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Archive for the ‘Church’ Category

Leaders Need Leaders

Posted in Church, Community, Leadership on August 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »

This week, Thursday and Friday, I will have the distinct privilege of attending the Leadership Summit with a group of folks from our church and community.  I have read and heard most of the speakers who will be speaking on leadership at this event and I am really looking forward to hearing them again.

But more importantly than that, I am looking forward to sharing this time with the folks who are attending the event from our community.  I have learned that leaders never lead alone.  We all need others to learn from, lean on and with whom we can experience mutual accountability.  So the relational side of this event will be just as important as the actual speaking.  (P.S. – We still have one spot available if you are interested let me know)

All of us are leaders in some capacity.  At the core of our commitment to the Way is an element of leadership.  When you committed to follow Jesus, you committed to stop following the world.  It takes a real sense of courage and willingness to stand alone to step out of the norm and be different.  So as a believer, you are a leader.

The question for you to consider today is this – who are the folks around you who you can learn from, lean on and with whom you can experience mutual accountability?  I challenge you today to not only think on this in passing, but actually make a list of the folks who fit this profile for you.

Lead out today!

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Church Outside the Walls

Posted in Church, Community on July 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I don’t know how many times I have actually had the privilege of being in the same room and hearing Reggie McNeal speak before, but I am never disappointed.  He is a charismatic and straightforward communicator, leader, missional church guru and just plain fun to listen to.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to hear him again.  He captivated the room.  The problem is, most everything he says normally makes me uncomfortable because he has a way of attacking my preconceived ideas of what church is really all about.

He asked the question, “How is it that American churches brought in over 100 billion dollars last year but yet the average church in America is plateaued or dying; while at the same time, Christianity in India and China is growing like crazy with little to no budget?  How can that be?”

He went on to make the statement that the church does not have a mission but rather, the mission has a church.

As I have reflected on all the things Reggie said, I have been uncomfortable and I am having a hard time getting over it.

How much longer will we continue to struggle to maintain the structure we have built that we call the church, when all along, people are living and dying without the hope that only God can give?

Maybe its time to be the church outside the building and worry less about the building itself.

Just a thought!

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Thinking of You

Posted in Church, Community, Grace on July 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Have you ever gotten a “Thinking of You” card or call out of the blue for no reason at all?  How did it make you feel?

All of us would like to think that we would be missed if we were not around tomorrow.  All of us would like to think that others care for us.  The good thing is, the majority of us have people who love us.

But what have you planned for today that will add value to someone else?  Maybe it will be something as simple as a “Thinking of You” call.  Maybe you could pay for the items of the person in line behind you at the convenience store and simply say, “God loves you.”

Whatever you decide to do today, make a difference in someone else’s life.  That is what Jesus taught us to do and as followers of the Way, it is our calling.  I think that is what Jesus was teaching us here in this passage.  Take a look at what Jesus said and then go make a difference today.

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Sharing Life Together – Now That’s The Church

Posted in Church, Community on June 28, 2010| 1 Comment »

I was reminded yet again yesterday that the church is not the worship service on Sunday morning but the gathering of a family together.  Sometimes we gather to study God’s word, sometimes we gather together to worship, sometimes we gather to laugh and sometimes we gather to lean on one another in difficult times.

This past week was a difficult week for our family and in sharing with another family last night around the dinner table, we found out that it was not a great week for them either.  We cried together, we laughed together and we shared life together.

I got home last night and decided to sit on our deck and watch the lightning show.  As I sat there, I reflected on the events of the evening and I was reminded that the church is not a tradition-prescribed set order of service or comfortable programing.  The church, as Jesus intended it at its core, is a family of like-minded believers sharing life together.

As the writer of Hebrews urged, “Let us not give up on meeting together . . . but let us encourage one another.”

Following Jesus is not an individual endeavor.  We were made for each other, we were designed for community.

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Who’s the Church

Posted in Church, Community on June 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I once heard a gentleman leaving an uplifting worship service say, “We had church today!”  I knew what he meant but it made me wonder, “Does that mean we haven’t been having church all the other days?”

What is church to you?  Is it the hour on Sunday morning that we gather together to sing and hear a message from God’s word?

Or is it the steeple topped building on the corner?  Or maybe it’s the people inside that steeple topped building?

In a general sense, all these answers are correct.  But in reality, the church is the people who gather together.

Sometimes we gather to sing and listen, sometimes we gather to study and pray, sometimes we gather to serve others and sometimes we just gather to party.

The point is that the church is the people doing life together – sharing life together.

So the next time you say, “I’m going to church,” think about what that means and let it shape what you do there.

Be a blessing today!

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The Imbalance of Hopelessness

Posted in Church, Missions on May 19, 2010| 1 Comment »

Last night, after a long day of construction in the sun, I took some time and visited one of my favorite spots in El Paso to relax and regroup – Kinley’s House of Coffee and Tea.  As I sat on the patio watching the sun go down over the Franklin Mountains, I thought about the people of the area and the desperation and hopelessness that many of them experience as a part of daily life.  Over the course of the hour or so that I sat there, I was approached by three different men who live on the street, asking for money or cigarettes.  One of the gentleman had perfected his approach allowing his personality to come through joking with the folks on the patio.  One of the other men asked first for a cigarette but since I don’t smoke, he then asked for change and the third simply asked for a little money.

