Missing the Point

I just can’t get away from the frustration that I feel when I see or hear about churches arguing over a style of music, dress, and focus.  It really makes me feel tired.  I understand that these are serious issues in the church today.  Yet, these seem to side track us too.   

There groups of younger people feel that they could reach more people for Christ if their churches would change their Sunday morning program to a modern music format.  In contrast, groups of older people believe that the church should not change and that the modern music is not of God.  They reason that the church must not change so that people will recognize that the church is unchanging just like God.  They also reason that their style of music is sacred and should not be tampered with.   

Some groups dress casual and others dress formal for church service.  Some pastors believe that dress can be a barrier for people to attend their church.  Both believe that the way the other side dresses will run people off.  In my opinion, these groups that worry about these issues have spent their entire lives in church.  Both want to leave something of themselves in the church.   

Most of the time these groups grew up in church rebelling against what was established beforehand.  Each generation fights the other.  Each sees where the other generation has faltered in some way.  Each side uses Scripture from the letters that Paul wrote to different churches to justify why they believe what they believe.  What is unique about Paul’s letters is that he stressed the importance of unity and submitting to one another within the Church.  He even, in a few letters, dealt with how each generation was supposed to treat the other.  Are we missing the point? 

I asked my old pastor if he remembered when I came to the church for the first time.  I reminded him that I did not grow up in church.  My point was that I did not have any traditions that were following me through life to worry about.  I reminded him that when I came to Christ I did not say to him, “Hey, I will accept Jesus as my Savior if you wear a certain type of clothing.” I also did not say to him that I would get out of my Lazy Boy chair and come to church if they would assure me that they would play the right style of music.  He confirmed that these were not issues that I struggled with in the beginning. 

People! Listen to me!  There are not any people who are lost sitting in their homes tonight saying to themselves, “If the church would play my style of music, I would get saved.”  Or, “If the pastors would dress like I think they should would get saved.”  The only thing that  I was interested in was finding salvation.  The only Person I wanted to meet, was not the cool pastor who thinks that the Church is not doing enough to save the starving children, but I wanted to meet Jesus.   

Yes, I do care about the starving children and other injustices.  My point is that we Christians focus on the wrong things too much.  Don’t you think the devil loves our disunity over trivial issues?  My point is that we need to keep the focus on Jesus instead of on the non-essentials. 

When it is all said and done; I think the problem is that we just want to look like what we think a real Christian looks like.  We want to impress people with our huge compassion for the things that matter to the world.  We want to show people how intelligent we are by connecting the Word of God to the issues today.  We want to be the new, and improved, church.  Or, we want to be the church that did not change so that we can look super spiritual.  God’s point is, “When will His people get the point of Scripture and simply be the Church?”  In other words, when will we learn that we can find Jesus when we choose to look? 

I am not hindered by the style of clothing that I, or anyone else, wears.  I am able to enjoy all music that points me to Christ.  Why?  Because I know that I was lost, but now I am found.  I know what fate I avoided because of my desire to let Christ love me and save me which caused me to want to live for Him.  That is the point.

Sunday Ups and Downs

We had a good attendance at Smith Chapel yesterday.  I got to teach about the importance of being connected to church.  Our text was 1 Corinthians 12 and I read from verse 4 to the end of the chapter.  While reading we noted that this chapter is about more than simply trying to figure out what our spiritual gifts are.  The bottom-line is that God connects us to The Church, the church, Him, and connects us (the church) with a lost world so that Jesus can connect to those who do not know Him.  That is it in a nut shell. 

During our service we able to baptize a man, which connected him to The Church, and hopefully to the our church too.  It was a good moment in our worship.  Some of his family was there with tears in their eyes.  This helped us as a Body to focus on Christ and the importance of knowing Him which led to singing praises from our hearts. 

Later, a young man shared with me that he is a universalist.  I hate to admit it, but it is refreshing to meet someone who is honest in the Bible-Belt about their view of God.  Most really do not know what they believe and why they believe.  He challenged me to dig for intelligent answers.  It has been a long time since I’ve focused on Apologetics.  It might be time for a refresher.  Nevertheless, for those who think that there really is not much of a mission out there that requires Christians to share Christ, here is your reminder. 

Finally, I capped off the day going to see someone who might be hours from slipping into eternity.  This person has not received Christ as Savior and Lord.  These are always tense moments for me as a pastor.  There are nurses and family around who do not want you to bother someone who is passing away.  I understand.  However, we must realize that receiving Christ is also how someone can pass away peacefully.  I asked the question, “Would you like to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior?”  There was no answer.  We must remember that God gives us all a choice.  I wish I had better news, but I don’t. 

