Skipping Stones 06.14.09

Thoughts bounce like tiny, flat pebbles across the pond in my head…

• We had a nice day weather-wise – it’s going to get hot, y’all!  You can feel the temps starting to creep up.
• We’ve had such strong attendance – I’m not even going to say the “S” words ( they rhyme with “bummer jump”).  Always good to have first time and returning guests.
• Worship band did a good job, even with some schedule challenges they had to overcome.  I appreciate those guys and their dedication and hard work.  They are not performers – they are “lead worshippers” and for that we’re thankful!
• I’m loving “One Prayer”!  We had a great start last week with Steven Furtick, and this week Francis Chan hit a homer with his message, “God is… Strength.” I’ve been excited about it for a couple of weeks – this truth that our God is supremely strong, and that His strength (not ours) should be reflected in what we do and how we do ministry – and it was great to see other people “get it” too.
• Quote of the day for me was Francis Chan quoting J. Vernon McGee: “God created the universe, and He does things His way.  You may have a better way, but you don’t have a universe.”
• We were excited and encouraged to see 9 people step forward to “officially” become members of Jubilee!
• Bible Beach Club is just a week away!  We’re excited about this outreach to our community and the children.  Yes, “The Challenge” still stands: If we get 100 kids here on a single day, I will kiss a pig on Friday. Click HERE to register your child.
• We’ll also be back at the 4-H Fair in July, passing out ice cold bottled water.  Watch for more details.
• This week I’m re-reading an old favorite, Grace Walk by Steve McVey, as part of my preparation for an upcoming message series.  God used that book 15 years ago to drive me deeper into grace and to produce in me a commitment to preach and teach the grace message for as long as I have the privilege of being in ministry.  Grace Walk still resonates with me in a major way, and I’m enjoying the heck out of it.
• Our “One Prayer” message this Father’s Day Sunday is Craig Groeschel  preaching, “God is… Father.”
• Speaking of Father’s Day, you don’t want to miss our worship service!  We’ve got some special surprises in store for our dads that day.

That’s it for now.  Have a great day!

Come As You Are

Can church really be “come as you are?”

One of the favorite questions I am asked is “Can I wear jeans to your church?”  Even though I think that’s like asking “Can I breathe air at your church?”, I try to remember to be gracious enough to just say, “Sure you can!”

The “how-do-I-dress-for-church” issue points to a divide between what the church is really like and what people think it’s like.  I’m going out on a limb here, but I believe that most, and I’m thinking a majority here, of churches today would welcome a person no matter what they’re wearing.

So yeah, at Jubilee our dress code is “Please do. Wear clothes.”  On a typical Sunday at Jubilee, a wide variety of styles can be found: people dressed in jeans and t-shirts, khakis and button-downs, shorts and flip-flops, dresses and ties (one recent Sunday, THREE men had on ties – sure it was 3 out of about 120, but still…).  Here’s the deal for us, we care more about people than what they’re wearing.  So come as you are, wear what you have, and don’t give it a second thought.

But “come as you are” also means more than how you’re dressed… 

Somehow the idea has gotten around that church is for “good people,” people who have their lives together, who don’t have any real problems, or who aren’t facing any real issues.  Some people think they can’t go to church because they’re just not good enough.  With all respect to those who think that way, the good news is that nothing could be further from the truth!

The church is THE place for hurting people, needy people, people who have dug themselves into a deep hole, and people who are facing scary, messed up situations!  At Jubilee we offer love, acceptance, and forgiveness to EVERYONE, regardless of who they are or what they’ve done. 

We want to be the place people turn to when they need help and hope for their life circumstances.  We won’t judge you, embarrass you, or make an example of you.  We WILL share the truth with you – The truth about a God who feels your pain and longs to bridge the gap between you and Him… The truth about a God who really does want to walk with you through the storms you face… The truth about a God who is bigger and better and closer than we dare to believe… the truth about a God who loves you so much, He would send His only Son to die for you.

At Jubilee, you’re welcome “just as you are” – jeans, junk, and all.

