Heroes and Morons

I've been privileged and deeply humbled the past few years to become friends with a couple of missionaries to Muslim countries. To answer their call they put their lives on the line and they talk about their challenges like you and I talk about long lines at Wal-Mart. I am not worthy to carry their Bibles.
I mention this because I recently saw a news clip of Terry Jones, Florida's Quran burning moron. He was bragging about all the death threats he's been receiving and during the interview he displayed the gun he carries. I couldn't help reflecting on the profound difference between the heroes of the faith I've met and the deadly child's play of a moron acting out cops and robbers drama from the safety of central Florida while dozens die in the Middle East riots incited by his hatred.
Terry Jones 15 minutes of fame will soon fade, although the grief will linger for years in the families of those slain by thugs and preachers. But the effects produced by my missionary friends, laboring for the Lord in some of the most hostile environments on the planet for Christians, will live on in eternity. Souls are being saved, Christ's love is being delivered to people who desperately need to find rest in the Spirit, and we can all be grateful that in a world full of morons, heroes walk the earth.

Do We Really Need Another Church Here? Part 3

Those that believe the traditional church is no longer relevant are simply wrong. Traditional churches needn't stop doing what they do. There are wonderful churches all across this great land serving the Kingdom with distinction, and providing their community of believers with all their spiritual needs. But there is a segment of the population that believes that church IS irrelevant, and they need to be addressed in ways that traditional churches can’t.
When we hear from someone, "Church stinks, religion is a joke, Christians are hypocrites." we shouldn't be content to conclude "Well we did what we could, let's move on." Nor is changing the way we do church to accommodate the needs of those whose view of faith based institutions is skewed by prejudice or harms real or imagined particularly wise. We should recognize that for those who dislike religion, their beef is usually not with Christ. They like Christ, they just don't care for Christians. So when we encounter that attitude, many times the "battle" is halfway won, we just need to stop arguing about church and start witnessing for Christ.

A COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS

The church is not four walls, a Pastor, and a choir, it's a community of believers wherein faith can grow through mutual encouragement, where fellow believers can pool  resources for the good of the community, and a resource for spreading the good news of salvation at home and around the world. Millions find that community in a traditional church.
How to build a community of believers for those millions who simply will not consider a traditional church but are open to the idea of Christ is the next great mission field here in America. It will probably come to fruition in ways that discard the hierarchical structure of traditional churches, that gives real responsibility to laypeople and new believers, that regards Christian service to the community as more important than sermons and songs.
And it will likely drive the elites of the traditional church nuts. It will be chaotic, there will be heresies spoken, men and women without seminary training will lead others, blind alleys will be followed, and yet souls will be saved. There will be no leaders, only trusted servants. This new movement will not displace traditional churches, but simply reach those that are unreachable by traditional means. In short, it's gonna be a hoot to watch.

Do We Really Need Another Church Here? Part 2

Gandhi was shrewd enough to tell missionaries, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Like Gandhi millions have been unable to see the Christ obscured by Christianity. 

It matters little in terms of the Harvest whether they or right or wrong, the simple fact is that millions of Americans are positively disposed to Jesus. Christians? Not so much.  For those millions, if it says church they want no part of it. We waste millions of dollars and man-hours every year trying to lure these people into church when what we should be doing is going to them.

The message of Christ needs little if any of the trappings of a traditional church setting to be effective. 

In 2010, believing that there were tens of thousands in our community seeking answers to the uncertainty and fear gripping them, that were open to the message of Jesus, yet would not consider darkening the doors of a church, we began an outreach called The Fellowship of the Cup (www.fellowshipofthecup.com). 

Meeting at open air coffee shops, we invited friends, acquaintances, strangers, and neighbors to a scripture discussion group. Each week a member of the group selects a  favorite passage from scripture and we then talk about what that passage means in our lives at home, work, in traffic, and in our relationships with others. The results have been astonishing. Folks who 6 months ago thought Christianity was little more than one nice philosophy among many, are striving to figure out how they can become better examples to others of Christ- like living.

 Here is what we have learned. We know that people cynical and disdainful about church will embrace Jesus and scripture when He’s presented with love and respect for their viewpoints outside of a traditional church setting. We have learned that the patient application of love and scripture changes people, that not all salvations are a onetime cataclysmic upheaval of the spirit, that some salvations occur over time, and that new believers are our greatest resource.

