Friday, July 31, 2009
Clear as glass
Transparency: what is it? Does it mean you open the door to your secret closet and share every skeleton for all to see? I don’t think it is. Transparency is linked to authenticity. They go hand and hand. You can’t have one without the other. People want something real something they can relate to or better yet someone they can relate to. Many use this as a tool they are careful about cracking the door to the closet and hand picking the skeletons they want you to see – that is what they call being transparent. For me, it is more than that. Authentic transparency is simply allowing the door to remain unlocked, if someone wants to see in then let them. If it can help someone else then my life is open for you to see. No secrets no, planed agenda, just plan old run of the mill Christ follower just like you.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Lost
I took this from another blog, tell me what you think??
The other day, I posted something on Twitter and Facebook that got over 90 comments (maybe more by the time this is read), and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. I didn’t really see it as controversial. I have been known to post some pretty bizarre things, and this wasn’t one of them. I just had a thought about the way people that wouldn’t consider themselves Christians might feel when we refer to them as “Lost”. So I posted this:
“Thought for Christians: if we knew anything about the “lost”…Surely we would know enough not to call them “lost”…. Would you like it?”
That’s it. I thought it would get 3 or 4 comments. I really didn’t even think that much of it. When I wrote this, the context of my thinking was pretty much this — If my life mission was to help obese people no longer be obese, then I probably wouldn’t approach them like this:
“Hey Fatso, time to lose the lard!”
It is not that they don’t have a problem with their weight. It is not that I would be selling out and giving them sugar just because they can’t handle the truth. It is not that I don’t believe in nutrition and do everything that I can to re-train them to believe in it as well. It’s just simply the fact that there are better and more efficient ways to communicate to people to get the desired results of weight loss and still allow them to keep their dignity, and in the meantime, I get to be a good guy and not be a jerk.
I was shocked at how many people commented on my post about this subject of “the Lost.” I was depressed for a couple of days. It seemed to me that people were fighting for their right to continue to call these people “lost”.
One of the people that commented on my facebook page is a friend of mine named Rusty. I knew Rusty from a little town in Texas that I lived in for 1 year while I was in the 9th grade. I got reunited with Rusty through facebook, so it has been a long time since we talked. On the comment page, amongst these 90 something comments, I asked Rusty a question for everyone to see.
Rusty, we went to 9th grade together. I was not a Christian then. Did you go to church then? Has the church, with it’s you are lost, attitude ever been attractive to you?
His response:
Back in 9th grade I had already been on 2 missionary trips to villages deep into Mexico. I was a member of a non-denominational church where it was encouraged to speak in tongues and such. But still with their new-life attitude, I still felt the church to be way behind, in the dark-ages. And, most churches I’ve been to since, as well. I cannot … Read More accept most of the church doctrines around here, as their little sets of rules are not only outdated, but until you’ve accepted them, you are considered ‘lost’. I know my Bible front to back, but am still considered lost by a host of local church families, and yes it kind of rubs me the wrong way. Hope this answers your question. Have a great day brother.
I don’t know? Maybe I am missing something? But when you get comments like this:
so what do we call them….”intellects on the fast track to hell”? Satans frequent flyers….Flame throwers……Honestly what should we call them?
Or this:
Well, that is what Jesus called them!
It is no wonder that the family I grew up in didn’t dare go near the front door of a church building unless there was a funeral or a wedding.
Now to be fair, I got some great comments as well. Also, to be fair, when you have conversation on something like a facebook page — there is a lot lost in translation (body language, attitude, humor, etc.). I still think the lesson to learn here, at least for me, is that there needs to be more humility when trying to reach people that are far from God. There also needs to be less paranoia. Less fear that if we change our language and methods, that does not necessarily mean that we are changing the message —- Just because I don’t seize the opportunity to scream “LOST” at someone, doesn’t mean that I am not devoting my entire life to reaching them.
my thoughts on the subject:
Why do we feel the need to insult the very people we are trying to connect with.
The other day, I posted something on Twitter and Facebook that got over 90 comments (maybe more by the time this is read), and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. I didn’t really see it as controversial. I have been known to post some pretty bizarre things, and this wasn’t one of them. I just had a thought about the way people that wouldn’t consider themselves Christians might feel when we refer to them as “Lost”. So I posted this:
“Thought for Christians: if we knew anything about the “lost”…Surely we would know enough not to call them “lost”…. Would you like it?”
That’s it. I thought it would get 3 or 4 comments. I really didn’t even think that much of it. When I wrote this, the context of my thinking was pretty much this — If my life mission was to help obese people no longer be obese, then I probably wouldn’t approach them like this:
“Hey Fatso, time to lose the lard!”
It is not that they don’t have a problem with their weight. It is not that I would be selling out and giving them sugar just because they can’t handle the truth. It is not that I don’t believe in nutrition and do everything that I can to re-train them to believe in it as well. It’s just simply the fact that there are better and more efficient ways to communicate to people to get the desired results of weight loss and still allow them to keep their dignity, and in the meantime, I get to be a good guy and not be a jerk.
I was shocked at how many people commented on my post about this subject of “the Lost.” I was depressed for a couple of days. It seemed to me that people were fighting for their right to continue to call these people “lost”.
One of the people that commented on my facebook page is a friend of mine named Rusty. I knew Rusty from a little town in Texas that I lived in for 1 year while I was in the 9th grade. I got reunited with Rusty through facebook, so it has been a long time since we talked. On the comment page, amongst these 90 something comments, I asked Rusty a question for everyone to see.
Rusty, we went to 9th grade together. I was not a Christian then. Did you go to church then? Has the church, with it’s you are lost, attitude ever been attractive to you?