Weekend Remix: “Science Proves Speaking in Tongues is Real”

“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.”

OK, I made up the headline. But that seems to be the fascinating conclusion of recent research, as reported on ABC’s Nightline on Thursday, March 20, 2007…

Here’s an excerpt from the online edition…

At the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Andrew Newberg has been conducting a scientific study of the phenomenon for a long time. According to an ABC report, Newberg found that brain scans show quite different results with Christians praying in tongues compared to Buddhist monks meditating and Franciscan nuns praying. The frontal lobes—the part of the brain right behind the forehead that’s considered the brain’s control center—went quiet in the brains of tongue-speakers.

“When they are actually engaged in this whole very intense spiritual practice…their frontal lobes tend to go down in activity. It is very consistent with the kind of experience they have, because they say that they’re not in charge. [They say] it’s the voice of God, it’s the Spirit of God that is moving through them,” said Newberg.

“Whatever is coming out of their mouth is not what they are purposefully or willfully trying to do. And that’s in fairly stark contrast to the people who are—like the Buddhist and Franciscan nuns—in prayer, because they are very intensely focused and in those individuals the frontal lobes actually increase activity.”

You can read the entire article and access video at:

ABC News Nightline Story

“Be” important, “do” important, or…

The quote was from Mark Batterson — “Do you want to BE important or DO something important?”   Thought-provoking… challenging… even sobering… But one of our amazing students, 17-year-old Jesi, read that and thought there was more to be said on the subject.  With all due respect to Mark Batterson – and I have mad love for him and the things National Community Church are doing – I think Jesi really hit it out of the park:

I think that when you DO something important you will BE something important.  The Bible says to do all great things in secret so God can see that you’re doing it all for the glory of Him.  I think that when we try and BE something important our view becomes distorted and we lose sight of what really matters.  But when we do everything for God and leave the rest of it up to Him – I think he rewards our humbleness and we BECOME someone.  When we’re DOING God’s will… we ARE important.

Wow!  Thanks Jesi, for being willing to think beyond a clever quote and expand on an important truth!

Cheeseburger Sin?

It was a sincere question:  Am I sinning without knowing it?  I mean, are there meals a Christian should or should not eat?  I can’t figure out if there are some meals that are more appropriate to consume as a Christian than others.   I love cheeseburgers, but if it’s a sin, I’d have to consider myself a bad Christian – I’ve eaten a lot of cheeseburgers!

I know Christians, Christians are some of my best friends, so I knew what was coming – I just wanted to see who would throw it out there.  I didn’t have to wait long:

“The body is God’s temple, and too many cheeseburgers messes up the temple…” – a reference to 1 Corinthians 6

This section of scripture has become the catch all to prohibit almost everything a person does or consumes.  It’s supposed to be the slam-dunk proof that it’s wrong to smoke, drink, dance, and chew, or to go with girls that do…

But I think that’s a wrong interpretation and a gross misapplication.  At best, it’s simplistic and at worst it’s devious legalism.

1 Corinthians 6 isn’t about eating cheeseburgers, or smoking cigarettes, or drinking a beer.  1 Corinthians 6 is about sexual immorality.  That should be really clear in the passage when Paul writes:

Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.  Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?  You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.   1 Corinthians 6:18-25

The way people misuse and abuse that passage totally drains it of its original intent and causes people to call things “sin” that God never did, leading to a neo-”do not handle, do not taste, do not touch” approach to faith that heaps up guilt for sins that don’t exist.

Trying to use 1 Corinthians 6 to prohibit every unhealthy behavior turns us all into hypocrites, with massive speck and beam issues – We’re the preacher who rails against smoking when he hasn’t seen his feet in 20 years.  We’re the Sunday School teacher who told us drinking a beer is the same as “pouring Satan down your throat” who sat for four hours every week day watching her soap operas and wouldn’t allow anything short of the Second Coming to stop her.

Yes, we need to live healthy, but 99% of the time it’s a quality of life issue, not a spiritual one.  Sure, some foods are clearly healthier to eat than other foods, and gluttony is certainly a serious problem, one with spiritual roots that have to be dealt with if we’re going to live free.  The Proverbs writer said if we have strong appetites, we might have to hold a knife to our throats to overcome them.

