hour classes are all meant to work together and to build on each other. Therefore, each student signs on to a specific set of commitments after each class before they can proceed to the next one in the series. The first class, Journey 101, is an introduction to the Pathway Community Church family, and the other three classes each relate to one of our Core Values, our Key Three. After taking all four classes, students are familiar with our church and have been given the tools they need to live out a life of full devotion to Christ.

Journey 101 Class
This class is required for church membership. Anyone is allowed simply to attend Pathway, but if you want to join, there are specific commitments that you need to be willing to live up to. We cover those commitments as well as talk about who we are and why we do what we do. This class gives an overview to what our church is about so that people can make an informed decision about whether they want to join or not. The class is broken up into four sections:

Our Salvation--what Christ has done for us (including symbols of our salvation, Baptism & the Lord's Supper)
Our Statements--what we believe to be true (Our Faith Statement, Our Mission Statement, Our Core Values, Our Vision Statement)
Our Strategy--how we go about accomplishing the mission
Our Structure--how we organize to accomplish the mission

The first section is common to all believers everywhere, but the other three sections are what makes Pathway unique from all other local church families. It's what gives us our unique and distinctive flavor as a church. When someone commits to membership, we encourage them to go on to the next Journey Class.

Journey 201 Class
This class covers the Core Value of Real Spirituality--our vertical relationship with God. In this class, students learn the four basic habits that are necessary for spiritual growth. Since these are habits, they should be ongoing activities for our lives. The Journey Classes are not primarily about acquiring knowledge, but learning how to perpetually live out that knowledge in our lives in a continuing relationship with Jesus. The four habits are:

Prayer
Bible Learning (through Hearing, Reading, Studying, Meditating, Memorizing, and Applying)
Stewardship
Fellowship (including getting connected to a small group)

The class is filled with practical advice about how to have a quiet time, how to get the most out of God's Word, how a small group can help us grow, and the emphasis that the Bible places on giving as an indicator of our spiritual maturity. When students commit to living out these habits, they can take the next class.

Journey 301 Class
This class covers how to discover your unique SHAPE that God has given to your life. He has made you the way you are for a purpose, and by understanding your SHAPE, you'll be in a position to live your life with maximum effectiveness. SHAPE stands for the five different components that make us who we are:

Spiritual Gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experiences

Each of those attributes of who we are are God-given and God-directed. In this class, we learn how to utilize all of them to be God-honoring. This class is great for gaining a better understanding of who you are and discerning God's thumbprint on your life. It will also help you find the ministry that is the right "fit" for your SHAPE. Providing loving service to others on a team of other like-minded servants is the main way we contribute to our Real Community, our horizontal relationship with one another. After taking this class, students fill out a SHAPE profile and meet with a SHAPE counselor to help determine the best ways that they can use their SHAPE for God's glory.

Journey 401 Class
The last class teaches people how to share their Real Story, the message of who God is and what he's done in our lives and in the world. We cover the basics of building relationships with unbelievers, how to treat them as people instead of projects, the five main components of the gospel message, and how to communicate that message in a clear and respectful way. We talk about the different styles of evangelism and how to find the style that best fits each person's SHAPE.

Even though we recognized our 401 alumni today, nobody ever "graduates" from the Journey Classes. In fact, students are encouraged to refer to their notebooks periodically and review the information they contain. Students are encouraged to re-attend the 101 Class periodically to remember the unique aspects of our church, and our vision to reach the 100,000 people in Jackson County with no church family.

These four classes represent the heart and soul of PCC--our philosophy, our theology, our culture, and our reason for being. They teach us how to be fully devoted followers of Jesus. We are always in process, we are always still growing. The four classes are not the end, but only the beginning of growing deeper and deeper in our pursuit of Jesus.

If you haven't taken the Journey Classes, I'd encourage you to get on board the next time they come around. If you have taken one or some, but got off-track somewhere, I'd encourage you to keep going! The Journey Classes provide us with the compass we need to keep pursuing Jesus on the Pathway of our spiritual journeys. To sign up for the Journey 201 Class on Oct. 19, click here.

Spirituality & Sports

2008-09-28T20:44:00.003-05:00

This time of year is a sports lover's favorite. Baseball playoffs are getting ready to start. The NFL season is taking shape, with contenders soon to distance themselves from pretenders. The NASCAR chase for the cup is close to completion. The NHL preseason is underway. And the NBA is right around the corner.

It's been suggested to me before that sports are a waste of time, money, and energy that could be more effectively directed toward more spiritual things like ministry, evangelism, and Bible study. For example, if all the money that Christians spent on sports tickets, jerseys, gas, parking, concession food, and other sports parephenalia were redirected to the church or to missionaries, what would the kingdom impact be? Or if all the time devoted to watching sports on TV, discussing sports at work, and reading about sports in the newpaper and online were spent in prayer, Bible reading, and serving others, wouldn't that be better?

I understand the logic behind that argument, but I still find myself irresistably drawn to sports. I think there is something fundamentally human about watching the best athletes in the world competing at their sport of choice. In addition, I think there are things for us to learn about ourselves and about the spiritual life. So here's what I see as the spiritual value of sports.

1. Let's start with scripture (always a good idea). Paul uses the athlete as a role model for us; he says that sports give us a picture to inspire us to the kind of focus, determination, self-control, self-discipline, dedication, perseverance, and persistance that we need to nurture in our pusuit of Christ. He says, "Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (1 Cor. 9:25-27 NIV). The author of Hebrews makes the same point: "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (12:1 NIV).

2. Another spiritual value I see sports contributing to us is the understanding of teamwork. Although the Bible doesn't use the metaphor of sports in this precise way, it's clear that God created his church to function as a team (Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-31). Perhaps no other element of our 21st century society demonstrates the aspects of teamwork that are necessary for the church better than sports--aspects such as recognizing the inherent value of each team member, each player's unique role providing a necessary contribution to the overall goals of the team, self-sacrifice as necessary for the team's overall success, recognition of the individual contributions, and the absolutely essential importance of communication, unity, and accountability.

3. Today, sports has become one of the main forums for learning about leadership. While leaders are certainly present (and even necessary) in the fields of politics and business, most people reserve a high degree of distrust of political and business leaders. Yet sports leaders are fairly well respected, and (perhaps even more importantly for this point) the leadership issues for a team become common knowledge through press conferences and public actions (such as benching a player, firing a head coach, making a trade, etc.). Effective leadership--both from above and below--is absolutely essential in sports; there must be good leadership in place in the front office (owners, general managers), in the clubhouse (head coaches, assistant coaches), and on the field (veteran players). If you are a sports fan, you know about the leadership issues in organizations such as the NY Knicks, the NY Yankees, the Oakland Raiders, and the Detroit Lions. You also know about the leadership successes of organizations like the Boston Red Sox, the Indianapolis Colts, and the LA Lakers. Amazingly, and against expectations, sports teams' successes are often due less to the talent of the players, and more to whether they are all completely committed to the philsophy and direction of the organization.

4. The high profile of sports celebrities gives a rubric for understanding all kinds of stewardship issues. Many athletes fail miserably with their money, showing the truth of verses such as Ecclesiastes 5:10, "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income." We learn not to envy the wealthy and successful, as they demonstrate that their lives are often utterly empty. Yet many athletes use their money wisely, setting themselves up for lifelong generosity and philanthropy. They provide us an inspiration for how we might use money if God were to choose to bless us in that way (it's always wise to think ahead of how we might use any of life's circumstances to God's glory). But there are other stewardship issues to consider besides money. Many athletes misuse their success by believing that their lives are free of consequences; witness the tragic failures of Michael Vick, Roger Clemens, Darryl Strawberry, Ricky Williams, etc. Yet many athletes can inspire us with the great example they provide even under the most intense microscope--Tony Dungy, Mike Singletary, Albert Pujols, David Robinson, and Kevin Johnson. There is also the issue of stewarding the talents, gifts, and abilities that God has given us. While we perhaps don't have the same abilities they do, we do have different ones--and are we developing and applying ours with the same kind of focus and intentionality?

5. I believe the playing of sports, growing up, taught me many great lessons that have served me well in my life. And I learned these lessons as habits planted in my life, not as concepts or notions that seemed like good ideas. It was sports that taught me things like commitment and follow-through, how to deal with failure, the importance of encouraging others, the value of practice and preparation, the thrill of the prize, and the pride of pushing myself further than I thought I could go.

Now, admittedly, perhaps this is just my attempt to rationalize my love for sports--it's always nice to put a spiritual spin on your favorite pasttimes, right? And maybe we shouldn't spend quite as much time and money on sports as we do--it probably is wise to consider whether we should go to the race or use the money some other way. But on the other hand, I believe sports have much to teach us about life, about God, and the pursuit of his kingdom.

Now, maybe you don't feel that way--that's fine. Go ahead and spend your extra time and money for prayer and evangelism, and I'm sure you'll be blessed. Not everyone is wired the same way. But for those of us who are sports fans, let's raise our foam fingers in the air, give a loud cheer, and praise the God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment (1 Tim. 6:17). I believe that all of life is spiritual, and we can find God and his lessons wherever we are willing to look.

Hating Christians?

2008-09-21T16:09:00.002-05:00

Our current series (The Top 5 Things I Hate About Christians) has generated more than a couple inquiries. What are we trying to say? Why are we lumping all Christians together? Why are we attacking "our own"? What do we hope to accomplish by being critical of the church?

I think all of these questions are understandable, but there are also good answers. Here's what I would say this series is all about:

1. Taken all together, the church in America is failing. There are exceptions, of course, but when you take all the good and all the bad in the American church, what you end up with is much more bad than good. This is not debatable. By whatever means you want to measure, the church in America is failing in its mission to make disciples. Attendance is declining, biblical knowledge is declining, virtuous living is declining, giving is declining, serving is declining. The church in America is becoming more and more anemic. We need to admit the reality that exists and take stock of ourselves--we do ourselves no favors to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that everything is just fine.

2. The church does not have to fail. We have every available resource (and more!) that other believers have around the world. We have the Spirit and power of God, we have millions of people ready to be mobilized for God's glory, we have a huge mission field around us (America represents the third largest mission field in the world), and we have tremendous financial and capital resources that God has blessed us with. There is no reason the church is doomed to failure--we need only rise up and give ourselves to the Lord and to the task he has given us.

3. By taking an honest look in the mirror, we can address our blind spots. I don't believe the church is failing because we intend to--we've just drifted off-course. We need to be confronted by scripture again to draw us back to what we're supposed to be, as God intended us. The Old Testament prophets routinely slapped Israel in the face verbally when they strayed away from God's commands; we need a slap to wake us up and help us see how dire our situation is and how far we've wandered from God's intentions.

The goal of this series is to help us be "a different kind of church."

If most churches are failing, we want to be different. We want to be purposeful, intentional, strategic, wise, winsome, honest, creative, and thoughtful.
If most churches are just continuing to do what they've always done in spite of the fact that it is increasingly ineffective, we want to be constantly ruthless in our evaluation of how we can be more fruitful for God's kingdom.
If most churches have grown comfortable with their failures, we want to nurture a godly discontent that insists our unfaithfulness is not acceptable.
If most churches have created an environment that is hostile to unbelievers, that denigrates them, and that makes them feel unacceptable to God, we want to welcome them and make room for them. We want to serve them and show them what it really looks like to care about people the way Jesus did when he was on earth.

I'm so sick of a Christianity that exalts everything else above Jesus--whether it's the Republican party, financial prosperity, membership in an "in" group, a self-righteous sense of superiority, traditions of men, or any other idol that would set itself up in competition with Jesus Christ. WE--evangelicals--have become those of whom Paul spoke:

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. (1 Timothy 3:1-5)

And what should Christ-followers do? "Have nothing to do with them." That's why we're addressing the things I hate about Christians.

Who Are Northwest Nick And Nichole?

2008-09-17T13:00:00.003-05:00

Last week, I promised you that I would share some stories of real people in our church who have found Pathway to be exactly what they needed--a church body that would come alongside them and provide guidance, encouragement and help for their spiritual journey:

This summer, we launched SPLASH (Single Parents Letting Another Supply Help). We had two single moms that took advantage of this ministry, bringing their kids here so that they could have some free time to do the things they needed or wanted to do. We also offered Soccer Camp to these families free of charge. One of those families brought all three of their kids every night of Soccer Camp, and all three prayed to receive Christ the last night of the week. The other family expressed great appreciation for SPLASH and what a huge help it was to them. We are attempting to build on this relationship by encouraging both families to get their kids involved in Awana and youth group this fall.
This spring, one lady accepted an invitation to attend a worship service. She liked it and came back for a second week since she was off from work (she was normally scheduled every Sunday). However, after sensing God's presence and being deeply moved, she talked to her boss and got her schedule rearranged so that she could be here every week. She says that when she misses a week here, she notices a huge difference in her life, and that the weekly worship service has become an essential time of connection between her and God. Now her teenage kids are regular in youth group as well.
One Sunday, a family came to visit our church. They enjoyed the services well enough, but what really impressed them is the quality of our children's ministry. They are so grateful that their children have a place to learn about God in a setting they enjoy with adults who truly care about them. After their first week here, they went downstairs to pick their kids up, and they found them praying that Pathway would become their church and that they would never leave.
One gentleman began attending this summer. He appreciates how the worship services make him think, and he's growing in his understanding of God. After being away from church for awhile, he has now recommitted himself to Christ, and is involved in serving in an area of ministry in which he has specialized skills.
Another man had gotten away from church after going through a difficult period in his life. But he recognized that he needed a community of faith in order to grow. He found great encouragement here through his participation in one of our small groups.
One couple had attended church for years, but after years of service got burned out due to constant overload. They stopped going anywhere for about a year. But they were invited to come to Pathway by one of their friends who attends here. The contemporary worship style was not what they were used to, but they were strongly attracted to the faithfulness of our message to God's word. They ended up staying because of the compelling presentation of truth.