Sunday started out with a sense of victory, but it ended with the reminder that there are still many who do not know who Jesus Christ is.  Further, there are many who choose not to know Jesus Christ.  Yet, God is merciful and longsuffering.  He continues to astound me by trying to save right up to the last breathe.  To Him be all glory and honor forever.

Right Worship

While at Family Camp this week I have enjoyed the worship and preaching.  This year our district had The Difference from Southern Wesleyan University come to lead our worship in music segment of the nightly service.  It is great!  I’m blown away with the amount of talent that God has given to the SWU; it is like that every year.  Let me tell you, those young guys and gals, I guess I can say that since I am 40 now, really give it up to Jesus.  Hey, isn’t that awesome!  I say yes!

I have sensed that not everyone is excited about allowing a different style of music to be played during our Holiness    camp setting.  It is possible that some think it is the world being mixed in with the church.  I confess, as a person who was young in the Lord, I entertained those types of thoughts some time ago too.  I think God brought me out of that by showing me that He is not limited in the ways that He chooses to connect with people.  Besides, what is right worship?  Jesus said that it is in spirit and truth.  In the OT God desired obedience over sacrifice and noted that His people worshiped Him with  their lips but their hearts were far from Him. 

One thing that I come back to time after time is the thought that people who are lost (those who are not trusting in Christ as their Savior) are not having heated debates about what style of music should be played during church service.  American Christianity is something else sometimes.  We continuously find ways to focus on everything but what matters.  Jesus forgive us!  Listen, I can worship traditionally, or worship with older tradition like chants, or contemporary.  You get the picture. 

Without going into a long story about an experience I had with Christ I will tell you that the outcome of it was that I sent an email to my pastor and his wife and asked them if they wanted to come over to my house to worship with me.  It was in the middle of the day and everyone else was at work or I would have called them too.  Now this was a lot like a child calling another up and asking the child to come over and play games for the day.  I didn’t have any special music in mind, I only knew that the Presence of Christ was with me and that I wanted my friends to worship Him with me. 

Wouldn’t we Christians do better to focus on bringing the lost to the Presence of Christ so that they could make a decision to accept Him or reject Him?  I think so.  But, most of us believe that before we can invite someone to church that the music has to be a certain way or that the pastor has to be a certain way.  We Christians are wasting precious time that some who are lost do not have debating over whether or not modern music is better than traditional music and vice versa. 

It is funny how many are in a continuous search for the right ministry or church to be part of.  Can we ever be honest admit that it is ultimately about us instead of Christ?  It tires me.  The path that leads to the Presence of Christ is to truly seek Him and only Him through humbleness and Holiness.  Good, or bad, music has less to do with it than we would like to admit.  It is a tool that the Spirit uses to help put me into the right attitude.  Seeking Him is about thirsting for Him and when you find Him you bring others to the drinking hole where you found refreshing. 

So what is right worship?  Is it seeking Christ with the heart?  Or is about finding the right pastor, the right type of music, and making sure things are done the way they have always been done?  Then if everything meets our standards then we will give approval and consider that to be our worship for the day.  Let me tell you that giving our approval is missing the bulls-eye by a mile.  Meaningless.  It is about us coming in to His house so that we can receive His mercy.  Then we adore Him because of who He is.   

So I say let’s not burn up our energies on this issue.  Instead, let’s use our energies to seek Him and bring the lost to Him.  This is right worship to me.

Expectations of Christians on Sundays

As a small church pastor, I have wrestled with church attendance for years.  As a matter of fact, I may have been guilty of focusing on church attendance too much.  Yet, in my defense, church attendance is really one of the quickest indicators that we, pastors, are able to see how well God is using us as shepherds of his flock.  I would like to say life-change could be another indicator, and maybe it can, but that indicator is what The Holy Spirit uses.  After all, He is the One who is able to change people’s lives. 

To explain myself better, I would like to assure you that these thoughts are not those of a depressed pastor who is struggling to make sense of lack of attendance.  Or are they?  You decide.  Yet, I have been in ministry for 12 years now.  I have gone from expecting those who follow Christ to be at church every night of the week to one morning a week.  As you can see, I have either lowered my expectations for attendance at worship as well as participation once a week in spiritual education and edification.  Nevertheless, Brady and I have had a discussion about what I, as a pastor, should realistically expect from church members, not just Covenant but all who attend, as an A+ effort.  Does God expect His followers to worship often on the Day that Christ arose from the dead? Is that still significant?  I think so, but I would like your thoughts.   