His response:
Back in 9th grade I had already been on 2 missionary trips to villages deep into Mexico. I was a member of a non-denominational church where it was encouraged to speak in tongues and such. But still with their new-life attitude, I still felt the church to be way behind, in the dark-ages. And, most churches I’ve been to since, as well. I cannot … Read More accept most of the church doctrines around here, as their little sets of rules are not only outdated, but until you’ve accepted them, you are considered ‘lost’. I know my Bible front to back, but am still considered lost by a host of local church families, and yes it kind of rubs me the wrong way. Hope this answers your question. Have a great day brother.
I don’t know? Maybe I am missing something? But when you get comments like this:
so what do we call them….”intellects on the fast track to hell”? Satans frequent flyers….Flame throwers……Honestly what should we call them?
Or this:
Well, that is what Jesus called them!
It is no wonder that the family I grew up in didn’t dare go near the front door of a church building unless there was a funeral or a wedding.
Now to be fair, I got some great comments as well. Also, to be fair, when you have conversation on something like a facebook page — there is a lot lost in translation (body language, attitude, humor, etc.). I still think the lesson to learn here, at least for me, is that there needs to be more humility when trying to reach people that are far from God. There also needs to be less paranoia. Less fear that if we change our language and methods, that does not necessarily mean that we are changing the message —- Just because I don’t seize the opportunity to scream “LOST” at someone, doesn’t mean that I am not devoting my entire life to reaching them.
my thoughts on the subject:
Why do we feel the need to insult the very people we are trying to connect with.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
What did he say?
Christian vs Christ follower. Sermon vs talk. Senior pastor vs lead pastor.
Not sure if you have noticed but there is a shift coming. Church lingo is changing and for the better. Some may say we are selling out or we are heretics. Truth is the English language is evolving (for some that is an evil word) and we need to keep up. Those who grew up in church will have a harder time making the change but remember the change is for those who are not connected to Christ. Think of this, the bible was written in three different languages over thousands of year with one driving point - God loves humanity. If we remember the balance point we won’t argue over semantics.
Not sure if you have noticed but there is a shift coming. Church lingo is changing and for the better. Some may say we are selling out or we are heretics. Truth is the English language is evolving (for some that is an evil word) and we need to keep up. Those who grew up in church will have a harder time making the change but remember the change is for those who are not connected to Christ. Think of this, the bible was written in three different languages over thousands of year with one driving point - God loves humanity. If we remember the balance point we won’t argue over semantics.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
The vision
Making a difference. Isn’t that the vision of every new church plant. Well, I am no different. So, what is different? I want to change not only our spiritual lives but our physical and emotional lives. What if the church was the leading force in making this earth greener? What if Christ followers were known for their love for one another and not hypocrisy? What if Christ followers could just say “I don’t know but, we can find the answer together”? What if we worked with the world instead of against it? I know what you are thinking sounds great but you are just one person. You are right but if you believe and stand with me we become and team. One of the most overlook aspects of the story about the tower of Babel is the concept God shares “The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them”. This vision is not mine it is ours and together we can make a difference.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Church planting
Have you ever wandered what it would be like to see a church start from scratch? Well, here is your chance. Below is straight out of my journal.
April 26,2009
Just came home from the conference. There are very few times in my life I have had a God experience. You know the one where after that moment your whole life has changed, well it happened to me. I have told God I was done with any ministry and I would only do what he asked of me. No more trying to make it happen. People have asked me for the last couple of years if I was interested in full-time ministry or being a pastor. I have had the same answer from day one. If God speaks to me in a burning bush I would listen. Well, the last day of the conference there was a speaker by the name of Francis Chan, pastor of cornerstone church in CA. he asked people who were interested in planting a church to come forward and he would pray with them. He said that God wanted to reveal his fire, he would have his fire fall on us. I knew I had to go forward I looked at Kerrey and said let’s go. We walked to the front and there a lady met us and as she started to pray I felt something different. She prayed, reveal your fire to them. And no sooner had she finished someone else came up and prayed father let your fire fall on this couple. I knew at that point God wanted to speak. With my head down I cried out “here am I” – in that moment it was if I was Moses standing in front of the blazing bush – here I am, all of me broken laid before you do with me as you wish. That is when I heard his voice. Not as some thunderous voice but it rocked me in my inmost core I knew at that moment I was in the presence of God. At that moment I knew he wanted me to plant a church.
It has been three days since that event and I don’t know how to say it any better than something deep inside of me has been awakened. I know what I need to do.
The seed planted, the vision conceived and the journey began.
April 26,2009
Just came home from the conference. There are very few times in my life I have had a God experience. You know the one where after that moment your whole life has changed, well it happened to me. I have told God I was done with any ministry and I would only do what he asked of me. No more trying to make it happen. People have asked me for the last couple of years if I was interested in full-time ministry or being a pastor. I have had the same answer from day one. If God speaks to me in a burning bush I would listen. Well, the last day of the conference there was a speaker by the name of Francis Chan, pastor of cornerstone church in CA. he asked people who were interested in planting a church to come forward and he would pray with them. He said that God wanted to reveal his fire, he would have his fire fall on us. I knew I had to go forward I looked at Kerrey and said let’s go. We walked to the front and there a lady met us and as she started to pray I felt something different. She prayed, reveal your fire to them. And no sooner had she finished someone else came up and prayed father let your fire fall on this couple. I knew at that point God wanted to speak. With my head down I cried out “here am I” – in that moment it was if I was Moses standing in front of the blazing bush – here I am, all of me broken laid before you do with me as you wish. That is when I heard his voice. Not as some thunderous voice but it rocked me in my inmost core I knew at that moment I was in the presence of God. At that moment I knew he wanted me to plant a church.
It has been three days since that event and I don’t know how to say it any better than something deep inside of me has been awakened. I know what I need to do.
The seed planted, the vision conceived and the journey began.
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