Our mission is to meet people where they are on their spiritual journeys and lead them to become fully devoted followers of Jesus. That means we meet people wherever they are on their spiritual journeys. But people are in lots of different places. They have different needs, different experiences, different expectations. Wherever they are, that's where we're supposed to meet them, which means we have to meet lots of people in lots of different ways--Love-Motivated Service (SPLASH), Relational Outreach (Soccer Camp, personal invitations), Accessible Worship (worship services), Connecting Community (small groups), and Life-on-Life Discipleship (small groups).

That's why we have these systems in place, and I'm so encouraged to share these stories with you about how our systems are working--accomplishing the central mission of the church that they were designed to accomplish.

Our strategy now is to get as many people into the funnel as possible. That's why I'm so excited about Kids Hope USA, our mentoring program for at-risk kids at Flora List Elementary school. It's an opportunity to show the love of God with no strings attached by serving the kids and their families in our community who desperately need it, and we'll pray that it will lead to great relationships and an atmosphere of trust and respect that draws them further into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That's the reason we exist.

Putting It All Together

2008-09-08T16:17:00.004-05:00

Now that we've looked at Love-Motivated Service, Relational Outreach, Accessible Worship, Connecting Community, and Life-On-Life Discipleship each in detail, I want to come back out to the big picture once again. Why do we do what we do?

I think understanding this question and its answer are very important--crucial, even--to being an involved, invested, contributing, supportive member of Pathway Community Church. If we don't "get" what's going on here, we end up with lots of questions and perhaps even doubts about whether our strategies are the right ones for us to adopt.

Let's consider our mission--meeting people where they are on their spiritual journeys and leading them to become fully devoted followers of Jesus. That's why we exist. But how do we do that? What specifically do we do to accomplish that mission? Let's take it from the perspective of the people we're trying to reach--Northwest Nick and Nichole.

Northwest Nick commutes every day to work. He gets home at night. His home is his castle. He closes and locks the door, turns on Monday night football, sits down to watch it as he eats dinner. What if we sent somebody to his house—a stranger—at night and knock on his door, right in the middle of his meal and have this stranger say, “Come to church with a bunch of people you’ve never met before.” Would that reach Northwest Nick?

Northwest Nick & Nichole listen to contemporary music, so we want to use music that people understand, that their ears can relate to. They prefer the casual and the informal over the formal. That’s why I don’t dress up. I don’t wear a suit except at weddings and funerals. In fact, on Sundays, I often wear jeans, just like everybody else. Northwest Nick & Nichole don’t want to feel out of place by the way they dress, so we try to make them feel comfortable. They’re overextended in both time and money. That’s Northwest Nick & Nichole.

So how are they going to find Jesus? Do Northwest Nick and Nichole listen to Family Life Radio? No way! Do they watch Christian TV? Nope.

Northwest Nick gets to hear about Jesus by somebody getting close to him and becoming his friend. Somebody says, “Hey, Nick! You’ve gotta come to this church. It’s incredible! The pastor doesn’t wear a robe. You don’t have to wear a suit. The pastor doesn’t even wear a tie! They tell jokes. And the music isn’t hymns; it’s like contemporary pop music. The messages aren’t like ‘Who is the Beast in Revelation?’ It’s like ‘How Do I Handle Financial Stress in my Life?’ You’re not going to believe this church. Come on, Nick!” When people find good news, they tell it.

So how do we make that happen? We could all just develop authentic relationships with our neighbors, coworkers, family members, and friends--and we certainly encourage you to do that--but what we're finding is that most of us are either unwilling or just don't know how to do that. So we provide avenues for those relationships to develop through Love-Motivated Service. When you serve someone out of love for them and for God, it tears down walls of cynicism and makes them wonder what is behind our actions.

It opens up the door to begin a relationship with them, and help them begin to establish a connection to the church. It gives us the opportunity to talk about Jesus, what he's done for us, and how it's our goal to be people who look like him. In other words, love-motivated service paves the way for Relational Outreach, which draws people into our church. Most of the time, one of the first ways a person begins to explore this Jesus-thing is by deciding to come to a service on Sunday morning.

If we have Northwest Nick & Nichole in our service, then we'd better make sure that we have Accessible Worship. Because if they go to a church, they might be worried about being conspicuous--this is unfamiliar territory for them. Everyone's got the hymnbooks. They’re singing. They don’t know the words. They’re not singing, and everybody knows they’re not singing. And they know everybody knows they're not singing because they’re all looking at them. They feel very put on the spot. That’s why visitors go to the back. They don’t want to have a spotlight shining on them.

We don’t have a thousand people here, but we still want to create the environment where people can come and hide in the crowd. We welcome that. It’s ok. We want them to come in, sit down, get their feet wet, listen for a while, check it out, consider the claims of Christ. We don’t embarrass people before they become believers. We’re just glad whenever anyone is here for any reason. Northwest Nick is probably skeptical of organized religion. “I don’t mind Jesus and God. I just don’t like organized religion.” That’s great, come to Pathway. We’re disorganized religion.

Once they've decided that they want to keep coming, at least long enough to keep on considering what's being presented, then it's important that we get them plugged into a Connecting Community. We do this through helping them find a small group that will fit their schedule and interests, and by finding ways that they can serve and contribute on a ministry team that fits how God has shaped them.

Both of these connections will help them grow through Life-On-Life Discipleship because they're interacting with other believers who will teach them through their lives, their attitudes, their actions, and their words what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Christ.

This is a very attractive process for Northwest Nick and Nichole because it proceeds at their pace and with their consent and their involvement. It's respectful, personal, and gradual--we don't expect them to be mature Christians the first week they walk in our doors. We treat them with love, concern, care, and compassion as we encourage them to keep taking steps in their spiritual journeys, but it's up to them to take the steps. We don't force anything on people--they come to Christ through their own decisions, not through pressure, manipulation, or coersion.

Next week, I'll be telling you about some real people at Pathway who have found this process to be exactly what they needed to come to Christ. We're going to put faces on Northwest Nick and Nichole.

Life-On-Life Discipleship

2008-08-24T20:39:00.002-05:00

This is the last in my series of posts examining our church's strategy, answering the question: "Why do we do what we do?" Specifically, we've been answering the question: "Why do we do things this way?" In addition to service that is love-motivated, outreach that is relational, worship that is accessible, and community that connects, we want discipleship that is life-on-life.

What do I mean by that?

Many churches utilize an approach to discipleship that is primarily informational or educational. They seem to believe that if a person simply has the right information, then they will know how to apply it and live it out in their own lives. They focus on doctrine and data, and figure the rest will follow. I believe this model is outdated.

In a former time in American culture, the structures, values, and institutions of society all worked together to encourage people to live a life consistent with biblical principles. In the worlds of business, politics, academics, and every other area of life, there were pressures and expectations for people to act honestly, to honor their word, to work diligently, to treat others respectfully, and to exercise self-discipline.

In this kind of a world, perhaps information was the great need--people simply needed to know how to place their beliefs and values in the context of living a life that glorifies God. They always knew that working hard was the right thing to do, but with more information they could understand why it was right, and how that related to God.

Today, these values have all but evaporated, and in every area of life, there is an expectation that people will probably lie if they can get away with it, will break their word unless there is a potential for a lawsuit, will do as little work as possible, will treat others as tools to be used, and will exercise self-indulgence.

In this kind of a world, the discipleship process starts with a disadvantage--the world is openly hostile to a life that's devoted to following Jesus. So there are actually three tasks for the disciple, instead of one:

A disciple needs to learn the definition of right living. There is no societal pressure that encourages me to abstain from sex before marriage--in fact, there is great societal pressure to dive right in. So, in the 1950s the question would have been, "Why is sex before marriage wrong?" Today the question is, "What? You mean this is an issue?"
A disciple need to learn how to demonstrate right living. There are many logistical questions that face a person who wants to change their life choices. How do I explain to my girlfriend I don't think we should be having sex anymore? How do I tell my kids that the cable we've been stealing is going to get cut off? How do I handle my boss who pays me under the table? What about the weekly lottery pool I participate in at work? You see, all of these choices involve relationships, not just the life of the Christ-follower. In a world that doesn't support Christian choices, many of these choices become tricky.
A disciple needs to learn how to defend right living. We have to learn how to develop not only the courage to make the right choices, but the ability to explain those choices to others who don't understand, and be ready to become the object of ridicule. Because the truth is that without a defense, people will naturally just "go with the flow."

A world that is hostile to the Christian life makes the process of discipleship much more complicated and difficult. Simply giving people information doesn't cut it anymore. We need help. We need people to come along side us and encourage us, support us, lead us, challenge us, stretch us, and hold us accountable. This is where discipleship often falls apart today--we don't surround people and equip them to make and defend the right choices in their lives. We simply tell them a bunch of information.

At our church, discipleship happens most often in small group Bible studies and in ministry teams. These are the places that we rub shoulders with one another. These are the contexts in which relationships are developed, where it becomes natural to share our lives with one another. We see what other people have done and continue to do. We learn about how they have made decisions in their lives--both good and bad, and what the outcomes of those were. We can ask questions about things we don't yet understand. We can ask for prayer. We can find a place where we feel safe to be who we are, which is essential for growing into somebody else.

Relationships are essental for growth. The Christian life is more caught than taught. We have to see it lived out in the people around us. That's why we have a strategy of Life-On-Life Discipleship.

Connecting Community

2008-08-17T07:20:00.003-05:00

These last few posts have been exploring and developing the themes laid out in a post I made on July 13, Why Do We Do What We Do? (Part 2). In that original post, I talked about a "Welcoming Community," but I'm actually changing that terminology to a "Connecting Community."

In fact, this week's subject and next week's were the ones that I really wrestled with finding just the right words. I know what I want to communicate--it's a matter of applying the proper words that will transmit the idea.

On July 13, I wrote: As people come into our church, we want them not only to feel welcome, but to actually be welcomed--with open arms. We want people to know that this is a safe place, where they will be loved and supported in their pursuit of Christ, a place where they can be authentic, sharing their needs, their fears, their struggles, and their questions, along with their joys and hopes. We want people to be connected into a family.

But my fear is that "welcoming" actually conveys not the idea of deep safety and love, but rather a superficial smile and handshake. This is actually the opposite of what we want. A smile and handshake is a nice beginning, but if we stop there, we fail as a community that follows the path of Christ. You can get a nice greeting at McDonald's and Wal-Mart, but the church of Jesus Christ ought to be a place that truly welcomes people to come and join us on this path of becoming fully devoted followers of him.

A Connecting Community is one where we are linked and joined to one another with bonds of love, consideration, authenticity, and care. Moreover, we work hard to connect the unconnected--those who stand off apart from the community, who are fearful of rejection if they should reveal too much of themselves. We actively seek to attach ourselves to each other, knowing that it is God's will for us to hold one another up as we stumble together toward Christlikeness on our journeys of faith.

In searching for the right word, I considered many options:

Phrases like an "Open Community" and an "Embracing Community" not only had the same failings as a "Welcoming Community," but in some circles they signify an endorsement of a homosexual lifestyle, which is certainly not something we want to communicate.
An "Approachable Community" puts the responsibility on those who come--that they should approach us--when in fact we should be the ones seeking to incorporate others into the body.
I thought about an "Attaching Community," but it reminded me of a vacuum cleaner or some other machine with attachments. I thought of a Frankenstein-like monster, composed of various assembled parts, when we want to communicate something natural and attractive. The same goes with "Sticky Community"--Eeeewwww! Yuck!
I really liked an "Adopting Community"; it carries the idea of incorporating people into a family. But I felt it was unclear what we were adopting--people? ideas? babies?

It is important for a church to be a Connecting Community. If we are not connected in this deep-life way, we have no place to go with our questions, our doubts, our fears, and our struggles, and that void leaves us open to Satan's attacks. If we are not connected with others in our church, it becomes hard to grow spiritually because growth most often comes only when we are challenged to grow, and we are best challenged by those who really know us. Finally, when we are unconnected, it becomes very easy to simply drop out. After all, if no one really cares about me, why should I keep going?

