Reboot

I've been a follower of Jesus for 34 years now. I've seen the church go from "Flakes formula" to the "growth spiral", from "Masterlife" to "Eat This Book", from the Roman Road through EE, CWT, NET, and FAITH, and from program driven to purpose driven and beyond.

I remember when "God of Earth and Outer Space" crept into the hymnal, and when "Pass It On" was considered a real contemporary song. My hearing was affected by Petra, my heart by Dallas Holm, Don Francisco, and especially Keith Green.

My faith walk began with the Baptist Hymnal and a Schofield KJV, moved through a turtle green Living Bible, the NIV, and NASB, and now I've arrived at music lyrics projected on a screen and the NLT 2.0. We've never had so many resources. Need youth materials on dating? Five choices off the top of my head. Marriage? Dozens. Discipleship? Do you want printed or downloadable?

And yet...

For the last few years, I've been fighting a creeping suspicion.

It ain't working.

By "It", I mean church as we have known it. We're not effective in making disciples. By disciples I mean people whose worldview is rooted and established in love of and fidelity to Jesus Christ. Is there growth in what we are doing? Sure. More people come to our worship. More people give to the ministry outreaches that we are doing more of than ever before. By all the numbers I should be a happy man. We've just baptized some new followers at the beach a few Sunday's ago and gave a testimony that the church is alive and active.

But I just don't see the steady progression in those I love and care for as a pastor. Not just those who haven't been Christians long, but even among some who have. They get distracted by the things of this world too often. Their children aren't growing deeper in relationship either, choosing the same fractional loyalties as their parents. They care about the wrong things. Their passions are aroused by trivialities.

Possibly it hasn't been working for a long time, I was just so busy working at it that I didn't notice.

So what to do?

I could do as some of my friends have done. I could leave the pastoral ministry in frustration. In just the past few years I have seen men with great talent and passion for God, trained at the best institutions leave the ministry and find secular employment. Why? Because they decided that if they couldn't change the church, they didn't want to be a part of failure. While I understand what they experienced, and believe that each had to do what they believed to be the right path, I cannot see that as valid for me. Just not who I am.

In the movie Tombstone, Val Kilmer plays Doc Holiday (a fellow Georgian). He greets a man who wants to get after the Earps by cutting him off and stepping in his way and saying, "I'll be your huckleberry."

I think it means "I'm ready for whatever you've got on your mind."

My love for Jesus is strong. My love for the people, and their stories who make up the rich fabric of congregational life has grown more and more in the last few years. I've been through the fire, I've gotten over the need for everyone to like me all the time. Life's too short and the stakes are too high. Push has come to shove. Change must come - again. It's time to reboot the church.

So if I was placed here for such a time as this...

yeah, I'll be your huckleberry.

Overhead

Smaller church, buildings too small, mortgaged and located in an area with high insurance rates, high cost of living.

Overhead.

I hates it.

We're a church that does more with less than any church I have ever known. We don't waste anything, aren't extravagant - just the opposite. But rare is the month that I don't have the admin guy drop a printout on my desk with accompanying verbiage about reserve funds being dry, people not understanding, how are we going to make it, etc.

While I know overhead is a fact of life, I also know that people give to vision, not to Gulf Power. For example, we decided to do a movie outreach for Halloween, and do it outside. Within a week a group of our folks had purchased a portable projector off ebay so we would have everything we needed.

So forgive me for griping, but I'm reminding myself again - it isn't about buildings.

It's about Jesus.

I'm tempted to celebrate the fact that since our reserve is gone, we're ALL IN and have to really trust God to provide for everything.

What a concept.

Yeah I know, I'm a silly visionary. But I seem to recall someone saying that "God's work, done God's way, will never want for God's supply."

So just maybe it's about the work we do for Him and not where we do it.

Hmmm....

Things Aren't Always What They Seem

"At some point in the life of most local churches a critical point is reached when the core fellowship of those committed to gospel vision are outnumbered by a fringe who are there for quite different reasons, be it spiritual comfort, kids activities, personal support, or whatever.

Regardless of the particular type of church government, all fellowships struggle to maintain focus around core vision when the fringe, be they believers or not, outnumber the gospel-oriented core.

It is very hard to maintain focus, or alter any aspect of church life to reflect the gospel needs of a fresh generation, when the majority are committed to maintaining their comfort.

