My Endorsement for President is…

If you know me well or if you read this blog regularly you can guess who I’m voting for.  I won’t officially endorse a candidate here because I don’t want anyone connecting this blog to my role in the church and somehow jeopardize our tax status.  Plus, do you really care who I am voting for?  Most of you have already made up your mind and it’s doubtful that I could change it.  If you really want to know off the record and will promise to vote for whomever I’m voting for, then leave a comment with email address and I’ll tell you who to vote for!  Despite that, check out this article on media bias in this election.  It makes me sick.

Morning Thought on Living Supernatural Lives

Christian living is supernatural or it is nothing.  “Spiritual” is the opposite of the mere “natural.”  It means being inhabited, guided, and empowered by the supernatural Spirit of Christ.  So we must seek to live on God.

Pro-Life Rebuttal #3

Here’s another common “mantra” of the pro-choice movement:

The unborn is an emryo or a fetus–just a simple blob of tissue, a product of conception–not a baby.  Abortion is just terminating a pregnancy, not killing a child.

1. Like toddler and adolescent, the terms embro and fetus do not refer to nonhumans, but to humans at particular stages of development.  The word embryo is used of any living creature at an early stage of development.  Fetus is a Latin word meaning “young one” or “little child.”

2. Semantics affect perceptions, but they do not change realities; a baby is a baby no matter what we call her.  Though fetus was once a good word that spoke of a young human being, it is now used with a subhuman connotation.  It allows the user of the word to avoid the humanizing word “baby.”  My favorite (not!) that the pro-choice crowd uses to refer to a baby is “Product of conception.”  It’s a baby.  Just look at it!

3. Prior to the earliest first-trimester abortions, the unborn already has every body part she will ever have.  At 18 days after conception the heart is forming and the eyes start to develop.  By 21 days the heart is not only beating but pumping blood throughout the body.  By 28 days the unborn has budding arms and legs.  By 30 days she has multiplied in size times 10,000.  She has a brain and blood flows through her veins.  This development continues quickly. 

4. Every abortion stops a beating heart and terminates measurable brain waves. 

5. Even in the earliest abortions, the unborn child is clearly human in appearance.  If there was a window to the womb that everyone could see, no one would doubt the “humanity” of each unborn child.

What Does God Expect in Terms of Devotion?

If we were devoted to God like we are our favorite sports team or TV show or favorite store then our devotion would still only be equal to that which we give the world.  What does God expect in terms of devotion?  What should our day look like?  I don’t think it would look like monks in a monastery where all we did was pray and “be.”  But I suspect they have some things right.  What we need to do is “sanctify” each action of the day also making sure that we have a time to just “be” and not “do.”  That’s what Sabbath is supposed to be about.  Too often I let my schedule rule my day.  Sometimes I worship my “stuff.”  Sometimes I idolize those who “have it all together.”  Instead I need to look at the day and bring each element before God to make it holy.  To do that, I need to be quiet and listen to his voice.  What do you think?

Good Deeds=Good News?

For a few years now our church has been doing “Servant Evangelism” or “Random Acts of Kindness” projects where we go out and just do practical things for people in our community in the name of Jesus Christ.  We’ve done free (refusing donations) car washes, handed out loaves of bread and peanut butter, replacement batteries for fire detectors, and many others.  Now we even have a Sunday school class that does this monthly during Sunday school.  What an incredible way to be a disciple, rather than just talking about it or reading about it in the Bible.

Some have questioned why we would use our resources in such a “frivolous” way.  It’s pretty simple.  Good deeds create good will, so we can share good news.  In the church, we tend to emphasize Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not works, so that no one can boast.”  But verse 10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

This means that Little League coaches and Girl Scout leaders in our congregation are just as important as our Sunday school teachers.  The point is that if our church vanished, would anyone notice?  Would anyone care?  I think so.  What do you think?

A Quiet Place

A few guys from the church and me went on a little “retreat” this last weekend.  Nothing like guys getting away to just be…well, guys!  We went to ”A Quiet Place“.  The location is beautiful with a walking trail that goes by a pond and a creek.  The “lodge” was not what I expected.  I was expecting something rustic.  It was a 4 bedroom house that had new furnishings and a large kitchen.  There was a jacuzzi and a large porch with plenty of places to talk and read without being disturbed.  No one else was there and it was…quiet.  Except for the sound of rain all we could hear were ourselves…and occasionally God.  Thanks to Rick Jenkins and others who make this ministry happen.

Tuesday: Question #12 for Servant-Leaders

Talk about those times in your life when you have been broken by God.  What did he teach you as a result of those times.

Love to hear your answers to this question.  I’ll share in the next day or so.

You Think You Had a Bad Day

Simple Church (part IV)

So far we’ve looked at the Clarity and Movement elements.  Today: Alignment and Focus.

Alignment is the arrangement of all ministries and staff around the same simple process (168).

A church that is committed to alignment implements the same process everywhere.  The simple ministry process guides each ministry department in the church.  For example, the children’s ministry, youth ministry, and young adult ministry have the same process as the entire church.  While the process is the same, each ministry area executes it with creativity and age-specific focus (179).

3 benefits of implementing the same process everywhere.  1st, understanding is increased.  2nd, unity is promoted.  3rd, families experience the same process (181-182).

Focus is the commitment to abandon everything that falls outside of the simple ministry process.  You must eliminate nonessential programs, limit adding more programs, reduce special events, and ensure the process is easy to communicate and simple to understand (203-04).

Travis Bradshaw from the Univ. of Florida thought so.  He thought more would be more.  Then he conducted a research project on church growth.  He originally hypothesized that Churches that offered more programs would grow more than churches that offered fewer programs.  His research proved the opposite.  Less programs mean more focus on the programs offered.  Less programs mean more excellence.  Less programs mean more money allocated to each program.  Less programs mean more people coming to the ones that are offered.  Less programs mean more impact (214-15).

Add more options, not more programs.  A new option is just an expansion of your present programming, and this is a big difference.  Are you asking people to come to more programs, or are you giving new options?  Giving new options helps engage people who are not involved.  It also frees up space, multiplies ministry, and provides energy (214-15).

Any thoughts now that we have completed the Simple Church summary?  Are we a simple church?  What would it take to become one?

 

What in my Life Reminds Me of My Need for God?

I love the story of Jacob.  Jacob wrestles with God and learns 3 things about himself:

1. Who He is: a Schemer (that’s basically what the name “Jacob” means).

2. Who He can be: Israel (the new name God gives him).

3. Who He can’t be: Lord of his own life.

God left him with a limp.  That was his reminder of his need for God.  What in your life reminds you of your need for God?  For me, it’s simple, as hard as I try I’m not perfect.  When I’m closest to God I can see my sin and imperfections most clearly…and at the same time feel no shame and lots of forgiveness from God, who wants to me to be free!