So what makes us connected? How do we connect with one another?

We feel connected when we can identify friends in the church.
We feel connected when we have an important role or ministry in the church.
We feel connected when we grow closer to God through the church.
We feel connected when we believe in the mission and vision of the church.

How can we become a Connecting Church. Particularly, how do we connect the unconnected?

Identify those who lack friendships, who seem isolated, and befriend them. Or introduce them to others they might have something in common with.
Identify those who lack a place to serve, and encourage them to get involved in a ministry that fits how God has shaped them.
Identify those who are not in a small group, and help them find a group that fits their needs and schedule.
Continually communicate the mission and vision of the church in an attractive way.

When we remove the barriers to connection, we become a place where people feel they belong, where they feel comfortable to be themselves, where they know that there is a radical acceptance based on the unity that comes from the blood of Jesus Christ that gives us equal standing before him. We become a community that people cling to and will not relinquish because they find their deepest needs for purpose, acceptance, and encouragement met right here through the people of God.

Accessible Worship

2008-08-03T20:26:00.004-05:00

This is the third in a series of five posts, examining our strategy more fully, understanding how we seek to meet people where they are on their spiritual journeys and lead them to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. We've already tackled Love-Motivated Service and Relational Outreach. This week, we explore Accessible Worship.

In our church, we offer worship services that utilize a variety of elements: skits, music, video, communion, the spoken word, giving, and other types of congregational response. We don't necessarily include every one of these elements in any given service, but these are the ingredients that we use in preparing each Sunday's worship gathering.

One of the things that we do that is somewhat unusual is to include both Christian and non-Christian elements in our decidedly Christian worship services. We have both Christian and non-Christian music, Christian and non-Christian videos, Christian and non-Christian skits. So what is the thinking behind this? Why do we design our services this way?

One of the assumptions I've often heard expressed (even by those who are involved in serving in the worship services) is that our worship services are designed to "attract" unchurched people or to "bring people in." But that's actually not the case. The only people who even know what our worship services are like are the ones who come to them. The people outside our church don't have any clue what our services are like, so how would they be attracted?

Rather, the services are designed to be intelligible and understandable to anyone who does come, whether they've never set foot inside a church in their lives, or if they've been a follower of Christ for 20 years. Our worship services are intended to be accessible. We want to do church in such a way that a person who's never been to church can "get it."

This means more than simply dropping the "Christian-ese" that dominates a lot of church-talk ("I felt so blessed to be justified by the blood and be filled with the Holy Ghost when God moved me to reach the lost. Hallelujah!"). It means communicating in a way that makes sense to the people we're trying to communicate with, giving them something they can reflect on and consider as they leave the service.

The ingredients we use that make up our worship services are effective for this in several ways:

Using music, movies, and TV shows from pop culture helps people make connections between their everyday lives and the Bible or God. It helps them see the spiritual dimensions of their everyday activities.
When they hear a song on the radio, or watch a TV show that was used in church that Sunday, it reminds them of the worship experience, reinforcing the message they heard.
Pop culture is often helpful for providing negative examples of how to handle life, which can then be contrasted with God's way, as expressed in the Bible. (In today's service, we had an example of that with the Hank Williams song, "There's A Tear In My Beer" and the Katy Perry song "Lost")
By using things that people are already familiar with (pop culture), it helps them relate to something new (the message of Jesus).

It would be right to point out that there are a few assumptions behind our approach, which the whole thing is built on:

All truth is God's truth, whether we find it in the pages of scripture or in a Jack Nicholson movie.
God is concerned with all of life--even addictions, crime, abuse, sexuality, or whatever else might make us uncomfortable--so all of life is up for discussion in a frank and honest way.
God is in the redeeming business; therefore, what someone in Hollywood intended for glorification of sin can be used for the glorification of God, when put in proper context.
Communication that is convincing is not just informational, but emotional as well. Since the arts have a tremendous power to persuade, it is wise to use them in our attempts to convince people.
Christians ought to be more considerate than non-Christians. We expect Christians to make the effort to accommodate the ones we're trying to reach, rather than the other way around.

In the end, we want everyone who comes to Pathway each Sunday leaving with a better understanding of what God wants them to do, and with a motivation to do it. But that requires a worship service that is accessible to everyone who comes.

Relational Outreach

2008-07-27T19:41:00.002-05:00

This is the second week in this blog, where we're looking at the five strategies we have for being a more effective reconciling community (2 Cor. 5:18). Last week, we discussed Love-Motivated Service; this week, we're looking at Relational Outreach.

We, like most churches, have a few big "outreach events" that are scattered throughout the year: Chili Cook-off Booth (Winter); Easter Egg Hunt (Spring); Soccer Camp (Summer); Trunk Or Treat (Fall). Additionally, in the past, we've done other outreach events, such as a Dinner Theatre, a Car Show, and serving hot chocolate at events downtown.

Another approach we utilize for outreach is periodically printing postcards for series that we believe will resonate with unchurched people. Sometimes we hand these out at our outreach events, inviting people to return for an upcoming series.

I believe outreach events are a good idea, and we will continue to have them. However, the fact that we emphasize these events and call on the church body to be involved, has the unintended consequence, I think, of causing many of us to view our church's outreach strategy as being event-driven (whether the event is Soccer Camp or a worship service), rather than relationship-driven.

We do outreach events, but the truth is that our strategy is not to reach people with events, but to reach people with relationships. The events are simply there to serve as tools for the relationships. Let me explain.

Many unchurched people are uncomfortable with churches and church people. They've had bad experiences in the past, or they've heard plenty of horror stories from others, and they have their guard up. Northwest Nick's guard comes down as a result of someone getting close to him--a neighbor, a co-worker, a friend from the gym, a repeat customer--someone that he can see is 1) a Christ-follower and 2) different than his preconceptions.

Northwest Nick may still be hesitant to walk into a worship service--that can be very intimidating--but if his friend invites him to bring his kids to Soccer Camp, or to come to a Lugnuts baseball game, or some other event, that's often an easier step for him to take. Then, once he comes and interacts with more people, Nick is hopefully saying, "This church could be different. A lot of these people seem really genuine." The event has served to bring him one step closer to Christ.

Then Nick's friend invites him to come to a worship service. The friend gives him a postcard that has all the information on it--what, where, when, a website to check out. The postcard with all the information helps Nick know what to expect--it reduces the unknown and the anxiety that the unknown generates in our minds. He may or may not come this time, but he feels welcome and possibly interested. Eventually, Nick may choose to check it out.

This is relational outreach. The events and the postcards are not there to do the work all by themselves in a vacuum. They are part of a relational outreach strategy that depends on each of us to build our own relationships with unchurched people. Without the relationships undergirding the process, the events and postcards lose most of their effectiveness.

This last week, we had Soccer Camp. Normal registration costs were $15 per child for the week (a bargain for the personal attention, the snacks, the crafts, the T-shirt, and the picture w/ frame that each child received).

But we waived the fee for kids who have been involved in our SPLASH ministry this summer for single parents. First of all, we know that single parents often struggle financially, and we didn't want them to be excluded from Soccer Camp for financial reasons. But, more importantly, those are relationships that we've already established, and now we want to develop them. We want to expand their connection with our church. We want them to meet more people and get drawn into this community of Christ-followers. That's relational outreach.

We can't say we did outreach just because we had an outreach event. Events are great, but they don't often bear much fruit on their own. People who show up for an event, absent a relationship, are usually not interested in anything other than the event.

Parents who bring their kids to Soccer Camp just want their kids to have fun playing soccer;
Parents who bring their kids to the Easter Egg Hunt or to Trunk or Treat just want their kids to get candy and prizes;
People who come to a Dinner Theatre just want good food and a good show.

But people who already have an authentic, positive relationship with someone in our church are often interested in acquiring more authentic, positive relationships.

Now, there are exceptions to the rule, of course. There are people who just walk in off the street and pick our church at random. There are people who just moved into the neighborhood and are looking for a church. There are people who came to an event here 10 years ago, but now they're struggling with a divorce, and they're searching for something. Outreach can happen without a relationship, but it's often accidental.

We can't rely on accidents to reach the 100,000 people in Jackson County with no church family. We have to be strategic. Our strategy is to intentionally focus on Relational Outreach.

Love-Motivated Service

2008-07-20T15:57:00.002-05:00

Whenever we serve, it's always for someone else; real service is inherently other-focused. Just think about all the ways we experience service in our everyday lives:

The mechanic in your local garage is there to provide service for your vehicle--not his. His garage doesn't exist for him alone, but rather to offer a quality service experience to you and anyone else who needs help with their car.
The server in your local restaurant is there not just to serve you dinner, but in fact to serve all your needs while dining--your needs, not theirs. Their job is to provide you with an exceptional dining experience (and the food is actually only one part of that service).
If you have trouble with a product that you buy, most of the time you can call their Customer Service department. Their job is to do everything they can to resolve your problem to your satisfaction--they're there to serve the customer... at least, in theory. If they don't do a good job, you will say you did not get good service.

In truth, self-service is no service at all. When you drive up to a gas pump, swipe your own debit card, fill up your car for an obscene amount of money, check your own fluids, wipe your own windshield, and oversee all aspects of your own transaction, you've made a purchase, but you have not given yourself a service. No one leaves a gas station remarking on how well they served themselves. Service is always for someone else. To serve is to direct your talents and energies to the benefit of others.

But why would we do that? What could possibly be our motivation for serving others? Our capitalistic economy is designed to reward good service with money. That's the motivation for the auto mechanic, the restaurant server, and the Customer Service department; their goal is to maximize their bottom lines. The better they serve, the more money they generate for themselves.

Now, there's nothing wrong with that. I think it's rather ingenious that we've created an economic system where people are actually rewarded for doing something they're unlikely to do voluntarily, but which everyone needs and everyone benefits from.

But that can't be our motivation at PCC for serving others. We don't serve so that we can get money. We also don't serve in order to see some pre-determined result. As much as we want to see people come to faith in Christ, give their lives and hearts to him, and experience the life-transforming power he offers, we can't hold that out as a reason for serving people. Because what if they don't? What if they don't become believers? Does that mean we stop serving them? How would we know when we've served someone "long enough"? Service can't be used as a manipulation tool--that would make it something other than service.

Additionally, we don't serve out of guilt, duty, obligation, to fulfill our own needs, or to gain recognition. If we serve for any of these reasons, our service is not truly focused on others, but on ourselves. We're really only serving for what we can get out of it--much like the server at the restaurant.

At PCC, we believe that there can only be one good motivation for serving, and that motivation is love--love for other people. We want everyone who serves to recognize exactly how their service benefits others, and to be motivated by genuine love for those they serve.

Our ushers greet people and make them feel welcome every Sunday. They provide them with a bulletin, which is the main communication tool for our church, helping us all stay connected with one another. They answer questions and help direct visitors to the nursery or the children's wing downstairs. Our ushers provide a tremendous service, motivated by a sincere love for everyone who walks in the door.
Our lawn crew keeps the grass mowed and edged. This makes it safe for everyone who comes, so that we don't have snakes and other critters taking up residence in some long, weedy hayfield that occupies the space where our lawn used to be. It also makes it attractive to the community that drives by the church, rather than making an unkempt property that repels people. This is a love-motivated service.
And more could be said about nursery workers, children's ministry workers, sound & video techs, small group leaders, youth group volunteers, worship musicians, and others.

Every ministry of our church meets one or more needs with love. All of our ministries are about loving people, and those who serve hopefully do so out of a motivation of love. If you are reading this, and you have a ministry in the church, I'd invite you to think about what needs your ministry meets for people, and how you can demonstrate love for them through your service.

This week, we have a great opportunity in Soccer Camp to give love-motivated service to our entire community, as dozens of kids (and their parents) come to us for a week of soccer and fun. If you haven't signed up yet to serve, just contact Pastor Brent, our Soccer Camp Director, and he'll be happy to find a way that you can get plugged in (no soccer skills required!!!).

In the fall, we'll be launching a new ministry in partnership with the Northwest School District, called Kids Hope USA. It's a mentoring program for at-risk elementary age children. The principal will select the children who qualify for the program; our church will supply the mentors who commit to spending one hour a week with their child at the school. This program has had a tremendous impact in schools around the country, and it's one more way that we can provide love-motivated service to the people around us.

Every person is a person created in God's image. Every person is a person that God loves. Every person is a person that God wants us to love. But let us not love people with words only and vague notions, but with actions that actually demonstrate that our love is real. Let us love with service.

Why Do We Do What We Do? (Part 2)

2008-07-13T11:27:00.000-05:00

Last week, I wrote a post about why we do what we do--as Christians, as a church--looking at Paul's teachings in 2 Corinthians 5-6. And I said, "Everything that we do at Pathway Community Church is about becoming a more effective reconciling community."