When this happens "Christians" have been replaced with "churchgoers" who assume they are Christians." Marcus Honeysett

The reason that new church plants succeed in reaching more unchurched people than do churches 5 years old or older is just what Honeysett outlines here. Gradually the organization becomes the focus. The number of people who are involved in the core mission shrinks, while the organizational work gets done. The ministries starve for lack of funding, but the buildings get taken care of.

Churches like that may max out on Lottie Moon offerings and the like, but they are practicing missions by proxy. The greatest change agent we have to bring to bear on the human soul is the love of Jesus Christ flowing through them as they do work for His glory. It's not information they need - it's inspiration - God's Holy Spirit working through them.

When that doesn't happen - when the leadership isn't clued into missional attitudes and practice - the church is dead. It may look thriving from the street, may draw a crowd, but once the cultural "Christians" outnumber the disciples, decline has begun and save radical intervention, someone should call a code.

Good Advice From Someone Who Knows the Score

Lifeway research has an interview with Perry Noble (pastor at Newspring Church in South Carolina) out today, in which Noble is asked this question:

What advice would you give to churches in America? What elements would you say are a must in any church?

Noble: I would say two things.

Number one, you must keep your focus on Jesus.

Don't lose sight of the gospel. Don't lose sight of the fact that people are dying and going to go to hell unless they know Jesus. If the church loses the centrality and the urgency of that message, I think the church dies.

And I think the reason that churches all over America today are closing their doors and shutting down is because they forget the gospel. They have forgotten that Jesus Christ died on a cross not so we could have a holy huddle or a stained glass fortress or us four and no more. He died on a cross so that we could reach the world. They have got sin in their lives. And because of that they are separated from God. They go to hell. That is not necessary. Jesus died on the cross to make forgiveness and redemption completely possible.

Number two, don't try to be anything except who God called you to be.

Maybe God didn't call you to go multi-site. Maybe God called you to one location. You need to be completely content with that. Maybe God called you to go plant churches instead of doing video venues. You need to do that. Maybe God told you to do video venues and plant churches. You need to do that.

You don't ever, ever need to feel pressure because another church somewhere else in America or somewhere else in the world is doing something to think, "Oh, wow, we have got do that." Our call as a church is to do exactly what God called us to do.

In the book of Revelation chapter two and chapter three Jesus gives seven different messages to seven different churches. If he wanted every church to be the same he would have just said, "All right. Here is my message to every church and it is just the same." But he addressed seven churches specifically and said, "Here is what is going on with you. Here is what is going on with you. Here is what is going on with you." I just think that each church has a unique DNA that it needs to focus on. The gospel should be central, but the strategy and the structure of the church should be completely open to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Churches who get those two principles are on track. That doesn't mean they are guaranteed to grow, but it does mean that they are honoring Jesus and living out their unique reason for being where they are. Not every church in every area, at every time is going to show the kind of numerical growth that Newspring has. God has His reasons for blessing in one way or choosing another. But if our focus is on Jesus and His heart for people far from God, we are walking with Him.

There's not one church in this area I'd want New Hope to turn into. We're a unique collection of people placed here on this corner to do the works God prepared in advance for us. Can we learn from Saddleback, Willow Creek, Granger, even Newspring? Absolutely. And we should.

However we need to be the local experts on our culture and the needs of the people here. The expression of Church here then will reflect that culture as we seek to bring people into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

So hats off to Perry Noble and may his tribe increase.

Great, great article from Ed Stetzer

If we are to witness a genuine move of the Spirit, we cannot spend our time pining for the past and for methods that no longer work. Neither should we spend our time frantically looking for ways to innovate and keep up with the times. Some evangelical leaders are in panic mode as they search for new methods to fix the problem. Solutions abound -- whether it is the emerging church; the missional-incarnational movement; a renewal of polity or biblical preaching; or groups that reemphasize certain gifts, actions, or ministries. Everyone seems to have an answer.

Many of their concerns are legitimate, and worthy of consideration. But the Spirit can only begin working in our churches when we repent of the unbelieving attitudes that have repelled the lost. At times our hearts are hard, fallow ground that will not allow a Kingdom harvest to germinate.

Nevertheless, pastors and leaders must find comfort in the fact -- despite the church's decline -- the gospel is still faithful and true. To reach the lost, they must hold more firmly than ever to the gospel, find stability on its rock-solid ground, and move forward, engaging the culture.

