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Monday, March 03, 2008
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Angel
During the first century, disciples alike connected together to embattle counter forces by serving the poor, widows, and orphans. I believe in the midst of serving others, people find themselves. They divided their belongings impulsively. This sect called Christian gave of themselves to help heal broken relationships in a family, they served as a mediator as a father leaves his family, and they were giving people the flesh of Jesus Christ. Societal classes were shattered. I say all of this because there is a void in my own life.
During a vacation of mine, I was sent an angel. The angel’s name was James. I am not conferring the theology of angels or demons, yet an African-American with clipped wings told me his story on the streets of Hollywood Blvd. He made some bad choices and struggled with the consequences of sin, however, he quoted chapter one, verses 3-8 in the text of James. There are a lot of Christians who cannot even begin to tell me where the book of James is in the Bible.
I asked him, “What would you ask Jesus if he was here right now?” He answered reluctantly, vigorously trying to give the ten dollars back which I gave him. His voice stricken, he said, “I always knew he was here. It might not look like it, but I am blessed.” It took everything to hold back the tears that were getting ready to explode from my eyes. A homeless man, in the midst of hunger and suffering, says these words. He had incomprehensible character. For a brief moment I thought I encountered the divine. I just saw an angel.
As I sit in my comfortable office chair with the air conditioner blowing out from the vents, I think about James. How many more James’s are in this world, state, and county. Many miles removed from this unknown person, I ponder what he is doing right now. The only noble act now, is to find as many of James’s I can find and reach out to them with the love of Christ. The King does not want it any other way. Thank you James!
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Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Today's Church pt 9
Christians need to realize that they are needed in the Church just as much as the senior minister. All Christians are ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, some just get paid. Ministers need to serve the world, not the Church. They should not manage the structures inside only, but develop effective plans to infiltrate the society that surrounds them. Jesus is a life-giving Savior, and the Church, must therefore become a life-giving Church.[1]
Ministry belongs to everyone. Ownership of the ministry is the key to long-term motivation and effectiveness.[2] God created people to fit in a body to use their gifts to edify and build one another up. The early Church was devoted to each other. They developed ministries that met needs. Finally, the early Church was devoted to church growth, particularly through conversion. Throughout the book of Acts God added to their numbers. They were faithful in evangelism and to the mission.
Christianity is different than what any other religion has to offer in the present day. It offers hope, love, and grace to an undeserving person. Yet most Christians in America are heretical, therefore if people go into a Church, people are not going into the heart of Christ; they are going into the heart of religion.[3] Christianity has become hypocritical because the Churches do not offer these items. They offer judgment, mocking, and let downs that drive an unbelieving world mad. No wonder so many look for love in all the wrong places. Those are often the only places left. The grace-filled Church is not only accepted and accepting, it is open and honest.[4]
When a Church expresses their pain and fears, a person is more likely to do the same. Nobody wants to be exposed for his or her faults and shortcomings, but it becomes infinitely easier to open up when someone sees it done. Too little acceptance and not enough openness and honesty are the problems.
DC Talk, an older Christian band says, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians…who acknowledge these with their lips and walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle…that is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” Legalism runs wild in the Church, like weeds throughout a garden. Leaders need to be the gardener and pick out the bad weeds to help them understand that legalism does not win souls to Jesus Christ. Grace needs to be applied with a sprinkle of authenticity.
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[1] McIntosh, Biblical Church Growth: How You Can Work with God to Build a Faithful Church, 34.
[2] McIntosh, Make Room for the Boom…or Bust: Six Church Models for Teaching Three Generations, 131.
[3] Sweet, Carpe Mañana: Is Your Church Ready to Seize Tomorrow?, 75.
[4] Joseph R. Cooke, Free for the Taking: The Life-changing Power of Grace (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1975), 145.
Ministry belongs to everyone. Ownership of the ministry is the key to long-term motivation and effectiveness.[2] God created people to fit in a body to use their gifts to edify and build one another up. The early Church was devoted to each other. They developed ministries that met needs. Finally, the early Church was devoted to church growth, particularly through conversion. Throughout the book of Acts God added to their numbers. They were faithful in evangelism and to the mission.