But this week, I want to break that down a little bit. I want to move from the abstract and theoretical to the concrete and practical. How are we a reconciling community? In what way do these things that we do help us to accomplish the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18)? There are lots of ways to "do church"--why do we do things this way?

In essence, this is a question about strategy. If we agree that every church and every individual ought to be about the business of using the gifts of the Spirit to serve, reaching out to unbelievers with the good news of Jesus, worshiping God in words and actions, loving one another in fellowship, and growing in maturity and Christ-likeness--if we agree that those are our basic functions--then what is our strategy for accomplishing them? How do these things work in our church? Why do we do things this way?

I spent some time last week thinking about each of these 5 basic functions of the church, trying to encapsulate our strategy in a single phrase, and here's what I came up with:

1. Love-Motivated Service
There are lots of potential motivations for serving--guilt, duty, obligation, need, recognition. But we want our service to be motivated by love. We want everyone who serves to recognize the way that they are serving others, and to be motivated by love for the others whom they serve. We also want people to love the service that they do (not to feel worn out and burdened down by it), and that happens when they serve according to the way that God has shaped them.

2. Relational Outreach
I think there's a tendency to view outreach from an event-oriented perspective. But outreach events do not constitute outreach in themselves. Really, they act as tools to assist those in our church who are developing relationships as one more relationship-building opportunity. Our outreach happens as we get close to people in relationships and invite them to a relationship not just with us, but with Christ as well.

3. Accessible Worship
Our worship services are not designed to "attract" unchurched people or to "bring people in." The only people who even know what our worship services are like are the ones who come to them. Rather, the services are designed to be intelligible and understandable to anyone who does come, whether they've never set foot inside a church in their lives, or if they've been a follower of Christ for 20 years.

4. Welcoming Community
As people come into our church, we want them not only to feel welcome, but to actually be welcomed--with open arms. We want people to know that this is a safe place, where they will be loved and supported in their pursuit of Christ, a place where they can be authentic, sharing their needs, their fears, their struggles, and their questions, along with their joys and hopes. We want people to be connected into a family.

5. Life-On-Life Discipleship
We believe that the best way to grow closer to Christ is to do it in community, in the middle of a process of sharing life with other people. There are exceptions, but in general it is very hard to grow significantly as a Christian without deep and sincere relationships with other Christians. As we share life together, we get to see how others deal with their problems in a biblical way, we experience others praying for us as we face our own, and we have a network of support in times of crisis. The Christian life is more caught than taught because it's not about a list of doctrines that have to be memorized--it's about living a life under the direction and leadership of Jesus.

This is why we do what we do:

"No one serves alone" so that we can build relationships, welcoming people into the community and providing them with a place that they can contribute and share according to how God has shaped them.
We print postcards so that we can have an easy way to invite our friends (relational outreach), providing them with all the information that they'll need to come and experience an accessible worship service and a welcoming community.
We have small groups that gather regularly for Bible study and fellowship so that each of us has a place where we can share life with other people who are on the same journey toward Christ-likeness that we are.
We plan our services in themed series so that we can connect the Bible with everyday life, making our services accessible for as many people as possible, and providing recurring "on-ramps" for unchurched people to come and hear God's message for their lives.

It's really about making room in our lives for other people at every stage of their spiritual journeys. If it's our goal as a church to look like Christ, we need to be "other-focused"--his life was all about others, and our lives must be too. So we'll be exploring these five strategies in depth over the next five weeks in this blog.

Why Do We Do What We Do?

2008-07-06T15:18:00.002-05:00

In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul discusses what it means to live our lives on earth in light of heaven. Some people are said to be "so heavenly minded that they're no earthly good." I've found that (on the contrary) the more a person understands heaven, the more good they do on earth.

The fact is that we were made to live in a perfect world (Gen. 1-2; Rev. 21-22). In fact, God "has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (v. 5). "So we make it our goal to please him" (v. 9), realizing that "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ" (v. 10).

In other words, living our lives in light of heaven means doing everything in our earthly power (and the power of God's Spirit inside us) to obey him, to follow him, to please him. Heaven is where God's will is carried out perfectly; our lives on earth are practice for our lives in heaven. Our proper goal on earth is to please God through the way we live our lives--the priorities we set, the choices we make, the relationships we nurture, the lessons we apply, the resources we steward, the services we render--all of it should be done to please God.

"Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men" (v. 11). We know the benefit of following God. We experience the love and peace of a daily relationship with him--a life with every aspect lived under his direction and care--and we want others to experience it too. In fact, "Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again" (vv. 14-15).

The good news is a stumbling block in every culture ("foolishness to those who are perishing" - 1 Cor. 1:18). In our culture of radical tolerance and openness, it sounds narrow and arrogant for one group of people to be convinced about what some other group of people ought or ought not do. Yet, if we believe the gospel ("to us who are being saved it is the power of God" - 1 Cor. 1:18), then we are convinced that this is God's plan for all people. It is, in fact, what God made us for in the first place.

So, regardless of how it sounds, what others may think, or what consequences may come our way, the love that Christ has shown to us compels us, forces us, drives us outward to bring the great message of salvation to everyone who might receive it.

But how is this message carried? How is it to be conveyed? Paul tells us. "We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way" (6:3-4). What this means is that we make the gospel as attractive as we possibly can. The gospel itself is offensive and difficult enough; we commit to adding no extra offenses to the gospel for those who do not yet believe it.

Here are some of the ways Paul says we can commend ourselves to the unbelieving world around us (vv. 4-10):

endurance
self-sacrifice
hard work
concern and compassion
purity and a consistent life
understanding others
patience
kindness
the Holy Spirit
sincere love
truthful speech
the power of God
weapons of righteousness to combat evil
willingness to be misunderstood and attacked

Paul, in essence, says we must give up everything for the prospect of participating in the ministry of reconciliation that Christ has given us--the awesome privilege of "reconciling the world to God through Christ, not counting men's sins against them... We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us" (5:18-20).

Why do we do what we do? There is only one reason. Everything that we do at Pathway Community Church is about becoming a more effective reconciling community. That's it, nothing else. But it's helpful to acknowledge some corollaries that are included in this statement:

We want to understand our own reconciliation with God better, gaining an ever-growing appreciation and love for the person and work of Jesus Christ.
We want to be reconciled to one another, a community of forgiveness and love that models the character of God to one another and to the world.
We want to passionately break down every barrier that prevents any person from fulfilling the purpose they were created for, namely, to be reconciled to God.

A reconciling community is one that understands God's mission and applies it to every relationship, every person, every opportunity in life. "So from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view... If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (5:16-18).

Why do you do what you do? Is it to become more effective in your life's mission? "As God's fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain" (6:1). Don't just receive it for yourself and the benefits you can get out of it, but let God's love for this world become your love as well. Let his focus become your focus. And let his cause become your cause.

What I Don't Believe

2008-06-29T08:58:00.001-05:00

I believe in Jesus. I believe in the Bible. I believe in God's mighty Church, spread across centuries and across continents. I believe in God's sovereignty. I believe in God's infinite love, even though I will never understand its depth or its breadth.

But I've been thinking lately about the things I don't believe:

I don't believe in the self-sufficiency of any person to serve, worship, mature, or share the good news without a supporting family of faith alongside them.
I don't believe in the avoidance of pain or discomfort as a goal of life.
I don't believe in the American Dream.
I don't believe that inauthentic relationships are worth any time or effort.
I don't believe that we can know very much at all, and that's why everything we say, do, and believe has to be solidly grounded in the Bible.
I don't believe that most people who claim the name of Christ actually have any kind of true relationship with him (in America, at least).
I don't believe that God's Spirit moves only "in the moment" and is neutralized by planning ahead.
I don't believe that government will ever solve any spiritual problems.
I don't believe in cutting short the mission of the church to please the already-convinced.
I don't believe that anyone is too busy unless they've chosen to be.
I don't believe in worrying about high or low self-esteem, since Jesus calls us to die to ourselves.
I don't believe that environmentalism is a large enough purpose to serve as the source of meaning and satisfaction in life.
I don't believe any church will ever be perfect.
I don't believe any concept of joining people together will ever be greater than the church.
I don't believe that any force or power will ever kill, abolish, overcome, or squelch the local church.
I don't believe in grounding my identity in anything other than who Jesus declares me to be.
I don't believe that power must always be exercised selfishly.
I don't believe that any time spent in prayer is wasted time.
I don't believe that love will ever be eclipsed, that faith will ever be unnecessary, or that hope will ever die.
I don't believe that the pursuit of power, pleasure, possessions, popularity, or prestige will ever lead to fulfillment.
I don't believe that fairness means treating everyone the same.
I don't believe that God accomplishes anything on earth without godly leadership in front.
I don't believe an American political structure will ever work as an effective model for a church structure.
I don't believe that authority equals worth or value.
I don't believe that low standards that are easy to attain can ever produce excellence.
I don't believe that God is honored by results over attitudes or motivations.

What about you? What don't you believe in? What do you want to challenge on my list? What needs to be added? Let me know! Click on the comments link below this post and add your thoughts!

Life Is A Highway

2008-06-22T07:26:00.002-05:00

I was reflecting on last week's post about parables while preparing the service for this week, and I realized the song that we used today ("Life Is A Highway") was a great illustration of what I was talking about. So I wanted to take this opportunity this week to develop this idea of a parable-oriented worship service a little further.

In preparation for each series, there is a group of creative people called the Worship Design Team that meet and generate ideas to be implemented for the upcoming series. Some of the ideas relate to music and songs that could be employed (as well as sets and skits and other service elements). Then, as I write my messages, I look at the lyrics of the different song ideas and assign each one to the week of the series that it fits best.

In the case of this week, I chose the song "Life Is A Highway" to go with the theme of "Ya Gotta Have Fuel." Our service revolved around the idea of being fueled by a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We are directed and driven by the purposes for which God created us, but we still need fuel in order to get anywhere. That fuel is our vertical relationship with God. The quality of that relationship corresponds to the quality of our fuel.

The song doesn't have anything to do with fuel, but it has everything to do with relationship. In its original context, the song is about love, as the singer invites his beloved to join him on the road of life, so that they can journey down the same path. That invitation corresponds exactly to the invitation that Jesus offers to us--to join him in life's journey, but he says we can only join him "if you're going my way." His direction is already set. The question is will we join him or will we go off on our own way?

Here are some other interesting lines I found in the song in terms of how they relate to our journey with Jesus (if you want to read the lyrics to the whole song, you can click here):

"Through all these cities and all these towns, It's in my blood and it's all around. I love you now like I loved you then. This is the road, and these are the hands." The love of Jesus is not confined to any one place, bound by location. Wherever we go, we find his love there. It's the love that was spoken by the blood that he shed on the cross that tore down the dividing wall between us and God so that we could know him in the most intimate way possible. His love has never wavered, never diminished; he loves us now with the same ferocity and intensity that he always has. This is the road that he has chosen--the road of passionate love for us--and he holds out his nail-scarred hands, just like he did to Thomas, inviting us to clasp ours in his as we journey together toward the fulfillment of his perfect plan.
"Knock me down, get back up again. You're in my blood. I'm not a lonely man." They "knocked Jesus down" on the cross, but on the third day he got back up again. The power of the resurrection and the blood that joins us to him is what makes a relationship with the Father possible. Jesus, indeed, is not lonely, enjoying the eternal fellowship of the Father and Holy Spirit in the Trinity, but also claiming an enormous spiritual family for himself on the cross whom he will enjoy forever in heaven.
"There's no load I can't hold. Roads are rough, this I know. I'll be there when the light comes in. Just tell 'em we're survivors." On this journey of faith, no matter how heavy the load, how rough the road, Jesus will always be there with us to help us through it. No matter how dark the night, he'll be there until light rises in our lives again, and then he'll still be there some more. This is what it means to journey with Jesus.
"There was a distance between you and I, a misunderstanding once, but now we look it in the eye." In our former way of life, we didn't understand the love of God, the grace of God, the wisdom of God, and the perfect plan of God. We were distant from him, running off in our own direction, far away from his path that he prepared for us to run in. But now, through Christ, we have been reconciled to God, and that distance has been eliminated. We fellowship with God in an intimate relationship that removes all the failures of the past.
"There's not much time left today." No one knows how much time we have or when our lives will end. But we do know that there's no time like the present to start journeying with Jesus. Right now is always the right time to choose to point ourselves in his direction and start going his way.

This song, placed in a new context, becomes a parable of the Christian life. We can hear the voice of Jesus (via the voices of Rascal Flatts) beckoning us to join him on the journey of life ("Life is like a road that you travel on"). He invites us to go his way and stay in constant companionship with him through all the things that we might encounter on such a long trip, fully trusting in his ability to carry our load and get us through the rough patches.

Maybe you didn't get all that sitting in the service this morning, but all of that was nevertheless there (and maybe more that I'm not even aware of). I trust in God's Spirit to reveal to each heart exactly what they need to hear, and I also trust that if we reflect and meditate, ask questions, engage, and interact with the service, instead of being passive, that God will show us even more. That's the nature of a parable--to reveal and conceal God's perfect plan.