Remember, Jesus said He would build His church. This promise should calm our fears and allow us to rest in God's mighty power to work out His purposes.

Unfortunately, many evangelicals have lost confidence in the gospel. Since society has marginalized the church, it seems people are saying: "Maybe this gospel is not all we thought it would be." Since the church cannot be trusted, they think, maybe the gospel cannot be trusted either.

Our loss of confidence in the gospel is evidenced by the fact believers are sharing their faith less and less. The seeker movement has unintentionally disempowered evangelism by training people to bring their friends to church services so professionals can take over and seal the deal.

In addition, churches have become dispensers of practical advice. During the 1980s and '90s, pastors told church members to bring their non-Christian friends to hear insight on everything from how to have a better life to how to overcome stress.

Leaders spent 20 to 30 years reshaping their churches around this new vision. Churches focused on practical advice -- moral, biblically based, practical advice -- and made inviting friends to hear such advice the church's evangelism strategy. In the process, the church unintentionally de-emphasized teaching people to share their faith. As a result, laypeople lost confidence in the power of their faith. Now, like a bear fed by the tourists, the church is unable to fend for herself. She has lost her natural ability to evangelize.

One cannot read Scripture and miss the fact it focuses on a bloody cross and an empty tomb. The gospel is about a Savior who died on a cross in our place. These are facts -- not just interesting things to think or talk about -- and they are usually unpalatable to our neighbors. If we do not have confidence in them, then we do not have true faith, and we reduce the gospel to a 12-step program for inner peace.

Luke 24:47 says, "Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations." When believers lose confidence in the gospel, Christ's evangelistic mandate withers away. But those who are confident in the gospel become living epistles, God's love letters to individuals and communities, and messages that carry the gospel's prophetic edge.

If we fail to regain confidence in the gospel, subsequent generations will continue to walk away from it. Staying culturally relevant is important, and it is beneficial to minister in fresh, new ways. After all, we must remove any roadblocks that keep people from getting to Jesus. But, in the end, if strategies and systems replace the core of the gospel, its meaning and power will be lost.

Go read it all

Friends, it's about Jesus and the good news He brought through His birth, life, death, and resurrection. Tell the story of what He's done for you.

Imagine!

I laughed when I saw this picture, because though I don't have a chalkboard, lying all around me are sheets of paper on which I work out and through some of the ideas that come to me.

Yes, this is the digital era, and I was an early adopter. But I still have a tendency to work out my dreams and hopes on paper.

But here's the thing.

In my line of work, my hopes and my dreams are in the hands of others, namely:

God : For sure, or I'm way off track and those hopes and dreams wind up as wanting something for me, not for Him.

His people: It's the people who I live and work with that are entrusted with the majority of what I imagine could be - might be - should be. The church. The people.

My job as pastor is to love them and try to keep them open to the possibilities of life with God. To the vision of what the church we love can be. And aware of what we can do together with God.

And so I imagine.

I imagine a group of people so in love with God and each other that they can't wait to leave our worship gathering to go and tell others what God has done and is doing and invite them to see.

I imagine our church being on the speed-dial for the school principals, the older Americans council, the city commissioners, other nonprofits and the people in our neighborhoods because when someone needs a hand they KNOW we'll be there in a hurry.

I imagine getting a phone call telling me about a service ministry project that has already been done that I didn't even know about.

I imagine children and youth growing up learning about Jesus, becoming followers of Him, and taking their love for Him to their schools, and out in service.

I imagine young men and women leading us into worship, into service. Going off to school and instead of leaving church, coming back and investing their lives in it because they know God is at work there.

I imagine older people serving as mentors and helping out in the neighborhood schools, refusing to see retirement as anything but a greater opportunity to serve God and their neighbors.

And I imagine walking with them all through the joys and the heartaches, sharing our lives and our love for God together for the rest of my life.

Take Tab "A" and Insert in slit "B" doesn't seem to work here

Once upon a time it seemed to me that all a Southern Baptist church had to do was to follow the program and things would move along very smoothly. You'd do Sunday School using the Lifeway Curriculum, then head to worship where you'd sing out of the Baptist Hymnal, read your KJV (personal or pew copy) as you followed along with the preacher standing behind a pulpit and wearing a suit.