Christianity is different than what any other religion has to offer in the present day. It offers hope, love, and grace to an undeserving person. Yet most Christians in America are heretical, therefore if people go into a Church, people are not going into the heart of Christ; they are going into the heart of religion.[3] Christianity has become hypocritical because the Churches do not offer these items. They offer judgment, mocking, and let downs that drive an unbelieving world mad. No wonder so many look for love in all the wrong places. Those are often the only places left. The grace-filled Church is not only accepted and accepting, it is open and honest.[4]
When a Church expresses their pain and fears, a person is more likely to do the same. Nobody wants to be exposed for his or her faults and shortcomings, but it becomes infinitely easier to open up when someone sees it done. Too little acceptance and not enough openness and honesty are the problems.
DC Talk, an older Christian band says, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians…who acknowledge these with their lips and walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle…that is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” Legalism runs wild in the Church, like weeds throughout a garden. Leaders need to be the gardener and pick out the bad weeds to help them understand that legalism does not win souls to Jesus Christ. Grace needs to be applied with a sprinkle of authenticity.
Paid in Full
[1] McIntosh, Biblical Church Growth: How You Can Work with God to Build a Faithful Church, 34.
[2] McIntosh, Make Room for the Boom…or Bust: Six Church Models for Teaching Three Generations, 131.
[3] Sweet, Carpe Mañana: Is Your Church Ready to Seize Tomorrow?, 75.
[4] Joseph R. Cooke, Free for the Taking: The Life-changing Power of Grace (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1975), 145.
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Friday, April 06, 2007
Today's Church pt 8
Today a lot of people talk about having Jesus, but Jesus must have you.[1] Jesus must have people’s thoughts, outlook on life, and worldviews before Christians can be effective in loving people outside the Church. Spiritual obesity is like a cancerous cell that moves throughout the body. It starts to spread over time and eventually will kill it. People do what is convenient and comfortable. The lack of spiritual growth inevitably leads to a diminished desire to share Christ with others. C. S. Lewis declares, “I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of port would do that. If you want a religion to make you really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”[2] The unevangelized in America is the third largest mission field in the world. How can this be? America is the home of the freedom of religion, speech, and rights movement. How can a country that has these rights be so far away from God? There are only two kinds of people in today’s world: the saved and the unsaved. There are no in-betweens. The average person in today’s world is “turned off” at the whole idea of “church.”[3]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer says this about the Church, “The church is the church only when it exists for others.”[4] Every believer has
the responsibility of being a witness in one’s faith and walk with Jesus Christ. Jesus had a market-place theology. He met people where they lived. He walked where they walked. He did not expect them to come to the temple or synagogues to hear His messages. He met the people where they were.The Bible teaches that every Christian, not just the ordained clergy of the Church, is a minister. Ephesians 4:11-12 states:
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.[5]
Every member of the Body of Christ has been given some spiritual gift that is an evidence of the Spirit’s working in their lives. All the gifts are intended to build up the members of the Christian community. Christians are an evangelizing agent on God’s behalf. Some Christians are baptized ministers and others are ordained ministers. Everyone has a ministry and mission. They need to be ministers for God, to one another, and to the world.[6]
Paid in Full
[1] Slaughter and Bird, 58.
[2] Sweet, Carpe Mañana: Is Your Church Ready to Seize Tomorrow?, 42.
[3] Krupp, 1.
[4] Leonard Sweet, Faith Quakes (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), 193.
[5] Ephesians 4:11-12, NIV.
[6] Krupp, 65.
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Thursday, April 05, 2007
Today's Church pt 7
Passion for people has to be the number one goal in the life of a Church. It drives the establishments of nightlife in towns and cities. Why does it change in the Church? There is no difference. One problem is that a significant number of evangelical churches focus inwardly, not outwardly.[1] 8 out of 10 churches think primary ministry takes place inside the Church, instead of outside in the world.[2] The silence of Christians may be one of the greatest tragedies in the Church today. The Church must be comfortable with the society they live among, in order for the society to be comfortable with the Church. In the Kingdom of God, comfort zones cease to exist.