So I would like to know your opinions.  Should a Christian commit his or herself to attending Sunday morning worship at least 48 times a year?  Another question.  Is it important which day of the week a Christian worships?  Another question.  Is worship service important for the Christian?  Or, is small group discipleship enough? 

I would like inputs from both clergy and laymen on this topic.

We feel better when someone cares

Exodus 4:29-31 (NIV)
29 Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, 30 and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, 31 and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

Interesting. The Hebrews were not free yet. As a matter of fact, they still had more hardship on the way. Yet, in the previous chapters of Exodus, out of bitterness and desperation the Hebrews prayed to God. So I think that it is interesting that although they are still struggling with their lives, the fact that they knew that God knew about their suffering actually was the first moment of relief for them. They felt better. And they were going to need to because their bitterness was about to increase. So how many times would we deal with a hardship in our lives if we could simply take comfort from the fact that God knows all about it and that He is working for our good too? Many times we just need to know that someone cares about what we are facing. And that Someone is God.

So what made them worship?  The signs or the fact that God cared for them?

Newpring and Unleash

I went to the Unleash 09 Conference this year.  Without a doubt, this was the best conference that I have been to.  As soon as we pulled into the parking lot things that made an impression on me were:

• The happy-to-do-it volunteers.  I think there were 500 of them.  Every one of these people smiled and waved to every vehicle pulling in that I could see. 
• There was a mob volunteers who hootin-n-hollerin with everyone that came in.  These people were located at the entrance.  They gave directions to where you needed to go.  They spoke to everyone that I could see. 
• It was a Thursday.  I wondered how many of these people gave up a vacation day from work to help at this event on behalf of their church?  I can’t even get people to come to church on Sunday consistently; and like it. 
• I know that these volunteers have been coached that what they do is important.  And, that they must make everyone feel welcomed; it works! 

Pastor Perry Noble was straight forward in each main session.  This conference was not the type that has someone come in to do some group counseling.  Instead, Perry challenged everyone to weather whatever storm they were facing and go hard for Jesus.  Let me share some thoughts about Perry Noble:

• As much as I would like to, out of jealousy, I can’t deny that God is using him.  I see it! 
• He had a breakout session for Senior Pastors only.  This was conducted the right way.  Pastors were able to ask questions and he answered every one.  He did this graciously.
• Every pastor wanted to know how he did it.  Pastor Noble was careful to point to the mission of spreading the Gospel.  In other words, sharing Christ is the difference. 
• He is straight forward about salvation through Jesus Christ alone.  This is not a liberal preacher.  He fears for people who are lost because they will go to Hell if they do not give their lives to Jesus Christ.  Preachers and churches everywhere would do well to be burdened in this way. 

For those seeking the formula for church growth.  And, I suspect that is why most churches and pastors showed up to this conference.  They want to know how to get to where Newspring is; and is going. 

• Preach Jesus Christ!  He is Savior, Lord, He will be Judge, He is coming back soon, He is Healer, Miracle Man, He is All that we need.
• Terms that were called a fad: Contemporary, Emergent, Missional, and etc. He believes these will outdated in 3 years.  I think he is right.   
• A funny illustration about Missional: All churches are missional or they are not churches.  Saying that we are missional is like a fish swimming around saying I love water. 
• There is no formula!  Just Jesus.  Amen.

The worship team was phenomenal!  I would say they are as good as anybody that I have paid to see.  That is saying a lot. 

• I have not been moved in worship like that in a long time.  Let’s admit it, we get bored with the way we systematically do it. 
• It was good to see one of the singers get moved by the Spirit.  I have not seen that for a while.
• The songs were so good. 
• The music was loud.  This meant that I could sing loud and not make anyone sick. 

Let’s talk about the money!

• $59.  Did you read that!  I will say it again, $59.
• They did not make any money, I don’t think.  They gave each person Lee McDerment CD.  Great worship music!  It would probably cost $16 to buy it. 
• They gave us Chik Fila for lunch.  $6 to buy it.
• Free drinks and snacks all day!  $5 per person. 

Hey! Christians! Let’s get motivated to preach Jesus.  Thank you to Newspring for caring for all, no matter what denomination that is Christian, because we are on the same team.  As Perry said, we don’t compete, but we complete each other.  I have been refreshed. 

To all of those that Perry and Newspring down, get over it.  Let’s all do what God called us to do without worrying what the other person is doing.  Did you know that there are enough lost in Pickens County alone that they could not possibly fit into all of our churches?  I am going to seek to do my part in God’s Kingdom.  What about you?  Or, will you focus on petty things and continue to put Newspring down because they are getting it done? 

It has been a while since someone encouraged me like I was at Unleash.  Thanks be to God!