Then you'd do it all again at 6PM that evening.

On Wednesday night, you'd have Royal Ambassadors for the boys, Girls in Action for the girls, some sort of youth group, and then "prayer meeting" and some sort of Bible study.

And it worked. And it was easy because all you had to do was work the system and the system would produce baptisms and growth. Or so it seemed.

It was like assembling something. Just follow the directions and you'd find success.

Well, not in this context. I do not know one church here who follows that model anymore, except maybe a couple who are on life support.

When the program was proved to be ineffective, there was a gasp, and then a scramble for the next program. Some churches moved quickly to the Willow Creek model, which meant moving away from Bible study and worship by believers to seeker sensitive.

Others couldn't go that far, and found a friend in Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Church model. It was far higher in the commitment level expected of each member, and just sort of felt right, like the next evolution of things.

For a while, churches had success, some of them anyway, with these models.

I think the age of the "Model" is fading fast.

It's being replaced by a couple of things - franchises and cafeteria style.

Franchises are those church plants that are simply extensions of the mothership. Not really stand alone, and many are just video venues where the main church teacher is broadcast to. A church in Texas decided it needed a branch in Miami. Makes sense, after all, the NT says the gospel spread from region to region... or was it house to house?

Then there's the cafeteria. In the absence of a true Model, churches are taking a bit from this mega or denomination, and a bit from that one. You'll see churches that are Purpose Driven but using Andy Stanley's Northpoint children's materials, or Willow Creek's small group stuff.

For the smaller church, things get a bit dicey, because most of what the mega models call for requires size. Resources are always spread thin. If Lifeway would only wake up and realize that smaller churches are under served by any of the current models, and use the collective power of people across the SBC, maybe, just maybe they could enjoy some part of the success they had long ago.

Right now, we are struggling and praying about how to connect our efforts in one area so we can maximize our effectiveness. There's so little out there that's not fluff, or dry, or not too expensive. We have to make hard choices all the time, knowing that we will do the best we can with passion and determination to glorify God.

I just wish there were more options.

It's 3 a.m. Are You Ready?

If you are dialed into politics, you would know that Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign has been running a TV ad asking voters to consider who would be the better of the two Democratic contenders in this scenario - it is 3 a.m. and the "red phone" rings. The implication is that the presidency is so important a position that whether or not you can answer that phone in the middle of the night and make accurate decisions is critical.

If you are dialed into "preacher-blogs", you probably saw the post in the last couple of days that suggests that if your wife rolls you out of a sound sleep at 3a.m. Sunday morning and asks you what are you trying to get people to do as a result of the sermon, you should be able to tell her - if you are an effective servant proclaiming God's Word.

I have a third 3 a.m. scenario.

If you are in leadership of a church - a pastor, an elder, a deacon, a search committee member - and anyone at any time - whether 3 a.m. or 3 p.m. asks you - "Why are you a Christian? or "What does your church believe God has put it in your community to do?

You'd better have that down cold.

You'd better be able to make your case for how God has called you to be His disciples in your neighborhood with passion.

If you don't know.

If you don't care.

Then why should anyone else?

Clarity. Movement. Alignment. Focus.

Clarity. Movement. Alignment. Focus.

Those are the hallmarks of the Tao(Way) of Simple Church. When I read the book a few months ago, I actually wound up reading in immediately again, because I didn't "get" what was so amazing about the way Geiger and Rainer went about explaining how to "do" church. It seemed so simple.

Now that I'm actually praying and thinking through how to make a good church better, I begin to see that the "Simple Church" process might be harder to achieve for the church that's doing okay than for the one in flames or falling to pieces. When you are doing okay, to do well means you will have to change or eliminate something that's working - sort of - but isn't working toward your foundational goals. I've been looking through some other church's processes as they turned toward a "Simple Church" way. Here's one example.

From CECWORSHIP: It teaches basically to come up with principal areas of ministry and an order of discipleship process. We have heard that before, but the difference with this is taking a look at the church ministries and taking out the ministries that don’t fit into that process.

