Don't Be the Frozen Chosen

Bunny and I were at Chic-Fil-A in FWB a while back. That's pretty unusual for us in two ways. First, because we don't eat Chic-Fil-A that often. Costs too much. Secondly because we don't eat inside fast food restaurants very often at all. But on that day we thought we'd slow down, take a breath,and grab some lunch at the fairly new location across from Walmart.

We went inside and ordered, and stood waiting for our food. While we were waiting, it was apparent that while the food might come out hot, we wouldn't. It was FREEZING in there. Bunny didn't have a coat in the car, so when the food came, I told the server that it was freezing in the dining area.

"We have to keep the temperature down for the people in the kitchen."

Mustering every bit of customer relation skills, and ignoring the little devil sitting on my shoulder who was whispering "Give her..." well,you know what a little devil would say, I said politely, "But out here is where the customers are."

She looked at both of us, and repeated I think a little slower for my benefit...

"We have to keep the temperature down for the people in the kitchen."

Bunny and I tried to eat, but wound up tossing most of the food and leaving.

And we haven't been back.

I'm sharing this to remind those of us in established churches that at some times we are guilty of the same mindset as the woman at Chic-Fil-A. What we are doing and how we are doing it works for us, so why should we ever want to change?

Jesus had a far different attitude. He said that He "came not be to served, but to serve,and to give His life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45

As we head off to church tomorrow, be praying for eyes that can see your buildings, your welcome, your worship, and yes - your people as someone who has never been to your church or perhaps any church would see them.

It's not about us. It's about Jesus, and reaching people with the good news.

We Can't Fix It

Down through the years, maybe partially because I was educated and trained in marketing, partially because I'm a classic "fix it" male, but really, because I want to see people experience the joy of life in Jesus Christ, I've tried to discover what we can do to get people to come to New Hope.

We've done a lot of things down through the years. Over and over again the most effective means, as reflected by the answers to "how did you find New Hope?" have been:

1. A personal invitation - far and away the most effective
2. Our sign - amazing to me
3. Our website - more and more this is the first contact

None of the other efforts have really proven to be effective for us. I have to say that it has annoyed me - the marketer me - because it is so ingrained in me that if you just get the right message in front of the right people - they will come. But they haven't.

I was reading Darryl Dash's blog this morning (was pointed there by Milton Stanley), and he reported the findings of another church's survey.

MacDonald now pastors a church in downtown Toronto called Grace Toronto. The church recently asked community members to describe their objections against Christianity. They found that many didn't have objections; they just find Christianity irrelevant. Going to church doesn't even make the list of options for Sunday morning. The seeker approach assumes that people will attend church if its relevant. But many won't go to church no matter what we do.

Friends, we overestimate our impact and underestimate the power of our opposition.

No matter what we do, we can't fix the lack of interest a population of people in rebellion to God has in attending a church worship service. Nor can we awaken their hearts to God's love. That's way above our pay grade as my father used to say.

What we can do is be authentic followers of Jesus and be available to our neighbors during times when they are spiritually receptive to the message.

What we can do is push out past the doors of the church and move into the neighborhood to experience life with our neighbors.

What we can do is pray, pray, pray for the people around us to experience the grace of Jesus.

But we can't fix it.

Shout To the Lord - Behind the scenes on American Idol

Here's a post filled with insight and inspiration from Joshua Harris. I never seem to cease being humbled by how God is working all the time in places where I'd never imagine Him to. Pray for those He's placed as lights in dark places.

Inside Scoop on Shout To the Lord On American Idol

Read it all. Oh and here's the song.

Welcome to the tribe!

One of the things I have always wanted to learn to do is fly fishing. My son Sean bought me an outfit for Christmas this year and I've been reading online about how to best begin. I sent off for a free decal from a company named Reel Pure, Inc.

It came in Saturday, and I couldn't help but make the connection to what I do as a pastor. "Welcome to the tribe!" was the salutation on the letter than accompanied the decal.

"Forever Fish," was the closing remark.

It was sent by the "Director - Attitude Adjustment"

LOL. I love that passion!

So I'm adopting their motto.

Forever Fish,

David

(who is available for free fishing trips anywhere :) )

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

My brother Reggie McNeal's incendiary book "Present Future" is on its fourth reading here this week. The copy I have here at home is dog-eared and full of notes and tabs I put there to be able to find certain quotes. It looks a little weird, frankly. Fits its owner I guess.

In our men's group last Sunday, we were going through the week's readings in My Utmost For His Highest and somehow got into a short discussion of the book of Acts and specifically the early church's growth. One of the men, John Anderson was making the point that the early church had nothing we have today - no buildings, no programs, not even a Bible to tote around.

What they had, was Jesus. And that's what they shared.

Reggie writes (pg 82) "Evangelism that will introduce Jesus to this culture will flow from people who are deeply in love with Jesus."

We've tried to sell everything we could think of to get people to come to church - great music, great children's and youth programs, excellent Biblical teaching, even relaxed styles of dress and coffee and donuts.

When the only thing that will satisfy man's deepest need isn't church at all.

It is Jesus.

What if...

On This Date In 1984

Apple introduced the Macintosh personal computer - and everything changed.

Well... Not really.

But it did have an impact on the future of personal computing - and still does. I'm a veteran of the computer wars, and have operated Basic, Geos, C/PM, MS-DOS, Win 3.1 and every one following (except Vista), SCO Unix, Ubuntu and Kubuntu Linux, OS2 and OS2Warp, and now OS X.

To my right sits an IBM Thinkpad with XP, and I type this on a Mac. So I've been around and in this revolution since the beginning.

The tasks I do on whatever computer sits in front of me are still pretty much the same as they were at the beginning, though as software has progressed, certain tasks I used to have to do on other platforms are now integrated within the PC. It's all good. I love technology - when it helps.

I've been reading lately about the different ways Christianity has approached culture. As I've studied modern approaches, I had this feeling that I was missing something by not looking back at the way Christianity was able to spread in the earlier centuries despite (or perhaps because of) no support, or even hostility towards it from the people and governments it related to.

In that search I stumbled across a book called "The Celtic Way of Evangelism" by George Hunter.

Wow.

So much of what Hunter shows of Patrick's model for evangelism is exactly the model we could use today.

Funny how at times we need to go back, to move forward. Hunter quotes an ancient Chinese Poem in the book's conclusion.

Go to the people.
Live among them.
Learn from them.
Love them.
Start with what they know.
Build on what they have.

On this day in 2007 - that makes a lot of sense.

The final paragraph in the book is this one:

The supreme key to reaching the West again is the key that Patrick discovered - involuntarily but providentially. The gulf between church people and unchurched people is vast, but if we pay the price to understand them, we will usually know what to say and what to do; if they know and feel we understand them, by the tens of millions they will risk opening their hearts to the God who understands them.

With all my heart I pray that millions of us will wake up in time to reach millions of those who live not far from God.