Today’s Church has the attitude of what can the Church do for me. They take on an ego-centric approach to the Church instead of an altruistic-centric approach. This mentality is dreadful. Most Christians do not have broken hearts for the lost souls of this world. They have gotten too comfortable sitting in the same pew they have been sitting in for the last decade. If they did care for unbelievers, they would take whatever time was necessary to get to know them and to share the love of Christ. Christians have become disobedient and lackadaisical in their relationship with Christ.[3] It is messy to get to know someone that is not a believer. Their values are different, but that does not change the challenge that is set before the Church. Christians need to know people who are lost. Clement Attlee says, “We cannot create a heaven inside and leave a hell outside, and expect to survive.”[4]
Thom Rainer states, “One of the key reasons we do not reach the unchurched is that most Christians in America are members of churches that do not reach the unchurched.”[5] 9 out of 10 American adults cannot accurately define the meaning of the “Great Commission.”[6] Reality TV has become more of a concern than people going to hell. Shows like The Bachelor and Bachelorette, The Real-World, and American Idol have become the focal attention getters today. Top-rated prime-time television has become the focal point that captures Christians instead of going to a prayer service to pray for unbelievers. Therefore, the world’s greatest gift is close to becoming the world’s greatest secret.[7]
Paid in Full
[1] Aubrey Malphurs, Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 169.
[2] Klopp, 93.
[3] Rainer, 33.
[4] Sweet, Mañana: Is Your Church Ready to Seize Tomorrow?, 119.
[5] Rainer, 230.
[6] George Barna, Evangelism That Works: How to Reach Changing Generations with the Unchanging Gospel (Ventura: Regal Books, 1995), 35.
[7] Barna, Evangelism That Works: How to Reach Changing Generations with the Unchanging Gospel, 24.
Today’s Church has the attitude of what can the Church do for me. They take on an ego-centric approach to the Church instead of an altruistic-centric approach. This mentality is dreadful. Most Christians do not have broken hearts for the lost souls of this world. They have gotten too comfortable sitting in the same pew they have been sitting in for the last decade. If they did care for unbelievers, they would take whatever time was necessary to get to know them and to share the love of Christ. Christians have become disobedient and lackadaisical in their relationship with Christ.[3] It is messy to get to know someone that is not a believer. Their values are different, but that does not change the challenge that is set before the Church. Christians need to know people who are lost. Clement Attlee says, “We cannot create a heaven inside and leave a hell outside, and expect to survive.”[4]
Thom Rainer states, “One of the key reasons we do not reach the unchurched is that most Christians in America are members of churches that do not reach the unchurched.”[5] 9 out of 10 American adults cannot accurately define the meaning of the “Great Commission.”[6] Reality TV has become more of a concern than people going to hell. Shows like The Bachelor and Bachelorette, The Real-World, and American Idol have become the focal attention getters today. Top-rated prime-time television has become the focal point that captures Christians instead of going to a prayer service to pray for unbelievers. Therefore, the world’s greatest gift is close to becoming the world’s greatest secret.[7]
Paid in Full
[1] Aubrey Malphurs, Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 169.
[2] Klopp, 93.
[3] Rainer, 33.
[4] Sweet, Mañana: Is Your Church Ready to Seize Tomorrow?, 119.
[5] Rainer, 230.
[6] George Barna, Evangelism That Works: How to Reach Changing Generations with the Unchanging Gospel (Ventura: Regal Books, 1995), 35.
[7] Barna, Evangelism That Works: How to Reach Changing Generations with the Unchanging Gospel, 24.
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Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Today's Church pt 6
A songwriter named Andrew Peterson said this about the present day church, “Feels like the church isn’t anything more, than the second coming of the Pharisees.” There is a battle in this world that is being lost. It is a silent fight. Evil is spreading like cancer. People have lost all morality, because society deems it okay. The only cure for this cancerous infection is the Church, the building that is the outcast of this lost world. The Church is the forgotten hope for this sinful earth.