Our pillars are:

Live For God
We commit to daily give our life and will to God, getting to know Him through prayer and His Word, while seeking to live in a way that would please Him

Grow Together
We commit to a weekly time of fellowship with other believers, where we can grow together, and support each other in our walk with God

Give to Others
We commit to a ministry or other service activity, whether in the Church or the community, through which we can express God’s love working in and through us

Go and Share
We commit to sharing the gospel in word and action, and that when given the opportunity we will invite others to join us on the path of life

Our Church slogan if you will is Together on the Path of Life

The book makes the case that business as usual produces the usual results.

We are talking about people not being transformed. Week after week, year after year, many people are the same. The building project of people’s lives is stalled. Stagnant believers and congested churches go hand in hand.

Sadly, in many churches people are stuck in the same place spiritually. And there is no intentional process to move them.

The Bible paints a different picture of spiritual growth. According to Scripture a believer’s life is to be transformed more and more. People are not supposed to be the same. There is to be progression, movement.

Our churches should be filled with people who are becoming. Becoming more like Christ. Becoming more loving and joyful. Becoming. Being transformed (136).

Exactly. I want to resist the urge though, to treat discipleship as a business model, and people as a product that comes as a result of the application of the model. The Holy Spirit is the One Who produces results as people yield their lives to His instruction, correction, and rebuke - as Christ is formed in them.

People should be changing, morphing into awesome examples of the grace of God inhabiting their lives in the person of the Holy Spirit. Some will. Many won't, choosing instead to become a shadow of what they could have been if they were completely surrendered to Christ.

So we pray for wisdom now Lord. Help us to be clear on what You want from Your people through Your Church.

What Does It Take To Plant or Turn A Church Around?

Resurrection faith.

You have to believe - not in your skills, or methods - but in the absolute fact that in light of what God did on Easter, there is always hope. You will encounter many reasons to cause questions to appear in your mind and even doubts to form in your heart. There will be days that you wonder why you even though you could possibly be used by God to bring the dead to life.

But then comes Easter. And you remember, God can do it. William Willimon, UMC Bishop of North Alabama writes today:

In a workshop with Paul Borden last year, someone asked him, “You are a natural leader in starting new churches. What is the main thing you look for in selecting new pastors?” Borden responded, “An Orthodox faith, a vivid belief in the Trinity, and of course, a sure faith in the resurrection.”

Don’t you find that an amazing response? I thought Borden would say something managerial, “an entrepreneurial spirit,” something like that. Or, I thought he might cite some psychological configuration or organizational expertise in the pastor. No. Borden demands theology, faith in resurrection.

It really makes a huge difference as we go about reaching a new generation of Christians, starting new churches, energizing established congregations, making disciples (our Conference priorities), if Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. If Easter is not true, then why bother?

Since Jesus Christ is raised, let loose, invading a world, returning to the very people who betrayed him, then we work not alone. The risen Christ goes before us. We serve a God who lives to raise the dead--even us. Therefore, we work with hope--not hope in ourselves and our efforts, but with hope in Christ.

It never ceases to amaze me. How little people really believe that God can do. That he is exceedingly abundantly able to do - to do more than we could ever ask or imagine. How we take resurrection and confine it to two choruses of "Up from the Grave He Arose", then resume our normal programming.

Well, no.

Resurrection changes everything.

Well?

Alley Violinist
By Robert Lax

if you were an alley violinist

and they threw you money
from three windows

and the first note contained
a nickel and said;
when you play, we dance and
sing, signed
a very poor family

and the second one contained
a dime and said;
I like your playing very much,
signed
a sick old lady

and the last one contained
a dollar and said;
beat it,
would you;
stand there and play?

beat it?

walk away playing your fiddle?

There's something in that poem that relates to being a pastor, one called by God to do His will among people of all kinds, with all sorts of reactions to your attempts to follow God and lead them closer.

I think.

What Should the Church Look Like?

From John Wimber:

Folks, the world knows what this is supposed to look like. Years ago in New York City, I got into a taxi cab with an Iranian taxi driver, who could hardly speak English. I tried to explain to him where I wanted to go, and as he was pulling his car out of the parking place, he almost got hit by a van that on its side had a sign reading The Pentecostal Church. He got real upset and said, "That guy’s drunk." I said, "No, he’s a Pentecostal. Drunk in the spirit, maybe, but not with wine." He asked, "Do you know about church?"

I said, "Well, I know a little bit about it; what do you know?" It was a long trip from one end of Manhattan to the other, and all the way down he told me one horror story after another that he’d heard about the church. He knew about the pastor that ran off with the choir master's wife, the couple that had burned the church down and collected the insurance—every horrible thing you could imagine.