Random Stuff

 When I examine all the things that engage my mind and imagination, the only conclusion I can draw from it is "No wonder I drank."
Now that the "Japan is sinking into nuclear winter." story is taking it's inevitable place at the bottom of the news cycle, we are focusing on important stuff like startled babies on You Tube. It's a story in which a mother blows her nose in front of her baby, films and uploads it to YOU TUBE, and get's 9 million hits. That's right, 9 million. Meanwhile the Rob Bell PFF download for his controversial new book Love Wins has garnered, wait for it, wait, 260 hits. Apparently there is less interest in the disposition of our immortal souls than a baby making cute faces.

Speaking of Japan, there is some concern about a possible breach in the containment structure at the tsunami damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Unfortunately this occurred on the same day Duke flamed out to little regarded Arizona in the NCAA basketball championship series, setting a chilling precedent wherein one has to divide attention between serious end of the world stuff, and March Madness.......go Arizona!!!

Meanwhile, we have a Christian author, on a failed anti-gay book promotion tour. What if you hold a gay-bashing event and noone comes? So sad. And in more news on the failed attempts at gay-bashing front, Apple has irked Chuck Colson again by refusing to sell a gay treatment app for the IPhone. What is the world of commerce coming to?  I'm sure he'll find a way to label it religious persecution.

Do We Really Need Another Church Here? Part 1

When you have to drive by churches to get to church, and yet 94% of the population is unchurched some questions come to mind. Is the church experience no longer valid? Does the church experience need to be reinvented? Has church in the traditional sense become a relic of the past? The answer, I believe, to all three questions is no.
Our community has every style of church imaginable. Small churches and large, contemporary and traditional, hip and formal. If you have a personal preference in worship style you can find it here. So the issue isn't relevance. And many churches in this community are as innovative as it gets in reaching out to the community to encourage attendance. So what's the problem and how will starting another church help?
My experience is that our community has thousands of people who simply will not darken the doors of a church under any circumstances. Which is not to say that they are not open to hearing the message of Christ, they just are highly antagonistic to the idea of church. Nor do their feelings about church invalidate the worth, necessity, and joy of traditional worship, they just want no part of it. Community outreach undertaken in order to bring them to church simply won't work.
So what can we do? I believe a little misdirection is in order here. Bring the church to them just don't call it church. I'll pursue this later in more depth

DID I SIGN UP FOR THIS?

Jeremiah 15:19 Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me. 

I got the repent-restore part of the deal. That was perfect for a slacker like me, all reward and no effort. But when did they insert that "serve me" stuff?  I think that I'm not alone in that matter either. What has changed my attitude is gratitude. When I finally realized that while Jesus saved me, it took a believer to tell me, I could no longer just sit in the pew content in my own salvation. For gratitude in this matter is a verb.

Everyone Has A Story

Frequently we hear complaints that the media focuses on stories with celebrities imploding in spectacularly public ways while ignoring the feel good stories of  regular everyday people. This isn't one of those complaints. That's just the way it is. In God's world though, stories abound.
The truth is, everyone has a story. Sitting on the patio at my local Starbucks, sipping coffee and watching folks at other tables talking, reading, or just sitting, it's comforting to know that each chair is occupied not just by a person, but a story. That woman rocking a baby in her arms is a story about triumph over the scars of childhood molestation. Those two guys at the table next to her, arguing about who's the best quarterback, just came from an AA meeting, sober now and loving their newfound life. Next to them, a table full of teenagers planning a missions trip to South America.
Take my friends Lyn and Judy. Standing in line behind them at the grocery store you'd never suspect that two years ago Judy was given no chance to ever walk again, and that Lyn devoted himself to her rehabilitation, never giving up hope. Is their story less uplifting because it's not on TV?
Which brings me to JR. JR passed away Friday, an event not likely to make the evening news. JR simply lived his final days in dignity, and died with a grace that I'm not sure I'll emulate when my time inevitably comes. His life story, complete with horrifying failure and stunning rehabilitation is known to those who loved him and that's just fine with me.