The Bible does speak to the issue of “what can we eat?”  in 1 Timothy 4:1-5

Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.  These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.  They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods.  But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth.  Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks.  For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.

If someone chooses to eat in the best possible, most healthy way, they have my full support – I’m trying to move that direction more myself.  What I will not support is those who treat others as “sinners” or sub-Christian because they choose to eat a big ol’ sloppy burger or a Krispy Kreme donut – or two.

Let’s give Jesus the final word:

“Don’t you understand… Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you?  Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)  And then he added, ”It is what comes from inside that defiles you.  For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.  All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”   Mark 7:18-23

All scriptures from the New Living Translation.

Hat tip to James Glasscock for excellent thoughts and helpful scriptures.

Skipping Stones 04.12.09

Thoughts bounce like tiny, flat pebbles across the pond in my head…

• What an AMAZING day!  The weather was absolutely beautiful!
• We got started early at the Community Sunrise Service.  Dave Kitchel and the Flora Community Choir did an excellent job helping us welcome the day with worship.
• I’m so glad we decided to put every chair we had in the sanctuary – the placed was packed!  
• That coffee brewing in the lobby as we came in today smelled SO GOOD!
• Worship band flat KICKED IT today!  The extra singers on the stage added so much – thanks Michelle, Mike and Jim!
• We had tons of first time guests – and if any of you are reading this, yeah, pretty much every Sunday is like that.
• Kicked off new message series, “The God Questions” answering the most important question, “Is God for real?”  We managed to have some fun with a serious, and potentially “dry” subject – I don’t think folks will ever look at bananas, pop cans or alarm clocks again without thinking about the God who is crazy in love with them.
• Reading through the Connect Cards and so blessed to see how many people indicated that their “next step” was “Trusting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.”  AMEN!
• Quote of the day from one who came down front for ministry: “I’m scared to death, but I’ve GOT to take this step of faith!”  THAT, my friends, is why we do like we do…
• Larry Osborne’s latest book, “Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe” comes out this week… I’ve pre-ordered mine and it will definitely be added to my list right away – but for now, I’m digging into “It” by Craig Groeschel.  I’m pretty sure our church has “it” but I’m reading to find out for sure…
• We’re gonna take a few days to catch our breath and de-compress a little, so I won’t mention Bible Beach Club – except to say it’s only 2 MONTHS AWAY!

Have a great week!

Egg Drop by the numbers…

8000 easter eggs

3 sky divers

420+ kids

1000 people, total, at the event

and all this in a town of 2200!

We had an AMAZING day!  Thanks to our Jubilee volunteers, Air Indiana Skydiving Center, Dr. Sayers and Principal Huckstep of Carroll High School, John Terhune of the Journal & Courier, and WLFI-18!

Lafayette Journal & Courier coverage here

WLFI 18’s news coverage here…

Carroll County Comet’s coverage here

 

 

Friday Remix: For Pastors and those who love them…

On a forum I am active in, a fellow member, and pastor, wrote this:

A local minister on Sunday rose and told the congregation that he would be taking a sabbatical with his wife. They had had problems and the marriage was suffering greatly – they were crashing. The leaders allowed them to take some time away. If when they return things have not improved then he will resign his position. It is sad for this guy. He seemed like a nice guy. Always active in many things. But in the end the one thing that should have mattered suffered.

Too often the flock in our immediate reach go untended and then the wolf attacks them scattering them to far off places. It is even more a wake up for me. This guy had kids who were out of the house and on their own, so they did not have to take care of kids on top of everything else. My wife and I, on the other hand, do. Though we have managed to keep boundaries intact for now, the fact remains we must be careful.