We finally get to where we were going, I paid him, and as we’re standing there on the landing I gave him an extra-large tip. He got a suspicious look in his eyes—he’d been around, you know. I said, "Answer me this one question."

Now keep in mind, I’m planning on witnessing to him. "If there was a God and he had a church, what would it be like?"

He sat there for awhile making up his mind to play or not. Finally he sighed and said, "Well, if there was a God and he had a church—they would care for the poor, heal the sick, and they wouldn’t charge you money to teach you the Book."

I turned around and it was like an explosion in my chest. "Oh, God." I just cried, I couldn’t help it. I thought, "Oh Lord, they know. The world knows what it’s supposed to be like. The only ones that don’t know are the Church."

Clarity, Focus, Alignment

In a few minutes, the church buildings will spring to life. Earlier in the day, the home schooler network had packed the classrooms with kids learning the Classics. There's an afternoon lull before New Hope picks up with our Wednesday night activities.

A lull. A brief period of inactivity.

Maybe too brief.

How much of what we do in our regular routines help people learn to love Jesus and in doing that - follow Him?

Let me be clear. I am saying that before anyone can go and tell, they need to come to love Jesus and learn to come and follow Him. What we do then needs to be geared toward helping people move in that direction. And yet, many Baptist churches spend a large percentage of time doing just the opposite - training people to come and SIT. As if.

We're really going to spend some time praying about how clear our purpose is, and how well we are focusing our energies and resources toward that effort. We may very well drop some things and add others, or move activities to different times or days when they compliment each other rather than taking away.

So a lull may be just what we need before we spring into action.

It's the Book of Acts, Not Conferences

“It began with the Spirit…For without the Spirit there would be no story to tell. Without the Spirit there would be no church, no way to follow. Without the Spirit there would be no witness bearing, in Jerusalem or anywhere else.” James Dunn, The Acts of the Apostles

HT Sets and Service

"The final argument for faith in the world is not the argument of words, but the argument of life." G. Campbell Morgan

I loved the very beginning "Why are you standing here...?"

Get busy!

If It's Tuesday I Must Be Reading

Tuesday is my reading day as I get a handle on where the week is headed and try to not just look at this week's opportunities but beyond that at where we as a church are headed.

Last night, I went to bed reading this again. Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community

I've reread a little more of Dan Kimball's book They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations

I have Erwin McManus' tome An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind in front of me on the desk and it's time to start rereading it.

But you know what? I'm going to read the book of Acts this afternoon and let the Spirit connect the dots.

stay tuned

Ten changes that must come

Am continuing to look for ways to maximize our effectiveness as a community of faith in the culture. I came across this post and recommend you check out the whole of the article, it is called "Ten Paradigm Shifts Toward Community Transformation"
by Eric Swanson HT Vision of Community Fellowship

To maximize our impact on our communities--urban, suburban or rural, we need changes in at least ten of our paradigms of how we currently view church.

* From building walls to building bridges.
* From measuring attendance to measuring impact.
* From encouraging the saints to attend the service to equipping the saints for works of service.
* From “serve us” to service—from inward to outward focus.
* From duplication of human services and ministries to partnering with existing services and ministries.
* From fellowship to functional unity.
* From condemning the city to blessing the city and praying for it.
* From being a minister in a congregation to being a minister in a parish.
* From anecdote and speculation to valid information.
* From teacher to learner.

One thing is clear - it's morphing time. More to pray about and respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit. I keep remembering those early days in Acts when even unbelievers recognized the heart of the church for people.

How can we recover that?

Seven things

There's a list of seven things “they (unchurched postmoderns)wish church were like,” in Dan Kimball's book, "They Like Jesus But Not the Church". During the just completed course in "Strategic Evangelism", I read the book cover to cover. I had always thought of Kimball as slightly off, but in the whole, I think he really does have a good understanding of today's emerging generations and where they are versus the church.

1. I wish church were not just a sermon or a lecture but a discussion.
2. I wish the church would respect my intelligence.
3. I wish the church weren't about the church building.
4. I wish church were less programmed and they allowed time to think and to pray.
5. I wish the church was a loving place.
6. I wish the church cared for the poor and the environment.
7. I wish the church taught more about Jesus.