Sunday Recap

Sunday was awesome!  God moved and people responded!  So here is the recap.

• I took my part in preaching the Encounters Series.  I spoke about Caiaphas rejecting God’s Will.  The Scripture that I used was Mark 11:15-19, 27-33.  Because Caiaphas was ultimately in charge of the Temple, here are three things that he rejected; right worship; caring for others, and God’s Authority.  The problem with worship was that the Jews were not keeping God’s Temple Holy.  The priests had a scam for money going in the Temple.  They were selling pre-approved animals for sacrifice.  The priests rejected that Jesus is the Lamb of God and therefore, rejected His judgment upon the Temple.  Caiaphas was finally persuaded officials that Jesus should be put to death as the ultimate rejection. I asked three What if . . . questions.  What if Christians did not reject right worship of Christ?  What would The Church look like?  What if Christians did not take advantage of others, but really cared?  What would The Church look like?  What if Christians really accepted God’s Authority?  How would we live our lives?  What would The Church look like? 
• We had 45.  This is discouraging. 
• We had around 7 come to the altar to move closer to Christ.  This is awesome!  Praise the Lord!
• I noticed a sincerity in several to win others to Christ.  This is encouraging. 
• Giving was up. 
• I pointed out that most Christians give 10% of their income.  The problem with this is that many Christians limit God to just 10% of their income.  What I mean is that they only allow God to God of that much, and they limit His Authority to only the financial aspect of their lives.  Because we don’t want Him to have access to the other 90% of our income.  We also don’t want God to have access to our time and personal lives.  This is the danger of paying 10%.  We clear our minds of any other responsibilities.  Many think, “I’ve done my part.”  Yet, the question remains, “Have you really?”  I think that God is interested in more than money. 
• Sunday night was mediocre.  We split into men’s and women’s groups.  The men talked about Holiness.  What does it mean to have the mind of Christ? 
• As I look back at Sunday, I think it was a good time of worship.  Yet, I see that it was not good enough.  We must, as a church, begin to deliberately win Sunday back.
• I think Sunday has been lost to recreation, relaxation, and retailization.  I had to have another R.  People, let me tell you straight.  God knows if you are really His or not. 
• If you are cutting church without a legitimate reason, then you are missing the mark.  Please do not respond to this post that you can be a Christian without going to church.  I don’t think so.  Unless you are in a country that does not allow you to.  That talk just makes me tired.  I bet when we all get to Heaven people will enjoy being in a worship service with each other. 
• Finally, thank you Lord for new believers.  Amen. 

Living by faith in the Lord

Here is a post from my friend Austin Porter who is planting a church by faith.  I hope that if you are reading this post that you understand what it is to live by faith.  Many Christians really don’t know what it is to live by faith; yet we say we do.  Petra sang about faith this way in Beyond Belief, “Leap of faith without a net, makes us want to hedge our bets, but waters never part ’til our feet get wet!”  Planting a church means that you have to find money to survive as a church, and for yourself. 

Austin is one that I am watching.  Why?  Because there is no savings account that is going to cover for him when money runs low.  On his blog, he talks different than others.  what I mean is that he is not letting some past experience, living by faith, to guide him and comfort him.  He is stepping into the unknown.  God called Abram to travel to an unknown land too.  Austin has a degree in religion, but, he is learning about God in the school of faith now. 

So, when he writes about tithing, I think it is worthy to take notice and listen.  I assure you that money is the one thing that he desparately needs right now.  I hope he doesn’t mind me saying that.  You see, most want to quit tithing because they think the church has not done enough for them.  Some think that the church only cares about getting money from you.  Well the church doesn’t rely on man’s money, we rely upon God.  Some get frustrated with a decision that was made, and then they send their tithe elsewhere to teach a church a lesson.  Others get stressed out over their bills, because we tend to spend more than what we need, and decide to that tithing just doesn’t fit into the family budget.    I assure you that you reveal your love and trust in the Lord through willingness to tithe.  Why?  Because we are supposed to give secretly, and not sound the bells about it. 

Another reason I wanted to direct you to his blog is because sometimes people look for a good ministry to give to; well here it is!  Again, it is good to listen to someone who we know that is living our struggles teach us about tithing.

Devaluing the Church; especially at the local level

I have been reading The Church Jesus Builds while in the dentist office waiting room today.  I focused on the chapter titled, Tensions That Strengthen The Church.  Wayne Schmidt, Lead Pastor of Kentwood Community Church in Grand Rapids, wrote this chapter and dealt with some issues that I have been working through on my own.  I won’t take the time to address all of these but I will focus on a few questions that he asked.