People see the church as an institution; a place a father can see from the road as he passes by to pick up his kids for the weekend from their mom’s because of a disheartened divorce. Society thinks that the Church is just a building taking up valuable space, because they would rather have a Super Wal-Mart so people can shop for groceries and toys at the same time. Our society is on the outside looking in, and we are on the inside looking out. The Church is the hope, the cure, and the assurance that we have for victory over sin. The future depends on the church and their leaders.
Successful evangelism in today’s era will take place through personal relationships and small groups. Barna and Hatch claim that one out of every seven people who accept Christ as their Savior do so at a worship service or other church events.[1] One-on-one evangelism is crucial for today’s culture. 82 percent of the unchurched are at least “somewhat likely” to attend Church if they are invited.[2] The Churches in Acts met in homes.[3] Churches today dwell in ruins because they will not go out into a world where people are hurti
ng and are in need. One Gallup poll reported that four in ten Americans admit to frequent feelings of “intense loneliness” in Newsweek.[4] People long to belong in a community of some kind. That is why bars and nightclubs are successful. The atmosphere calls for acceptance and for people to come as they are. The bar has become the church of the secular society.They tune everything else out and actually listen to the person sitting on the stool. Offering the person a drink as they soak their sorrows on the shoulders of the bartender. They get people to feel connected. Putting people first is not just a program that churches do, it is an attitude, a way of life.[5] There is unity. Their values consist of making people happy and creating a fun environment. There are a lot of things Churches can learn from these environments.
There is community among people behind the walls of a bar. The slogan for the hit television show “Cheers” was, “Go…where everybody knows your name.” People can take off their mask and be themselves. They do not feel like they have to impress anyone else. The function of a tavern is to meet and greet, yet maintaining the contacts people met the last weekend. They have acceptance, understanding, forgiveness, and relationships built upon their purpose to exist. Christians have been so worried that the world is going to influence the Church that the Church has forgotten to influence the world.
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Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Today's Church pt 5
Say, “I’m a Christian” to these pilgrims, and they flee for their lives. Say “I’m a disciple of Jesus,” and they gather round to hear more.[1] America is tired of seeing spirituality not being played out in the Church. Sheldon Vanauken cites:
The best argument for Christianity is Christians; their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians – when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteousness and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths.[2]
The word “Christian” carries a different demeanor and stereotype today than 2,000 years ago. The terms “non-Christian” and “non-believer” are rejected because most of the unchurched deem themselves to be Christian.[3] To be a Christian in today’s society means that she can do anything she wants throughout the week, but she has to be spiritual on Sunday in Church. The meaning has been watered down. Someone who says he goes to church means he is a Christian in today’s culture.
Yet people are still attracted to the name of Jesus. Jesus Christ has been discussed more than any other man that has walked on the face of the earth. He has been studied and picked apart. The reality is people are searching for spiritual aspects in their lives and are desperate. The Bible remains the best-selling book in America, several centuries after its initial release date.[4]
However, Christian and Protestant Churches are on the decline. There are over 20,000 denominations around the world, plus thousands of independent groups and para-church organizations.[5] There is so much division within Christianity that the people looking from the outside are disgusted with the way things are handled. Sunday is the most divided day of the week.
The Muslim church is the fastest growing religious body in America.[6] People are searching for friends, a place to belong, and a ministry, and if the Church does not give that to them, then they will find it in another place. George Barna states these facts:
Less than 1 out of 10 non-Christians stated that the Protestant church in America is very sensitive to their needs. For three-quarters of the people groups studied non-Christians were less than half as convinced that the Protestant churches are very sensitive to the needs of people in those groups. Given these perceptions, how attractive can the Church be to these non-believers?[7]
Every day people are leaving the Church and trying to go back to God in some form. Leith Anderson says it best when referring to the society stating, “Because society is dynamic, those churches that do not become dynamic and refuse to change, they will die. The only question is how long it will take.”[8] Another one of the fastest-growing religions in America is Buddhism, because its followers tend to practice what they believe.[9]
The Church is failing to recognize and take fully into its heart the wonder and glory of Christ’s churches.[10] Jesus placed more emphasis on His relationship with lost people than programs in the synagogue or temples. Authentic relationship must be the key. Leaders have to realize the needs of the community. Gary McIntosh says, “Faithful churches become effective not simply because they do the right things but because they understand why the right things need to be done.”[11] As the culture changes and people manifest different needs, the Church must update its techniques to accomplish the task at hand. This means that a strategy for listening to people must be in place. How can the Church better serve the family’s needs? Needs are discovered through effective listening.