You know, everything Kimball lists as the aspirations of those outside the church has been on a list I carried around inside for about two years. Granted, some of the "wish list" are simply impressions of people who may not have had any meaningful interaction with "church" or who had bad experiences with "church" when they did interact. But I get where they are coming from.

The sermon/lecture format may very well have reached its zenith a while back as an effective conduit for information. Gardener's research into educational intelligences as well as our own experiences with lectures say that it is darn hard to keep people's attention as mere listeners. I know it's hard for me. So I've tried preaching topically, using lots of illustrations, fill in the blank handouts, powerpoint, lots of images, video clips, and props to help people connect.

In the last few Sunday night services, I've tried to push interactive exercises and multi-sensory inputs to try to leap the "pew gap." I think we'll need to do more as time goes on, including possibly some "midrash" time where we work through a passage together. There are bright people out there in front, and maybe what they need to learn more effectively is not listen as much to someone telling them what to know, but spend some time in discovery mode themselves.

As for the buildings wish, all I can say is "amen". I'd go portable if we could just so we wouldn't have all that money and energy tied up in buildings. But we have them, and good stewardship would be to use them most effectively. I think we do that at New Hope. We open our campus to a home schooling network who pretty much fill it every Wednesday. They are great neighbors. We've hosted Girl and Boys Scouts and Junior Gardeners as well.

Programming is a real big hurdle for traditional churches. We're... programmed to look for plans and schemes. It's what we do. But it is changing and I'm glad to see it.

"A loving place" is an elusive goal. Most churches are very loving within the ranks. But people on the outside won't see that as those in the "club" do. That's been true in almost every church I have ever been a part of, and I have been on both sides of it. But you know what, every organization I have been a part of has been basically the same. The difference is that we are to be bearers of grace, and hospitality is part of that.

We're moving in the right direction when it comes to the poor and the environment. Our benevolence ministry helps quite a few people every year, and we have made a deliberate effort to be conscious of our impact on the environment. But we can do a LOT more in both areas.

As far as the last "wish" goes, I believe that we do teach a lot more about Jesus than I can ever remember before. We did go through a period of looking for "felt needs" to apply the Bible to, but we are focused on Jesus now - where we should have been all along.

So Kimball's reflections and research were both confirmation and a spur to more effort. Dan Kimball might have weird hair, but he's okay. :)

Great Ideas From Michael @ Behind the Leaf

Michael, I always appreciate your posts, but this one is so good I had to quote it all. Folks, if you want to learn how to be better - whether you are a planter, or a pastor, put Michael's blog in your reader.

Behind the Leaf

Sunday Cheat Sheet
February 21, 2008

In our meeting room, I keep a sheet of paper with some reminder statements. These are things that shape our services. I have to keep reminding myself.

Connect the dots.
Keep the vision in front of the people.
Incorporate the mission statement into the welcome and announcements.
Tell personal stories about our volunteers.
Celebrate victories (look back) as much as you communicate vision (look forward)
Read cool e-mails.
Remind people about our kids policy.
Read Scripture during the worship set.
A hymn teaches people theology.
Make a big deal out of the offering. (a story, where the money goes, a Scripture)
Look at things from the eyes of a guest.
The unexpected gets noticed.
Humor unfolds arms.

To me, this shows a real depth of understanding not only of mission and vision, but of the pastor's role in it. Certain things you cannot delegate and keeping your church's focus on what matters is one of those.

Oops!

TOKYO (AFP) — Military experts sounded alarm Wednesday over the Japanese military's ability to defend the country after one of its most advanced naval destroyers crashed into a fishing boat, leaving two missing. The accident sparked bewilderment in Japan as the Atago is the latest and largest of Japan's destroyers, equipped with the US-developed Aegis radar system, seen as a frontline defence against a North Korean missile attack.

"I may not come off as an expert, but I wonder whether the fishing boat was not detected by the radar," said Yoshimi Watanabe, Japan's state minister in charge of administrative and regulatory reforms.

"What if it had been a terrorist boat on a suicide bombing?" he said.

But another military expert, Tadasu Kumagai, said it was a common misunderstanding that ships with the Aegis system were looking at threats in the immediate vicinity.

"It has an advanced radar for air defence, but its navigational radar is about the same quality as that of a fishing boat," he said.