Parables

2008-06-15T16:49:00.005-05:00

Even though we've been doing series with sets and skits and videos for 2-1/2 years, I'm still asked from time to time why we have the style services that we do. Are we trying to be trendy? Are we trying to be different? What's the point of it all? Why do we need all this stuff to have a worship service?

There are a lot of ways to answer these questions, but I think the best way to say it is that we're trying to be like Jesus.

The Bible tells us that "Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world (Ps. 78:2)." (Mt. 13:34-35).

The parable is clearly Jesus' preferred mode of communication with the crowds that came to hear him, so much so that Matthew tells us Jesus did not say anything to them without using a parable. The Bible records 39 parables of Jesus in the four gospels (20 in Matthew, 8 in Mark, 25 in Luke, and 1 in John--some are duplicated in more than one gospel).

If you were to visit dictionary.com for a definition of the word "parable" you would probably read that a parable is "a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson." Although this is clearly an accurate definition, it doesn't give us a full insight into a biblical parable.

To better understand what a parable is, we need to investigate the origin of the word. The English word parable comes from the Greek word parabole which literally means "to place alongside." So a parable places two things next to each other for the purposes of comparing them. In Easton's Bible Dictionary this comparison is further explained as being a comparison of earthly things with heavenly things, making a parable an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. And that is exactly what Jesus did, in his parables he would compare an aspect of everyday life with a truth about the kingdom of God.

Why did Jesus speak to the people in parables? The Bible tells us there are two reasons:

"So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world (Ps. 78:2)." (Mt. 13:35). The first purpose of Jesus' parables is to disclose what was previously hidden to people. How did the parables accomplish this? Parables are puzzles, whose purpose is neither to (only) entertain or to perplex their audience, or to give them games to play. But rather, they are stories at whose heart lays a metaphor, like a narrative poem. Jesus was not doing stand-up comedy, nor was he trying to be difficult. He used the language of parable because he was speaking of something that was intangible. He was speaking of something unseen. And like the poet, he had the difficult task of making the unseen, seen. The best way to do that is to use the familiar things of this world that people already understand, in order to help them understand the unfamiliar things of God that have been, up to this point, beyond their grasp.
"The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that though seeing, they may not see; though hearing they may not understand (Isa 6:9)." (Lk. 8:10). The second purpose of parables is to obscure and confuse. Often the meanings contained in Jesus' parables were left, for the moment, unseen. Even the disciples had difficulty understanding, and more than once asked Jesus to explain them. Scripture can be difficult. It takes work. Jesus wanted to reward those who wrestled with what he had to say, those who weighed his words carefully and pondered his message. For he knew that those who were engaged in the learning process would be better students in the end than those who had simply had their lessons handed to them.

It seems like these two purposes are at cross purposes with each other, but they actually work together. A minister once wrote, "Only the poetic imagination can understand the Bible. Like unsolved puzzles, the meaning of parables can lie hidden in the mind. Hindrances to our understanding abound--like bars on a door or locks on a gate. But one does remain curious about what lies on the other side." Parables open up new understandings for us that we had not seen previously, but only for those who are active, engaged participants in the learning process.

What does this have to do with our worship services? Our Sunday services are essentially parables. We take an ordinary, understandable, earthly theme and connect it with a heavenly meaning--an exercise gym (God's Gym), a movie (Marty Python), Commercials, a work environment (The Office), stock car racing (Driven). Every skit, every video clip, every set, most songs, and many messages are essentially parables--layered in meaning, providing us with the opportunity to see and experience God in a new and broader way than we ever had before, but only if we're willing to engage the eternal, spiritual truths that are hidden everywhere in the ordinary things of this world.

Driven

2008-06-10T09:31:00.005-05:00

I myself am not a huge NASCAR fan, but I know that many people are, especially in this area. NASCAR claims 75 million fans worldwide--for more on this (perhaps inflated?) number, you can check this out--but whatever the actual number, it's significant.

This Sunday is the annual Father's Day NASCAR race at MIS, and it's also the launch of our new five-week series, "Driven." Not being a fan, I recently took advantage of the chance to visit with Tim Booth, the Director of Guest Services at MIS, and I learned a few interesting things.

During the two weekend NASCAR races at MIS (consisting of 6 days of racing action), the facility plays host to a half million people.
There are seven different campgrounds at MIS for people to camp at during the race weekends.
The campground in the middle of the track (the infield) is the most popular. It even has its own convenience store!
The average NASCAR team requires around $20 million in sponsorships to race a full season.

A lot of people pour a lot of time, money, and passion into auto racing. With the high speeds and the high stakes, it certainly is an exciting sport. But the drive for heaven and for an eternity with Christ is even more exciting! In fact, everything else pales in comparison. The apostle Paul put it this way:

"I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him... Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

This is what our new series is about--the race of our lives. It's about what drives us, what fuels us, what propels us forward. It's about our goals and crossing the finish line. It's about what it takes to take the checkered flag.

Because the reality is that everyone is driven by something. Every one of us has basic motivations that drive our decisions, our attitudes, and our actions. Some of us are driven by a desire to get ahead. Some of us are driven by a desire to get even. Some of us are driven by our fears. Some of us are driven by our egos. We’re taking five weeks to ask two questions: What drives me? and What should drive me? When you’re in the race of your life, you’ve got to know for sure.

I want to encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to bring an unchurched friend to this series, especially any friends you might have that are into NASCAR. This could be an eternity-changing series for their lives.

Key Three

2008-06-01T17:55:00.009-05:00

Ever since we introduced the Key Three, we've had a bunch of series that have revolved around communicating and reinforcing these ideas, and there are a couple more in the works:

Key Three (Fall 2006)
McFaith (Fall 2007)
God's Gym (Winter 2008)
Driven (Summer 2008)
Unstoppable (Winter 2009)

In addition to these series, there have been numerous individual weeks where we've talked about the Key Three in detail, like we did this Sunday, relating the Key Three to communion. The Key Three are in our bulletins every week. In fact, the three symbols accompany every component of the bulletin, such as the scripture readings, the announcements, and the small groups.

The Key Three serve as the basis for our four Journey classes:

Journey 101: Membership/Introduction to PCC
Journey 201: Real Spirituality
Journey 301: Real Community
Journey 401: Real Story

The Key Three are essential in our church structure. We talk about them in staff meetings, elders meetings, and Church Council meetings. As a church, we don't do anything that does not relate to one of the Key Three, no matter how good it may be, and we run everything through the rubric of the Key Three.

The Key Three is not a program--something we do--it is something we are. This is what we live, breathe, and think every moment of every day.

It is a three-legged stool. You can't remove or truncate any one of them without throwing the entire setup off-balance. And I guess that's why it's so disheartening when we operate outside of the Key Three. Here are some of the ways I see us getting turned around from time to time:

Real Spirituality means growing. A real relationship with God means we cannot stay in the same place week after week, month after month, year after year. Salvation = Transformation.
Real Spirituality means taking responsibility for your own Christian life. It doesn't matter what church I attend, who the pastor is, what my baggage is. The only one responsible for my journey of faith is me. It's easier to blame the circumstances around me for why I "can't" succeed spiritually, but it lacks honesty.
Real Community means having tough, honest conversations. Our church and every other church in America is plagued by chronic illness of pseudo-niceness, a disease that sugar-coats our relationships, greeting one another with smiley-sweet sappiness, while all the time hiding unspoken reservations, concerns, hurts, and needs. Whenever we withhold what is really going on in our lives, we are lying to the body of Christ.
Real Community means committed relationships. It's not enough to belong to a church I rarely attend. It's not enough to be on a team I don't contribute much to. It's not enough to be in a small group that I go to when it's convenient. We can "do" all the church things and not get anything out of any of them. All these things are just tools; it's up to each of us to use them properly in our lives, and the proper use is with commitment. If we don't invest ourselves, we won't find any return in our lives.
Real Story means words and actions. It's not enough to be attracted to the idea of people coming to Christ. We have to make room in our lives for unchurched people, show the love of Christ to them tangibly, and then verbally communicate that love. If we're not doing that, we aren't living Real Story.

The church is like a popcorn popper. All we can do is create the right environment for the kernels to pop. We make sure there's heat, make sure there's oil, but we can't control the popping process. Some kernels pop sooner, some later; some never pop at all. We can provide the environment that is helpful for spiritual growth, but the "kernels" have to respond to the environment.

You want to know what wears me out as a pastor? It's not working 50+ hours a week at two jobs. It's when I see people reject God's invitation to a fuller life, as they settle for convenience, ease, and mundane mediocrity.

Integrity

2008-05-18T18:35:00.002-05:00

During this series on "The Office," we've been discussing the intersection of our faith and our work, and we've talked a lot about integrity. "Integrity" means "the state of being whole or undivided." It comes from the same Latin root as the word "integer," which refers to whole numbers (not fractions or decimals, which are numbers that are sub-divided). "Integrity" is also related to "integrate," which is to bring different parts of something together. We want to integrate our faith life and our work life so that we have just life, a life of integrity--wholeness, completeness, not a life that's sub-divided.

You see, God wants to be the God of our whole lives, not just parts and pieces. That means that God has something to say about every aspect of our lives:

Our work
Our finances
Our relationships
Our marriage and family
Our hobbies
Our time management
Our entertainment

Every single choice that we make in every area of our lives has spiritual ramifications--everything is spiritual.

We need to break down this idea that God is only for Sunday mornings, for church, or whenever I happen to read my Bible or pray. If God is God, he is God all the time, God over the universe, God over my whole life. Everything I do matters to God, and he's not after our lip service--he's after our lives.

Yes, we often fall short of perfection. Our many weaknesses mock our dreams and aspirations. But a life of integrity continues to strive toward the goal, bringing every thought captive to Christ, so that every aspect of who we are will reverberate with his character.

We take a rest from work. We take a break from other people, sometimes. But there is no vacation in the Christian life. There's no time off. There's no part of us that "doesn't count." If we belong to God, we belong to him all the time--every moment, every day.

That may seem like a discouraging thought, if we've conditioned ourselves to equate God with the father that we could never please, or the boss who's always looking over our shoulder. But as we find success and grow deeper in our relationship with him, that realization becomes a comfort and an encouragement. God cares deeply about everything about us. He wants us to be the best we can be in every area. He has a purpose and a design for everything, and as we turn ourselves over to him, we find a purpose, a direction, a satisfaction that we've never known.

We've kind of made this new song an unofficial theme song for the series. It sums up this idea of integrity--where Christ becomes the center that everything else revolves around:

"Center" by Charlie Hall & Matt Redman

O Christ, be the center of our lives
Be the place we fix our eyes
Be the center of our lives

You're the center of the universe
Everything was made in you
Breath of every living thing
Everyone was made for you

You hold everything together
You hold everything together

O Christ, be the center of our lives
Be the place we fix our eyes
Be the center of our lives

We lift our eyes to heaven
We wrap our lives around your life
We lift our eyes to heaven, to you

United Brethren?

2008-05-11T16:03:00.002-05:00

Those of you who are members of PCC know that our church is affiliated with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA, a denomination of about 200 churches (located primarily in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) headquartered in Huntington, IN. Those of you who don't know that are probably thinking, "What in the world are United Brethren?" We don't push our denominational label much because we believe it's our job to lead people to a relationship with Christ, not to lead them to a denomination. On the other hand, we affiliate with a denomination because we find it beneficial to do so for a number of reasons.

What probably none of you know is that the denominational offices have recently undergone a "re-branding." They no longer refer to themselves as the UB Headquarters, UB offices, or (for the more sarcastic among us) "Mecca." Instead, they are "Healthy Ministry Resources." This is how they answer the phone, what they put on the letterhead, and what they have on the sign out front. See??

Maybe you're one of those that thinks, "Big, hairy, flippin' deal. Who even knew what the old UB Headquarters sign looked like anyway?!" You probably don't spend hours perusing the UB website, and you don't call Huntington on the phone even on a weekly basis. Come to think of it, neither do I!

But this actually is a big deal whether you know it or not. This is not primarily about a sign, a logo, or how to answer the phone--it's about a philosophy. Our denominational leadership believes that the only purpose they exist is to resource the local church--to support, equip, and mobilize us toward health and fruitfulness. This is actually the opposite approach taken by most denominations, which seem to assume that the local churches exist to fund and resource the denominational structure.

As our bishop, Ron Ramsey says, "Jesus told us to go into all the world and make disciples. That is our mission. And the humble local church, existing in thousands of varieties around the world, is Christ's front-line vehicle for carrying out that mission... Healthy Ministry Resources is not a church. Jesus never said, 'I will build my denominational headquarters, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' No, we are a man-made institution. The only reason we exist is to undergird local churches. It's not about us. It's about the churches we serve." (my emphasis)

Isn't that cool? As a result, the denominational offices are focusing exclusively on serving and resourcing local churches to be more effective in fulfilling the Great Commission. I think we can be grateful for denominational leadership that take such a humble approach.