I immediately went back in my mind to a national Pastor’s Conference I attended 20 years ago. A well-known and successful pastor of a large church was speaking to us. I don’t remember most of what he had to say that morning, but I will never forget his eyes welling up with tears when he said, “For almost 30 years now I have done ministry the way I was taught, the way it was modeled for me. I went to every meeting of every group and committee in the church… I made every hospital and nursing home visit… I attended every service and function even remotely related to the church… I knocked on thousands of doors… I answered every call and went everywhere and anywhere anytime anybody in my church needed anything. On top of all that, I prepared two sermons, a Sunday School lesson, and a Midweek Bible study every week. Today my church is large, and some would say, influential… But I have no relationship with my wife, and my daughters basically grew up without my involvement in their lives.” At this point the man broke down and began to weep openly. In a moment, he recovered enough to say, “Please don’t allow yourself to get so caught up in your work that you neglect your family… I would trade everything I have today to get back the time I missed with my family.” It was one of the most sobering experiences of my life.

God never called anyone into ministry to neglect their family. Our spouse and children are our first flock. They need us even more than the folks in the other flock.

And so, a few somewhat random thoughts related to all this:

• Protect your time off. Sunday is NOT an off day, Pastor! Take, at minimum, one complete 24 hour day off every week, two days is better, one and a half days is a fair, doable compromise in most situations.
• Take your vacation time. You’ve earned it and deserve it. Go away somewhere nice if you can afford it, or just to visit relatives or friends. If “everything will fall apart” if you go on vacation, your situation is probably already so bad that you NEED to get away!
• Spend time with your family. Please don’t give me the tired, old “quality time vs. quantity time” stuff. None of us is good enough at quality to make up for a lack of quantity. Our families spell “love” T-I-M-E. If you have to choose between a meeting and a child’s activity – pick the child. Block the time out on your calendar or daily planner, and let nothing other than death derail it. A good rule of thumb is to spend as many nights at home with the family, or in family activities as you do in church related activities each week.
• Date your spouse. Take them to lunch, or dinner and a movie. Take some sandwiches to the park, hold hands, walk and talk. Try not to talk about church business or problems with church people. Use the time to reconnect with your most important ministry partner.

I know most of the people who will read this already know this stuff. The question is, are you doing it? Pastors, we cannot succeed in the ministry if we fail with our family.

Sticky Church – Final takeaways

Some takeaways from the panel discussion during the last session – it was Q&A, so I didn’t take great notes.  I may come back to this when I get my CD’s from the conference.

Jon Ferguson – “Everybody who walks through your church door needs relationships and a responsibility.”

Dave Ferguson – “Count and measure for evaluation- Keep score to know when you win. “ 

Scott Chapman – “How do you help people form relationships in the first 30/60/90 days in a way that is natural and not programmatic?”

Larry Osborne – “Learn how to keep church small enough (through small groups) to give people the relational connections they need.”

“Creating a “Christian version” of what a community group, service org, etc. is doing is not as effective as partnering/cooperating with the existing group.”

“In multi site the guy on the screen is not the pastor, he’s the teacher – you have to have a pastor for the multi site flock.”

Sticky Church – Scott Chapman

Scott Chapman is pastor of The Chapel in Libertyville, IL, a church he co-founded in 1994 with Jeff Griffin

Small is the New Big

“A healthy church reflects Christ and connects to the culture around them.”

• Their church was growing numerically, but had no spiritual transformation – and they were losing stickiness and struggling to integrate people into the life of the church.
• Small groups were struggling, couldn’t get enough volunteers, giving declined, people were starting to slip away.  They seriously began to question whether this big, growing church could survive…
• Made several critical discoveries…

1. People were falling into “practical atheism” – believe God exists, behave as if He does not.  They need to find a way to help those exploring faith and those who were building faith.

2. People wanted what a large church provided, but loved how a small church felt.

• They had seen multi-site as a church growth tool – began to envision it as a church health tool.
• A “sticky church” is a church that people want to stay in – multi site allows that.

What makes multi site sticky

• Gives people large church experience
  • High quality ministry experience
  • Huge Kingdom vision
• Gives people the small church experience
  • Spiritual mentors – campus pastors function as small church pastors
  • A church family – to be known and know others
  • A church in their community – close to home, invite friends to, addressed local needs.
  • To be needed – their service and giving making a noticeable difference