No, I've not turned into a milblogger.

Just wondering. We're the best educated church in history. We have the benefit of trained pastors and staff to a greater extent than ever before. Bibles? Oh we got your Bibles. You want an ESV with Corinthian leather? Got that. Or how bout an NCV in Hannah Montana green? Done. How bout the Bible on your iPod? Blair Washington or Alexander Scourby? No problem.

We have access to the greatest repository of information ever through the Internet. We can receive the latest church growth training seminars right at our PC, or journey across country and hear Hybels, or Warren, Stanley or Young.

But can we find where God is working?

Can we train our hearts to listen for that still small voice?

With all our technology and training, I guess I feel a certain kinship with the crew of the Atago.

So I think I'll try to spend more time looking for the Spirit nearby, instead of scouring the Internet or devouring books.

Might work. Ya think?

New Hope @ Worship 17 Feb 2008

It's a holiday weekend and I had a feeling going in, plus some knowledge, that attendance might be lower, and it was. Weather was rolling our way as well, but we were still blessed with a warm crowd in both services. I won't belabor the point, but I pretty much sabotaged the morning service with an inattention to time. We got home at 12:35. Yeah, way late. Have to do a better job of culling when I get a text I'm so passionate about.

Worship Music

Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing)
Holy Is the Lord
Breathe
Holy Holy Holy
I Need Thee Every Hour

Message: There's Something You Need To Know - John 15

I used two clips in the message (added 11 minutes I should have allowed for, but very strong messages in both) First was from an ER episode called "Atonement" that I discovered only the night before. Link and the second was from Sermonspice called "An Unspoken Plea"

Both incredibly powerful and I hope they spoke to people's hearts. I went in hoping to show what God's heart was all about and challenging the people to match up with that. But I got carried away. So I'll learn from that.

Sunday nights during Lent we're trying some alternative worship. Here's the layout of it as we did it last night.

EVENING WORSHIP FEBRUARY 17, 2008
PRAYER
Veils
How Deep the Father’s Love For Us - Video {From You Tube}

"By this time it was noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the thick veil hanging in the Temple was torn apart." Luke 23:44, 45, NLT.

MEDITATION DURING THE VIDEO
As you realize that God has torn away the barriers between Him and you, tear your veil from top to bottom. (Very powerful to hear each individual come to that realization and tear his or her veil. Awesome sound.)

FIRST READING
"Once when Jesus had been out praying, one of his disciples came to him as he finished and said, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." He said, "This is how you should pray: "Father, may your name be honored. May your Kingdom come soon. Give us our food day by day. And forgive us our sins--just as we forgive those who have sinned against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation.""
Luke 11:1-4, NLT.

Religion or Relationship? Video - Bible ("You don't fix faith. It fixes you." From You Tube)

SECOND READING
Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this illustration: "Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You would say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ He would call out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and we are all in bed. I can’t help you this time.’ But I tell you this--though he won’t do it as a friend, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you what you want so his reputation won’t be damaged. "And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks." Luke 11:4-10, NLT.

(I gave a couple of minutes of context and application to today and then asked these questions to start people talking)

SHARING

What was your biggest answered prayer? What was your toughest unanswered one?

(Great time of sharing between people who normally are very reserved.)

PRAYER BEFORE COMMUNION

PERSONAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

EACH PERSON COMES AND TAKES COMMUNION WHEN THEY ARE READY. TAKE A PIECE OF BREAD AND TAKE A CUP OF GRAPE JUICE. WHEN WE ALL HAVE THEM, WE WILL FIRST EAT THE BREAD, THEN DRINK THE JUICE.

(Two weeks in a row? In a Baptist church? It is a powerful symbol)

TAKE ONE OF THE SLIPS FROM THE BASKET AND READ IT AS THE VIDEO PLAYS.

The slips were the Tozer quote - "Anything God has done anywhere, He can do here. Anything God has ever done anytime, He can do now. Anything God has ever done for anyone, He can do for you." So keep on seeking, keep on asking, keep on knocking.

Video: A Living Prayer (Allison Krauss - off You Tube)

CLOSING PRAYER

My wife, who's blog is linked to the left, felt the Spirit there far more powerfully than in the morning service. "That was worship." I'm praying that as we press out from where we've always been that I hear more people say that, and see more people involved.