I'd encourage you to take some time and check out what's going on. This philosophy really tells you everything you need to know about the United Brethren Church: it's all about being effective for Christ's kingdom.

Here are some other related websites:

UB website (non-HMR denominational info/news)
Huntington University

I Don't Believe In Camels Anymore

2008-05-06T17:15:00.004-05:00

It was when I was a Worship Pastor at Hillsdale UB Church that I first heard about the "Law Of The Two-Humped Camel." This allegedly unassailable truth declares that church attendance unalterably follows predictable patterns that look like the humps on a bactrian camel.

According to this so-called law, attendance starts out low at the beginning of the year because of the bad weather, then spikes in the spring with Easter, followed by summer doldrums (due to good weather) and another uptick in the fall until the snowbirds leave for Florida at the end of the year.

According to "The Law," to fight the two-humped camel would require changing weather patterns, cancelling all graduations and weddings, assaulting the American vacation, removing Florida from the union, and converting all schools to a year-round system. It simply can't be done.

In my life, I've certainly seen the evidence for "The Law," and I can understand how "The Law" came to be. However, I've recently decided that I no longer believe in camels or their attendant laws. There are tacit assumptions behind "The Law" that I simply don't buy, such as:

The only people who will ever attend your church are those who are already attending your church. If snowbirds leave for Florida in December, that should cause a downturn in attendance only for (northern) churches that aren't growing. But a church that is continually attracting new people shouldn't care what month it is.
Church is not worth driving through the snow for. We brave the snow for groceries, doctor's appointments, holidays, family, and work! How is it we will go to work every day no matter what the weather is, but then expect people to stay home if there's snow on a Sunday morning? I think if a church isn't worth driving to on a snowy day, that's an indicator of other problems. (Disclaimer: obvious exceptions for exceptionally hazardous weather and the elderly)
Church is not attractive enough to compete with summer fun. If camping, golfing, fishing, tennis, croquet, bocci ball, and swimming are more appealing than coming to worship, then what are we doing wrong with our worship services?

I refuse to accept that two families going on vacation at the same time should impact our worship attendance. What about the two new families who will be there that same week? They'll only come if we as a church don't coast for the summer.

As it turns out, we have a number of efforts targeted at reaching our community this summer:

SPLASH (Single Parents Letting Another Supply Help): Starting on June 10, and running every Tuesday evening through the summer, this is a chance for single parents to have a break and connect with one another for support.
Community Garage Sale: We're inviting all our surrounding neighborhoods to bring their junk to PCC for one massive flea market.
Pathway Community Camping: A Saturday-Sunday overnighter at the church. Food. Games. Bonfire. Movie. Outdoor Service. Lots of fun.
Lugnuts Baseball Game: Buy two tickets and invite a friend!
Soccer Camp: Of course.
And more!

I'm excited about all these initiatives! I believe that they will produce fruit, and I've even decided to pray that our attendance will go UP this summer. Maybe if you're daring enough, you will too. So long, camel! I hope you have fun with your new friend, the unicorn!

Fun, Sun, & Run

2008-04-27T19:12:00.003-05:00

As most of you know, I was in Florida last week. Many of you have asked me how my vacation and conference were. So I wanted to share some of the highlights. I had vacation Thursday through Sunday, and in that time, I got to:

Spend lots of time with my dad and brother
Go to the beach (twice!)
Play 18 holes
See two minor league (class-A) baseball games
Attend my brother's church in Tampa
See Ben Stein's new documentary, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed"

It was a pretty full four days! My dad, who lives in Lynden, WA, had to be in North Carolina around the time of my conference, so he arranged to take some extra days so that the three of us could be together. It was a great time.

On Monday morning, my dad drove me to my conference in Orlando. I was there Monday through Thursday afternoon, and flew back to Michigan Thursday evening. While at the conference, I got to spend a lot of time with other UB pastors in Michigan who are involved in church planting. It was great to get to know all of these guys a little bit better:

Tom Blaylock, the UB Director of Church Multiplication
Gordon Kettel, the planting pastor of Imagine This, LLC, in Grand Ledge
Howard Matthews, the planting pastor of Homefront Church in Grandville
Mark Ralph, pastor at Sunfield UB Church, one of the mother churches for a recent Wesleyan church plant in Portland. Mark has also planted churches in Alabama and Florida.

At the conference, I got to hear from some of the leading voices for church planting in our country--Ed Stetzer, Andy Stanley, Rick Warren, and many others. In addition, I got the opportunity to network and meet some of the denominational and Michigan District leaders in the Missionary Church. My hope is that establishing contact with them personally will make it easier to bring in Missionary churches to our inter-denominational church-planting network for Jackson County.

To sum up the conference in the space of this blog is simply impossible. I have so much information I can't even begin to distill it down into a paragraph or two, so I'm not going to try. What I can tell you is that I found my time there to be immensely beneficial, and I'm extremely grateful to the denomination for sending me--it's an incredible honor.

On a final note, it's been exciting to come back and see what's been going on in our church in my absence. There are all kinds of ideas flying around about how to get out into our community. Small groups, minsitry teams, and individuals have been taking initiative to make things happen, and I couldn't be more pleased! Soon, there will be a lot to talk about as plans come together. I hope you're ready to be a part of impacting our community, serving them and their needs in the name of Christ. This is the business he's called his church to be about.

Meeting People Where THEY Are

2008-04-13T13:50:00.004-05:00

The mission (central purpose) of our church is "to meet people where they are on their spiritual journeys and lead them to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ." This weekend, we had the great privilege of having Pastor Glenn Bone III and some of his leaders from Good Seed Ministries in Chicago, as they shared with us a how we can be more effective in accomplishing our mission.

There were a few things that Pastor Glenn said that resonated with me. For those of you who heard him, I know you can make your own list, but this is mine:

To be completely fulfilled in the Christian life, every member needs to have a ministry (something we do for God inside the church) and a mission (something we do for God to bless the community outside our church).
Our natural tendency is to expend our efforts and resources trying to make the mechanisms of the church run, but that will never bring anyone in who is now out.
Rather than positioning the church as an institution, we need to postition ourselves as a family. In worship, people should feel they are attending a family gathering, not a meeting. In membership, they should feel they are joining a family, not an organization. In service, they should feel they are working alongside their brothers and sisters, not advancing the interests of an establishment.

I realized this weekend that despite our desires, our intentions, and our rhetoric, we are still in many ways an internally focused church. We do not invest a significant part of our individual lives or our corporate life away from the property boundaries of our church in a missional way.

BUT... I sense in talking with many people after this weekend that a lot of us came away with the same realization, and there is a widespread urgency in our congregation to do something about it. There are many ideas that have been percolating in our hearts; here are some of the ones that I have heard expressed this weekend:

A financial literacy course (based on biblical principles) offered through area banks or libraries to help people with debt, mortgages, credit, saving, and investing.
A marriage seminar (based on biblical principles) offered through Marriage Matters Jackson or the United Way to help people develop stronger marriages and families.
A free or very low-cost daycare that will take care of school-age children of single parents on days there are no school (e.g., holidays, vacations, half-days, snow days, teacher in-services, etc.).
Developing a relationship with the Inter-Faith shelter, not just to bring or serve food, but to interact with the residents there and spend time with them. Perhaps assisting in job-training, interview skills, and other needs the shelter has.
Partnering with Northwest Schools to see what needs exist within the school district that we might be able to meet.
Establishing an after-school club or group to mentor young people.

I know there are other ideas out there--they just haven't been shared with me yet. But all of them are geared around this one concept of meeting people where THEY are... because if they're not yet in the church, then we need to go take the church to them. Already, three of our leaders have asked when they can have some of my time before I leave for Florida on Thursday, and I can't tell you how thrilled, excited, encouraged, proud, and hopeful I am as I look forward to talking with each of them.

Rev. Bone says at Good Seed, they try to partner with four groups:

Businesses in the community
Government agencies serving the community
Schools
Non-profit groups

With each of them, they go and introduce themselves and ask, "What do you do to serve our community?" And then, "How can we help?" In each case, they only ask that they be able to explain who they are (they don't lose their identity to whoever they're partnering with) and why they are helping (they don't compromise the mission of the church).

One other thing that Pastor Glenn said that rang my bell was to ask, "If Pathway burned down tomorrow, would anyone be sad besides us?" Would anyone wonder who would provide the essential services that the community relies on if Pathway were gone? Would the community recognize it as a loss? If the answer is no, then we know we're not making an impact for Christ on the world around us.

If we can turn this corner, it may take a little while before we see tangible results. It will take time to develop a trust with our neighbors. It will take time for them to see this isn't just one or two things, but a lifestyle change for us. And we'll have to wait, one by one, for them to have a season in their life that brings them to a time of spiritual searching. But be assured that there will be fruit from this. This is the missing link for us in becoming a church that is fully healthy, growing, relevant, and impactful.

Two years from now, when we're talking about planting our first church, there's no reason we shouldn't be a church double our current size or more.

The Promise Of Spring

2008-04-06T20:07:00.002-05:00

I've heard a lot of people (including myself... many times!) comment this year that it has been a long winter. It's true. Until yesterday, the last time we saw the 60-degree mark was back in October. I know a lot of folks got out of the house this weekend to enjoy the sun and the warmth. At our house, we did some weeding, some pruning, and some raking, getting our yard ready for spring (and Jared ran around, happy as a bee in a flower shop).

As I was clearing away some of the leaves and dead plant pieces from last year, I discovered that there's already a lot of green stuff peeking its way up through the soil. Pretty soon, our yard will turn into daffodils, tulips, and hostas, followed by lilies, ferns, and rhododendrons. In the swampy area behind our yard, there will be wild strawberries, wild grapes, and black raspberries. Trees are budding, shoots are shooting, grass is turning green. It is so wonderful to witness again the incredible promise of spring.

Spring serves as a metaphor for so many things:

God is a God of rebirth. Everything and everyone dies, but death is not the end of the story. Jesus' death was not the end, and our death is not the end. God loves to bring life out of death.
There is no winter too long, no heart too cold, no soul too dead that God cannot reach it and restore it. Every single winter--even the longest winter--ends in spring and new life. We must never give up hope for those around us--or for ourselves. The forgiveness of God is beyond comprehension.
There are seasons to our lives. Very rarely do we experience uninterrupted years of growth and maturity. More often, we get closer to God in fits and starts. An awareness, an insight, a crucial decision, and we find a breakthrough that propels us into a new stage of spiritual growth. But there are also times of darkness, struggle, pain, doubt, fear, and confusion. God is never absent. If we stay close to him through our winters, he will lead us into another spring and the warmth that comes from standing in the Son.
God provides for his creation. The same God who causes the earth to turn, the days to lengthen, the rain to fall, the sun to shine, and the seeds to sprout is the same God who created you and me. He cares for us infinitely more than the flowers of the field, which are here today and tomorrow tossed into the fire. Won't he richly bless us with everything that we need?

As someone who grew up in California, I'm still getting used to experiencing four distinct seasons. We had two--summer (8-9 months) and winter (3-4 months). Winter was rainy and foggy; summer was hot and sunny.

But this midwestern cycle of life and death is powerful to me. Every season has its unique beauty and allure.

Summer is the season I enjoy the most.
Fall is the season that's the most stunning.
Winter has a stark beauty all its own.
But Spring makes me the most reflective, and fills me with the most awe for our Creator.

Right now, right under your feet, God is doing his thing, summoning the flowers of the field to reawaken, stirring inside them, calling them heavenward. And he's calling us, too? Don't you hear him?

Pastor Scott's Book List

2008-03-30T19:14:00.002-05:00

OK, I don't know who exactly reads these blog postings that I put up here. I know that there are lots of people in our church who are not "readers." But I'm thinking if you read this regularly, it's because you do enjoy reading at some level at least. If that's not you, it's ok to just close this out and wait for next week's posting, but for those of you who like books, I want to alert you to the fact that I updated my book list (it's over there on the left <------ see?).

Most of my books I've had on my list have to do with church structure, church leadership, church planting, church health.... Well, you get the idea. These three books I've added, however, really don't have anything to do with church (at least directly). But I'm finding them very thought-provoking, and if you like to read, I bet many of you would find them worthwhile as well. That's why I added them to my list.