After some church leaders heard Bono say, at Schmidt’s church, that he “previously loved Christ, but couldn’t stand the Church or Christians,” they “snickered.”  This bothered Schmidt, as does me, and he asks, “Is it a sign that even leaders of the Church have surrendered to the cultural conclusions that the Church is at best a dysfunctional family, hopelessly idiosyncratic and beyond redemption?” (166). 

Here are some concerns that I have had, in light of this question, for quite a while now:

• Is it really funny that Christians ”snicker” at the Church and other Christians because the they have come into agreement with the world that the Church is out of touch, a sham, and/or has failed in her mission to be a Godly community in the middle of a Fallen world?  Some Christians would go so far as to say that it is impossible to live by commands to love Him and others until Christ returns.  If that is true, then how do explain Bethlehem in the book of Ruth? 
• Do the more successful pastors, in the churches that everyone considers it a privilege to go to, take advantage of the Church and those who attend when they fall?  In other words, are we bloggers and ministers, taking advantage of the opportunity to finger point so that we can say, or imply, that we are not like that? 
• Have we, as church leaders, “surrendered” to the cultures label of the Church, that she is irrelevant in the 21st Century?  In other words, government, human goodwill, and famous people can fix this world that can be so cruel?  After all,  1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  I guess my question is do we, the Church, even think that it is foolish for the Church to be the Salt and Light of the world? 
• Has the Church made friends with the idea that we are individuals first by looking out for our own interests instead of looking out for others?  As church leaders, are we guilty of hoarding God’s money as individuals, and a local Body, by turning our churches into a savings and loan branch?  The elephant in the room is that we say this is an “emergency fund.”  Isn’t God our emergency fund? 
• I am all on board with church planting.  It is God’s mission in this world.  Yet, are most established churches really beyond redemption?  Can God not turn these organisms around?  He can.  So the question in the end that must be wrestled with is, when do the mega-churches, and/or church plants decide to encourage our creative and gifted people to be a part of the redemption process, instead of jumping ship to take part in the good times somewhere else?  I know that some are called by God to do this, however, I believe that many of the average attendees that leave are not. 

If you attend a church, or a leader, what are you going to do?  Can you still find love for the Bride of Christ in your heart?  Can you trust that God will redeem a troubled community of believers?

Here is an action question that Schmidt asks, “”Do you agree that our culture today, both inside and outside the Church, tends to devalue the Church as a “dysfunctional family, hopelessly idiosyncratic and beyond redemption”?  List several specific ways we can be honest with ourselves about the Church’s shortcomings, yet affirm its biblical position within God’s redemptive plan” (175).  I would add that you might list specific ways in your own church. 

Hope to hear from a few of you.

Thoughts about taking communion

Today there more disgruntled church attenders than than postal workers.  I know, poor attempt at humor, forgive me; and I am thankful for our postal carrier.  Nevertheless, many people who attend church who do not realize that they are dangerously negative about their church. 

It seems that we have a tendency to focus on the negatives of the local Body that we belong to.  Here are some things that we should all consider when we take communion which were inspired by Gordon Fee and his commentary on 1 Corinthians:

• We portray disunity when we are negative about church; communion proclaims unity. 
• God has placed everyone one of us in a local Body for a purpose; each one of us partakes from one Loaf.  We are one.  We have the mission of Christ.
• If you are part of a struggling church, or a church that may have lost its sense of direction, then there is still hope for that church even if when we think there is none.  Finger pointing causes us to take communion in an unworthy manner.   
• When we take communion, if we are secretly frustrated with the leadership or the people in the church, then we are taking communion in an unworthy manner. 
• If there is an “us” and “them” attitude, then this is a division in the Body of Christ.  Christ is not divided and His Church should not be either. 
• If we have been negative about our church while mingling in the community, then we have shamed Jesus Christ.  And we have shown that when we take communion that it is a lie.  Because we are divided.   
• To be a part of the “Invisible Church” we must love God with all of hearts.  We must also love others.  This is the grace and forgiveness that we are celebrating and remembering when we take communion.   
• When loving others, we must understand that this includes not only our neighbors and lost ones, but also our Christian brothers and sisters too.  The question that we must ask is, “Have we treated these people as Christ expects us to?”
• Finally, for those of us who have struggled whether or not to take communion because we did not think that we have behaved well enough: Take it!  You cannot judge yourself rightly.  If you judge yourself to be worthy, then you are not.  Examine yourself so that you may become humble, then take communion.  Besides, nobody is worthy to take communion.  Jesus died so that all could come to His Table!  Take it!

Let us be united in each local church so that we can take part in the Lord’s Supper and the world can know that proclaim the death and Resurrection of Christ until He returns.  Amen!