The three men had one thing in common – very little hope.  I helped one of the men but not all three.  I left there unable to get the look of the third man out of my mind.  He was worn and broken with skin that showed his time in the sun.  His eyes were hollow and faded by defeat.

I have to admit, I am haunted today by his desperation and hopelessness.  I am overwhelmed by the immense need of the people of this area.  But I thank God that I am affected in this way.  May we never grow so accustomed to the plight of the poor that it no longer bothers us.

We live in an imbalanced world.  The very fact that I am able to sit at my computer and type these words, and in turn, you can sit at yours and read them illustrates the fact that we are in a different class.  I pray that God bothers you today by this fact.

I could offer some suggestions for how to deal with this imbalance – but I want you to wrestle with it today, and then offer some comments here as to what God puts on your heart.

I look forward to hearing from you.

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Catching the Wind

Posted in Church, Formation on May 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I had to run an errand on Tuesday of this week and when I returned to the church what I saw really brightened my day.  Our King’s Kids (parents’ day out program) were in the field across the street from the church.  They were running around having a blast.  It was a warm day and other than a little wind (which was beneficial for their activity) it was a glorious day.

The kids were having kite day – but not your typical kind of kite.  These were hand made and special – as much wind catchers as kites.

Who would have ever thought of making kites from plastic bags?  These kids were having the time of their lives.  I appreciate the ladies who make our King’s Kids possible and the work they do with the children.

It is so important for kids to have fun at church.  I have come to believe that adult commitment to the church is often directly linked to the cumulative experience a person has had with the church from an early age.  In other words, people who have had a bad experience in church as children or students are far less likely to be involved as adults.

This is not to say that church should be all fun and games.  Obviously, one of the primary goals of the church is to partner with parents to strive to help children grow spiritually.  But there must be a balance between enjoyment and learning – and all of it has to be grounded in loving, safe and supportive relationships.  The key is to learn to harness the enthusiasm and fun and direct it in constructive ways toward spiritual growth.

I would love to hear what your church is doing to minister to children.  We can learn a lot from each other.  Leave a comment and let me know.

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Worship by iPhone

Posted in Church on May 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Unless you have been on the moon for the past year and a half or so, you have seen all kinds of marketing for the iPhone.  This revolution can do practically anything you can imagine because inevitably “There is an app for that.”

At the risk of doing a little iPhone bragging, I have been carrying one for just over a year and have been amazed at all it can do – with new apps hitting the market daily.  Oh, and by the way, it can be used to make calls too – amazing!

But I never would have thought this little device could be used for worship.

Check it out for yourself by clicking on this  YouTube video .

What can you do with your iPhone?

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Pray for the Border

Posted in Church, Missions on April 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I spent Tuesday and most of Wednesday last week in El Paso, finalizing plans for a mission trip for our local college students.  My request today

is for your prayer for the people in that area.  I am sure that you have heard of the violence in the Juarez, Mexico area that has been going on for the last couple of years.  Until the last few months this violence has been centered in Juarez and has been going on primarily between two drug cartel’s fighting over territory.

But recently, the violence has been turned toward the local town folks as far out as 60 miles from Juarez.  The need for prayer is obvious, but specifically, we need to pray for the innocent people caught in a no win situation.  Their homes have been taken or destroyed.  They have no place to go and little hope to survive short of scavenging and stealing.  Pray for God’s provision and protection.

The local pastors are in even more of a dilemma because they are being threatened as well, but they feel the need to stay and minister to the hurting people in the area.  What little support these pastors have received in years past from church partners state-side, has been cut off due to the violence.  Mission groups are making other plans this year and going other places that are not so dangerous.

I ask that you take 5 minutes today to stop and pray for these people.  Pray that God will break into this situation and be glorified.  Pray for protection, courage and strength for the pastors and their families who choose to stay and minister in this horrible situation.  We already know the outcome of the war – God will prevail.  But pray that God will sustain these people until that day!

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The Greatest Sin in the Church

Posted in Church, Community, Formation on March 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »

One of the guys I follow in the church growth and missions realm is Ed Stetzer.  I had a chance a couple of years ago to hear him in person at a conference I attended and since then I try and keep up with what he is doing.  I was listening to him on a video this week (you can watch it here) and have been challenged.

In the last few seconds of the first video on this link he makes this statement: “The greatest sin in most churches is that we have made it OK to sit there week after week and do nothing and call yourself a follower of Jesus.”

This statement convicted me on two levels.  One is that I had to ask myself, “Do I sit week after week and do nothing?”  And the second level of conviction asks the question, “Have I encouraged a church structure and system in which this sin has been fostered?”

I have to say, I feel like there are times when I can answer yes to both these questions.  But I also must say that my desire and calling is to combat this sin head on.  When the church has become a place where we meet weekly because it is the “right” thing to do or it is the thing we do to hold our social position in the community, then the church is no longer the church, it is a country club.  There is nothing wrong with a country club – but it should never replace the church.

How do you see yourself in light of this sin?

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