I'll tackle them in alphabetical order:

Joy At Work: A Revolutionary Approach To Fun On The Job. This book is written by a Christian businessman, co-founder and long-time CEO of AES, a multi-billion dollar international power company with over 40,000 employees. This company is based on 4 Core Values: Integrity, Justice, Social Responsibility, and Fun. The book is primarily about the value of Fun, defined as "rewarding, exciting, creative, and successful." The company strives to empower every employee with the ability to make important decisions about things that really matter, and then they are held accountable for their decisions. Leaders are there to give advice (not permission) to those making decisions; the CEO himself set a goal of personally making only 1 important decision for the company a year. The result of this approach was to create happier, more dedicated, more productive employees, fulfilling their God-given purpose of productive work.
Loving Monday: How To Succeed In Business Without Selling Your Soul. Written by a successful Ohio manufacturing executive, this book explores how to integrate your work with your faith. The result is that instead of grinding it out until Friday and living only for weekends, your work can actually be filled with meaning and purpose. As a result, both work and faith grow--along with your love for Mondays. Beckett destroys the idea that "secular" work is not God-honoring; he argues that any work that's not inherently immoral can actually be a form of worship--not just church work or "professional" ministry.
We Are Driven: The Compulsive Behavior America Applauds. Workaholism, perfectionism, the need to control. These behaviors are often called "good addictions," but they are not good because they detract from--instead of adding to--our lives. Although many people are applauded for these behaviors, they damage marriages, friendships, families, and other relationships. The authors contend that many times these behaviors are rooted in shame, low self-esteem, and guilt, which drive us to super-human ambitions at which we inevitably fail, creating a new cycle of shame, low self-esteem, and guilt.

Each of these books, though not about church, I believe have tremendous value for how we "do" church. They give insight in how to organize, lead, motivate, and minister, and beginning in May, the elders and I will begin studying Joy At Work to discuss some of these insights. If you'd like to follow along, you're welcome to read with me:

Joy At Work / Loving Monday / We Are Driven

Just so you know, I'm reading these books in preparation for our next upcoming series ("The Office" about work; and "Driven", a NASCAR-themed series about our purpose in life), and I'm sure you'll hear some of these insights coming out in sermons and other interactions with me. I'd love to know about anyone else who's reading these and any thoughts you might have!

Commercials On Easter?

2008-03-23T20:10:00.004-05:00

Over the last several major Christian holidays, we've employed some... shall we say "unique"(?) message series as backdrops.

Christmas 2005: Narnia
Easter 2006: CSI (Crucifixion Scene Investigation)
Christmas 2006: Jesus, No More Mr. Nice Guy
Easter 2007: Dragging 110%
Christmas 2007: Christmas II: The Sequel
Easter 2008: Commercials

With each of these series, I've received similar comments in advance of their launch: "What in the world does {insert series title here} have to do with {the holiday in question}?" It's true, on the surface, Harley motorcycles and barbed wire have nothing to do with Christmas, and Fazoli's signs have nothing to do with Easter. But there is a method to the madness.

At holiday times, we receive more guests than at other times of the year, and we want to do everything we can to encourage them to come back--to be here more than once or twice a year. So how can we do that? Here are some ideas:

We can decorate the sanctuary with Easter lilies or Christmas poinsettias. Would that make an unchurched person come back the next week? History would seem to indicate that it doesn't.
We can put together a special cantata or a children's choir performance of music that unchurched people are unfamiliar with. Maybe it will take several months to prepare and consume the whole service time, leaving no room for a message that might engage them or cause them to ask questions or seek to find out more.
We could dramatically re-enact the biblical stories with no explanation about what this has to do with my day-to-day life.
We could have an extra-long message that is essentially a course in systematic theology, covering the atonement, redemption, justification, sanctification, and exaltation. We could lay out a complicated, detailed plan of salvation that answers every question nobody would ask.

These are the traditional ways that Easter is commemmorated by most churches. Some of them even like to combine these different elements.

Here's our approach: We want to do whatever we can to bring our visitors back the week after they come for the special holiday. So we keep a few things in mind:

We figure they've already had a "traditional" Easter/Christmas experience. They were probably at a church last year and the year before that. That approach wasn't successful in attracting them, so we want to try something different.
If they come for a "special" week and they do come back, we want that week to be just as special. For instance, if a person comes on Easter and there's a re-enactment of the Bible story, won't they be disappointed when that never happens in that church again? We want our services to be representative of what we do here every week so that there won't be any disappointment for return guests.
Most of our guests have had negative experiences with church. They might show up at "special" times of the year, but for the most part that's about as much church as they want to get. We want them to leave saying, "Boy! That was really different, not at all what I expected!" Because what they expect is to be bored and/or put down.
We want them to engage with the message, to listen, to think about it, to consider it. One of the ways we do that is by connecting things that don't seem connect-able. Impact goes down as predictability goes up. If we give them the same old Easter church service, we miss the chance to make an impact.

If it's about us and serving ourselves, then we can just trot out all the traditions that make us feel like we've "had Easter." But if our mission is to reach out to the community around us, we need to do something different--because what we've been doing isn't bringing them back.

This series is all about evaluating the messages that we receive from the world around us. To me, that's what Easter is all about, because we don't want the gospel to be just one more message that people try to shut out.

Vision Report

2008-03-16T18:54:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I posted here about how the vision is progressing. There's so much that has been going on that I've wanted to share with you--State of the Church, Annual Meeting & Celebration, Pictoral Directory, Purpose-Driven Workshop, etc.--that it's made it hard to keep you updated with everything that's going on with the vision. So I'd like to take some time this week to bring you up to speed.

So far, in 2008, I've met with 8 different Jackson-area church pastors to talk with them about the idea of partnering together to plant churches in Jackson County. I've had positive responses from 6 of them, indicating that they'd be interested in pursuing the possibility further. They will be attending a luncheon meeting at 11:30 on April 15 at a restaurant in downtown Jackson. If everyone I've gotten a commitment from shows up so far, we'll have at least 4 different denominations represented (U.B., Wesleyan, Missionary, Nazarene) and 1 non-denominational church.

I currently have voice mail messages in with 2 other pastors, trying to establish contact with them, and email messages in with 4 others. I'm hoping to get follow-up calls in this week or next if I don't hear back from them. In addition, I have leads on 8 other churches that would potentially be interested in this project. I'm working hard to get as many pastors contacted as possible before the April 15 meeting.

April 15 isn't a do-or-die date. Churches can still jump in and be a part of the LEAD Team after April 15, but I do want to have as many churches as possible at that meeting for several reasons:

I want them as many people as possible to be in on this from the ground-up. There's an added sense of excitement, investment, and ownership when you're involved right from the start. I want to extend that opportunity to as many people as possible.
I believe that the greater the number at the April 15 meeting, the greater the sense will be that this is a doable project. If we can look around and see lots of people who are at least interested in pursuing this thing further, each one representing a potential partner church, then we can nurture an attitude of "Why not?"
The more people who are involved early on, the greater the opportunities to extend invitations to other churches before it is too late. I don't have any illusions about being the only one capable or willing of bringing other churches to the table. I expect that some of these other churches will bring sister churches along with them, and the wider our circle is from the beginning, the wider it can be when we actually make the commitment to constitute a LEAD Team.
I don't want to miss anyone that God may want to be a part of this enterprise. I want to be faithful in doing my part so that God can direct, lead, and provide as he sees fit.

It's amazing--I make my family a priority, pastor our church, work at Olive Garden 4 days a week, and still have time to put together this coalition of churches. I'm not bragging because I know it's not me that can accomplish all this--God graciously gives me the grace and strength I need. I see him constantly multiplying my time and efforts.

I recently heard a church leader say that the most dangerous prayer you can pray is, "God, use me." Because if you are serious about it, he'll do exactly that. I guess I should let you know that I've been praying that prayer for years. That's the desire of my life--that God would use me, that I would open up my whole self to let God do whatever he wants through me.

I'm certainly not here to say that there aren't ways that I've screwed up and messed around with stupid things--because I definitely have. There's time that I've wasted and things I wish I could undo. But I keep coming back to that prayer, and every time I fall down, I know that God will raise me back up again, and I strive anew to be usable and blessable, to be obedient to his call on my life.

What's the prayer of your life? What's the beat of your heart? What do you want more than anything else? You haven't yet found the meaning of life if your #1 desire is something other than bringing glory to God through yours. If you want safety, love, acceptance, respect, money, status, or power, you won't have a life that God uses spectacularly--that only comes from laying down everything else for him.

If you want to pray for God to use you this week, try praying and then inviting someone to the Easter Breakfast this Sunday (8:30-10:45) before the worship service. It's a great time to introduce your friends, neighbors, coworkers, or family members to other people in the church. The more people in a church someone knows, the more likely they are to stay. The longer they stay, the more likely they are to be transformed by a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ. Think about it--something as simple as an enjoyable meal could be the catalyst to a new life in Christ. We miss so many opportunities; resolve not to miss this one.

Purpose Driven Church Workshop

2008-03-10T16:20:00.004-05:00

On Sunday, I shared with you that we will be hosting the Purpose-Driven Church Basic Workshop on Saturday, April 12, from 8:30am-4:30pm. This one-day conference explains what it means to be a church that is driven by the basic purposes for which Christ intended his church to strive, rather than other things--such as finances, tradition, personalities, power, or anything else.

There are a lot of misconceptions of what it means to be a purpose-driven church. It does not mean:

Following the latest fad. The five purposes are biblical and eternal. These principles are applicable in any church in any culture at any time.
Adopting a particular worship style. Purpose-driven principles have nothing to do with adopting a particular style. Purpose-driven churches come in all kinds of formats: liturgical, casual, postmodern, charismatic, multi-sensory, traditional, ethnic, and anything else.
Cookie-Cutter Copy-Catting. It's not about imitating the ministries, programs, worship style, or structure of any church, but about creating a simple system to ensure a balanced, biblical approach to doing church. Each church must do the work of figuring out how to apply purpose-driven principles to their own unique ministry context.

Going through the biblical principles behind purpose-driven, this conference will help church leaders establish or re-establish the core purposes of their church, design an intentional discipleship process, and build an "outward-in" perspective to growth and evangelism.

It's a great chance that we have to host this conference and provide this resource to other churches in our community. I hope you take advantage of the special $10 registration fee for Pathway attendees (this conference will cost $50 for everybody else, and is normally $119!), and please sign up to help out in one of the areas of need:

Registration
Kitchen/Food
Hospitality
Set-Up
Clean-Up
Parking

To serve in one of these areas and/or to register for the conference, please send me an email. For more information on what the conference will cover, check out the purpose-driven website.

Who The Heck Is That?

2008-03-02T08:29:00.002-05:00

I can't tell you how many times I'm talking with someone in our church about something that's going on, and I tell them, "If you want to know more, just get in touch with so-and-so," and then they say, "Hmmm, I don't think I know who that is." (In fact, I overheard a conversation just like that this morning!) And this happens not just with people who are new and haven't had a chance to meet a lot of people, but with people who have been here for several years, or even lots of years.

We're great at welcoming new people and helping them feel comfortable. We do a reasonably good job of helping people get plugged in to a small group or a ministry team, and they begin to develop relationships with a few people. But we're still a small church--there's no reason so many people should have to walk in and feel like they don't even know the names of the majority of the people around them. What's going on?

Well, part of the issue is that we have two services, so some people just don't ever cross paths. And that's ok. We have two services so that we can keep open seats and make sure there's enough room for new people to come and be comfortable. If we grew to the point where we were filling up two services, we'd add a third and a fourth and a fifth if necessary! We want to make sure that there's always enough room for new people.

But the other part of the story is that we don't have a tool that helps people make connections in our church outside of their current circles. The best tool I know of for that purpose is a photo directory. A photo directory helps you put names with faces and faces with names. A photo directory prompts statements like, "Oh! That's who that is!" and "I've always wondered what that person's name is!" and "I've seen them before, but I didn't want to introduce myself since I know they've been coming for over a year now" and, of course "I learned their name two months ago, but now I've forgotten it, so I can't ask what it is again."

These kinds of thoughts and feelings make it difficult for us to establish and develop relationships in our church. They cause us to stick with the people we already know and ignore the people we don't know. Eventually, it could cause us to be unwelcoming to the new people, and we could drive them away because we get in the habit of only interacting with the people we know.

I'm happy to tell you that we'll be putting together a new photo directory this spring. Pictures will be taken on Monday, May 12, and Tuesday, May 13. Please put those dates on your calendar as soon as possible, and make an intentional decision to get your family's picture taken on one of those days. The more people who participate the more useful a tool it will be for us.

There are some neat features with this directory that will make it even more useful:

Phone numbers and addresses next to each photo so that you don't have to look them up in the back separately.
Email addresses and personal websites for those who want to share that information.
Lists of favorite family activities, hobbies, and ministries in the church to help us know a little bit more about each other, and to make it easy to find people with whom we have common interests.
The directory company will give us a CD-version of the directory that we can make copies of and distribute. The CD-version is also edit-able, so that as new people come into the church, we can take their photos and add them in. For those without computers, we will print additional pages that can be inserted in the back of the directories.

You would be amazed how effective a photo directory can be in helping new people get connected and engaged with a church. It's so much more than just a phone book--it's a relationship-building engine.

Our goal is to be a church of relationships, not a church with relationships. It's a crucial component of Real Community. Please make sure that you're involved with the directory in May to help it be as effective and useful as possible!