The best argument for Christianity is Christians; their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians – when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteousness and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths.[2]
The word “Christian” carries a different demeanor and stereotype today than 2,000 years ago. The terms “non-Christian” and “non-believer” are rejected because most of the unchurched deem themselves to be Christian.[3] To be a Christian in today’s society means that she can do anything she wants throughout the week, but she has to be spiritual on Sunday in Church. The meaning has been watered down. Someone who says he goes to church means he is a Christian in today’s culture.
Yet people are still attracted to the name of Jesus. Jesus Christ has been discussed more than any other man that has walked on the face of the earth. He has been studied and picked apart. The reality is people are searching for spiritual aspects in their lives and are desperate. The Bible remains the best-selling book in America, several centuries after its initial release date.[4]
However, Christian and Protestant Churches are on the decline. There are over 20,000 denominations around the world, plus thousands of independent groups and para-church organizations.[5] There is so much division within Christianity that the people looking from the outside are disgusted with the way things are handled. Sunday is the most divided day of the week.
The Muslim church is the fastest growing religious body in America.[6] People are searching for friends, a place to belong, and a ministry, and if the Church does not give that to them, then they will find it in another place. George Barna states these facts:
Less than 1 out of 10 non-Christians stated that the Protestant church in America is very sensitive to their needs. For three-quarters of the people groups studied non-Christians were less than half as convinced that the Protestant churches are very sensitive to the needs of people in those groups. Given these perceptions, how attractive can the Church be to these non-believers?[7]
Every day people are leaving the Church and trying to go back to God in some form. Leith Anderson says it best when referring to the society stating, “Because society is dynamic, those churches that do not become dynamic and refuse to change, they will die. The only question is how long it will take.”[8] Another one of the fastest-growing religions in America is Buddhism, because its followers tend to practice what they believe.[9]
The Church is failing to recognize and take fully into its heart the wonder and glory of Christ’s churches.[10] Jesus placed more emphasis on His relationship with lost people than programs in the synagogue or temples. Authentic relationship must be the key. Leaders have to realize the needs of the community. Gary McIntosh says, “Faithful churches become effective not simply because they do the right things but because they understand why the right things need to be done.”[11] As the culture changes and people manifest different needs, the Church must update its techniques to accomplish the task at hand. This means that a strategy for listening to people must be in place. How can the Church better serve the family’s needs? Needs are discovered through effective listening.
Paid in Full
[1] Leonard Sweet, Aqua Church (Loveland: Group, 1999.), 41.
[2] Leonard Sweet, Carpe Mañana: Is Your Church Ready to Seize Tomorrow? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 102.
[3] Barna, Grow Your Church From Outside In, 93.
[4] George Barna and Mark Hatch, Boiling Point: Monitoring Cultural Shifts in the 21st Century (Ventura: Regal, 2001), 225.
[5] Krupp, 145.
[6] Barna and Hatch, 212.
[7] Henry Klopp, The Ministry Playbook: Strategic Planning for Effective Churches (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2002), 11.
[8] Klopp, 82.
[9] Michael Slaughter and Warren Bird, Unlearning Church: Just When You Thought You Had Leadership All Figured Out! (Orange: Group Publishing, 2002), 109.
[10] Medford Jones, Building Dynamic Churches (Joplin: College Press Publishing Company, 1991), 22.
[11] Gary L. McIntosh, Biblical Church Growth: How You Can Work with God to Build a Faithful Church (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003), 25.
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