Hittin' the (Air)Waves

2008-02-25T19:05:00.002-05:00

Pastor Brent and I are going to be special guests on Glenn Bone's radio show on Wednesday morning at 8:45am. Rev. Bone is the senior pastor of Good Seed Ministries in Chicago, which is also one of our ministry partners that we support financially. He broadcasts a radio show five times weekly on the Big Gospel Xpress, WBGX 1570 AM-Chicago. You can hear the radio show by going over to http://www.gospel1570.com/ and clicking on the "Listen Live" tab.

Pastor Brent and I have also been working to bring Rev. Bone and several of his lay leaders here to Jackson in April to lead a one-day Purpose-Driven conference, which would be hosted at our church. We would make this conference open and available to other churches in our community as well. However, we would also have a period of time set aside that would be dedicated exclusively to our own leaders and their leadership development. Rev. Bone is also willing to speak at our Sunday services that weekend. He has spoken at our church once before (in 2005), and I know many of you still remember him and his passionate message.

Other conversations we are having with him include:

Opening up an opportunity for our youth and adults to spend a few days in Chicago and help Good Seed with their different inner-city ministries;
Joining together on a missions trip to Jamaica in September--if you're interested in going, it will be approximately $900 per person, and you should begin the process of obtaining a passport soon, as it will easily take at least 6 weeks to process. Here's a link to the State Department's website if you're interested.

All these things still need to be nailed down--they're still in the discussion stage. But we'll be sharing plans with you as they develop, and keeping you informed of the various opportunities. This is a great chance for all of us to interact with an exciting church that is definitely impacting their community for Christ.

Good Seed Ministries has a unique vision to reach the discouraged communities of south and west Chicago with the life-changing power of Jesus. Through a holistic approach, they aspire to meet all the needs of the people around them—spiritual, emotional, and physical. Their inspiring goals include the construction of a massive community center that will service the various needs of their community and the birthing of a daughter church that will carry these same values and mission to a nearby community.

They were one of only 80 congregations around the world to receive a Healthy Church Award from Purpose-Driven Ministries in 2005, and Rev. Bone was named Pastor of the Year by Worldvision Chicago. He has spoken at numerous conferences around the country. It's a great joy and privilege to partner with them to advance God's kingdom.

"A Different Kind of Church"

2008-02-18T20:45:00.003-05:00

On our postcards that we print up from time to time, it says, "Pathway Community Church is a different kind of church. We offer a relaxed, friendly, authentic atmosphere where people can come and check out the message of Jesus for themselves. Come join us at Pathway Community Church!"

Pastor Brent pointed out to me that it seems every church wants to promote itself as "a different kind of church." After all, you never hear a church that says, "Hey! We're a church just like all the other ones. Come to the church that's no different."

And yet, I believe we are a different kind of church. What is it that makes us different? I think several things:

First, a relaxed atmosphere. This is a church where people really can come "as they are." I was talking with a new couple in our church recently, and the wife told me that as a kid she had always heard that it didn't matter what you wear to church. But that message was always undermined by the fact that you (of course!) couldn't wear jeans or shorts or play clothes. In other words, it didn't matter what you wore, as long as you dressed up in clothes you would never ordinarily wear otherwise. Clothing certainly isn't everything, but it is something. This is a church that really does let people be who they are--in how they dress, how they talk, what their needs are, and what's going on in their lives. We don't get embarrassed or ashamed of people and their problems or their needs.

Second, a friendly atmosphere. This is a church that goes out of its way to welcome people--all people, not just the regulars or the ones who are already "in." All churches are friendly to the people who are already part of the church, but many--while friendly to one another--are cold and aloof to outsiders. Literally every single person who has gone through the Journey Class 101 that I have taught (well over 30 people) has commented about the genuine friendliness of the people here being one of the main things that attracted them and caused them to keep coming back. We value people, we remember their names, we go out of our way to recognize them and show them that they matter to us. We have a greeting time in the service every week--that's by design--because it impresses people when they are noticed and warmly welcomed. Some people are stunned to learn that a church might actually be glad they're there.

Third, an authentic atmosphere. We talk about real problems--the kind that real people have in their real lives--and what God has to say about them in his word. We talk about Real Faith and what that looks like lived out in Real Spirituality, Real Community, and Real Story.

The more I talk with people outside our church, the more I realize just how rare these qualities are. Almost everyone has had some experience with churches and/or church people, and the overwhelming majority of those experiences are extremely negative. Most churches in America today are unhelpful, unwelcoming, uptight, and inauthentic; they do not share "good news" in a way that it can be recognized as something good. It's not that people have refused to give the church a chance--it's that they tried it and found it to be a total waste of time.

We definitely do some things that are unusual here--our themed series, the fact that I preach in jeans, incorporating secular music and movies, and zany skits--but that's not what makes us a different church. All that stuff is just externals. The real difference is in our philosophy, our strategy, and the way we engage people as legitimate conversation partners who are worthy of being convinced of the truth instead of being lectured and threatened with the truth.

Pathway Community Church is a different kind of church. I hope you're taking the opportunity to share that with the people that God has placed in your life. That's not just a slogan--it's really true. We work hard to create an atmosphere where people can come and really experience God speaking to their hearts and lives--where people can come and check out the message of Jesus for themselves.

Annual Meeting & Celebration

2008-02-11T16:09:00.000-05:00

We had our annual all-church meeting & celebration on Saturday night. The menu was great--soup, spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and lots of desserts. The game time was fun (for example, I learned that Carissa Courtney has eaten three meats you can't buy at Meijer--venison, alligator(!) and bear I think). We also saw a slideshow that highlighted some of the great things that have happened in our church in 2007.

But the highlight of the night was being able to hear from Tom Blaylock, our denomination's Director of Church Multiplication, and Gordon Kettel, the founding pastor of Imagine This, a United Brethren church plant in Grand Ledge.

Tom relayed his own personal experience planting a church in Williamston, as well as his desire to find pastors and churches that are interested in working to plant new congregations. Our vision is one that is extremely exciting to him. He said that so many churches get locked into seeing just their own issues that they fail to see the fields that are ready for harvest all around them (Matthew 9:36-38). He also talked about the LEAD Team concept and one of the LEAD Teams that is already up and functioning.

Gordon shared about his own experience being a part of two church plants. They both took a lot of work, and one involved traveling from west of Lansing (where he lives) to the Detroit area (where the church plant was) each week. However, after stepping back for a period of rest, he felt that God was calling him to plant a church in his own area, and eventually God led him to the Grand Ledge community. Gordon also shared some of the great successes they are seeing (including whole families coming to faith in Christ), some of their key minsitries, as well as some of their challenges. It was truly an inspirational and affirming evening.

After Gordon shared, Tom called me up extemporaneously to lay hands on me and pray for me and our church. That was an extremely moving time for me personally. It's always encouraging to be endorsed and supported by someone in a leadership position.

When the evening was concluded, Gordon shared with me that he saw a lot of positive interaction as he shared his story--good eye contact, heads nodding, smiles. He said that he sensed a real enthusiasm for the vision to plant churches. I believe he's right. I sense a greater unity and support now for our misison, vision, and values than I ever have since coming here three years ago. It really is good to hear of the kingdom of God advancing and taking shape, lives being transformed and eternities changed. That's what it's all about. That's why we want to accomplish our vision--to make an impact on the 100,000 people in Jackson County with no church family.

I believe that as we stay committed to the task, dedicated to the work to which God has called us, keep building relationships and reaching out with the love of Christ to the people God has placed in our lives, we will begin to see the same fruit. God blesses and empowers those who are committed to lives of obedience to him.

Each of the elders on the ballot received the necessary 2/3 vote to serve. John Fisher and Mike DeKarske will continue to serve, and now Phil Criner will be added to the elders team as well. In addition, the proposal regarding how to amend the church structure passed unanimously. Thank you to all who participated in this great evening of celebration and thanks.

My First LEAD Team Meeting

2008-02-04T16:53:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow (Tuesday), I'm going to be going to my first LEAD Team meeting. It's not our LEAD team--that's not assembled yet--but it's a LEAD Team that supports Gordon Kettel's church in Grand Ledge, MI, Imagine This LLC. Gordon, incidentally, is going to be one of our special guests this Saturday at our Annual All-Church Meeting & Celebration.

This LEAD Team is headed by Howard Matthews, of Homefront UB Church in Grandville, MI, near Grand Rapids. Howard is also a member of our denomination's Church Multiplication Leadership Team.

I'm hoping that this opportunity will help me learn more about what happens at LEAD Team meetings and give me the chance to rub elbows with some other pastors in our denomination who are working to plant new churches. The meeting lasts from 1pm Tuesday to 1pm Wednesday. Olive Garden has graciously given me Tuesday off to be able to attend. I will, however, be leaving early on Wednesday to report back to work at the restaurant Wednesday lunch.

I'm grateful for the invitation to come and be a fly on their wall, and I'm praying that God will help me learn everything he wants me to learn to make the greatest impact for him that I can here in Jackson!

FYI: This is the 53rd entry for this blog. One full year now of weekly communicating with you about the mission, vision, and values of our church. Thanks to all of you who read faithfully and pray regarding the needs of our church as we journey toward health and obedience to God's plan for us.

Also... wasn't that just the best Super Bowl you've seen in a long, long time? What a game!

State Of The Church

2008-01-27T20:09:00.000-05:00

Today I delivered the annual "State Of The Church Address." Here are some of the salient points:

We are making concrete progress toward our vision to become actively involved in church planting to reach the 100,000 people in Jackson County with no church family. So far, at least three other churches are interested in pursuing the idea to partner with us in the accomplishment of this vision.
The vision is a bold, daring move, in that (as far as I can tell) there are no other communities in America pursuing an inter-denominational LEAD Team strategy, which is what we are proposing. This is an "impossible" task from a human perspective. Therefore, God will get all the glory when he causes it to happen.
Even as we move forward in the vision for church-planting to reach the 100,000 people around us with no church family, we recognize that we ourselves are not doing our part. We are not being faithful to our stated mission and our core value of Real Story, which is proved by our anemic growth (up 9 people per week in 2007 to an average worship attendance of 125).
If we are to be a truly effective church, we must change this aspect of who we are--we must become committed to personal outreach in truth and in reality, not in words, ideas, and good intentions.

For a long time, I have been torn between two different goals in my preaching: promoting our church's vision, and advocating for our church's health. I want to promote the vision as a means of improving our health--calling us to see the spiritual needs of the 100,000 people in our community who need to know about Christ. On the other hand, I want us to become more healthy so that we can effectively accomplish the vision. Obviously, the two messages go hand-in-hand, and yet I've wondered which is the more effective message for accomplishing both objectives.

I think I've erred on the side of promoting the vision to the detriment of calling us to health, and the result has been to lure us into a complacency. After all, the vision is a long-term project, and not something that has very much direct impact on us right now. I've allowed the vision to become our substitute for personal outreach, so that in the back of our minds we say, "We don't have to reach our friends and neighbors because we'll plant a church someday to reach people."

But that type of thinking will not fly. For one thing, it's just plain disobedient. Christ has mandated his church to go into the world and tell his message. If we refuse to do it, we sin. Second, we'll never get out of our financial crisis; we will never grow to the point that there are enough people to spread out the financial burden of two pastors (we'll always be overstaffed). At some point, we'll have to make the decision that we won't have two pastors anymore, and I don't think anybody wants that. Third, if we give away people and leaders to plant churches but don't reach out to the world around us, we'll eventally run out of people and leaders. We need to grow in order to even just tread water.

It's easy for me to see how I've made this mistake. The vision is positive; our unhealthy patterns are negative (I hate focusing on the negative). The vision requires little from us right now; to become healthy requires a complete re-orientation and re-direction of our hearts, minds, and lives, and the sooner the better (it's easy to preach sacrifice down the road). Finally, I have more personal and direct control over the progress of the vision, but church health depends on all of us (as much as I try to trust God, I still like being in control far too much).

But the numbers reveal the truth: no tangible fruit to point to. We haven't really accomplished anything. And I don't know about you, but I can't stand to pretend to do something without really doing it. I'm not satisfied with plausible deniability--"well, we tried to reach out, it just didn't work." The Bible says that we are to be judged by our fruit, not our intentions. It's all about real results, not vague, nebulous notions of "progress." I'm sick of getting closer. I'm tired of another year of building, getting ready to turn the corner, almost ready to do something significant. Let's be done getting ready and get started already! Let's just do it!

Let's rise up and be the church that God calls us to be! Here are some concrete steps you can take:

Ask God to show you five people in your life you have direct contact with on a regular or semi-regular basis who aren't currently connected to a church.
Begin praying for those five people every day. Pray for every need you are aware that they have--spiritual, financial, emotional, relational, etc.
Share those names with your small group and have them start praying with you.
Pray that God would help you love them more than you currently do, that you would love them the way HE loves them.
Pray for (and look for) opportunities to talk about spiritual things--God, the Bible, church.
Invite them to un upcoming message series that might line up with their lives, their interests, or their needs.