here we go again...

If you would have told me a few years ago that a chicken sandwich restaurant and a man who makes duck calls for a living would answer a few questions about their beliefs (the comments themselves not withstanding because they could indeed be described as "controversial") that would temporarily send a whole mess of people in this country into a tailspin of hate and closed mindedness, I would have said...

...yup. sounds about right... humanity at its finest...and that's sad.

I know its not that simple.  Words and comments which make national news can and do hurt people and also send provocative messages to the public.  Those comments, especially when they are different from our own beliefs, mean that someone might be questioning our choices or our beliefs??... Often that does make us angry... perhaps because we can't understand how someone could have an opinion or belief different than our own?

I know that I don't have an answer about every social/political/religious/scientific debate we find in our world today.  I'm probably not adding a whole heck of a lot by preaching in a blog either?!?  I know I need the wisdom of someone wiser than myself (so, personally, I turn to God and the scripture for HELP because I feel lost right now!!!!).

But, I also feel like I KNOW that shouting at either side of an issue with more comments like,

"BIGOT, IGNORANT FOOL, RACIST, SEXIST, GAY, QUEER, HOMOPHOBE, RELIGIOUS FREAK, RIGHT WING NUT, LIBERAL TREE HUGGER, IDIOT"

does nothing to further the command I heard to "Love God with everything I have and to love my neighbor as myself".  

So today, I will pray for our world.  May God grant his peace and comfort to those who are hurting, and may the love of Christ inspire us to serve and love one another for His glory this season.

(and off the soap-box)

yup... bald. Can you see it too?

Yup. I'm even more bald than I realized...and I hate it.

I had to get a pair of dress pants altered today. I've been working out and, while I haven't lost weight, I've changed shape a little bit. So drove to men's warehouse to get the pants altered. Once I got to the store, I was asked to step up into a "hall of mirrors" to have the pants marked for alteration.

I have a love hate relationship with mirrors. I was/am infatuated with looking at myself in mirrors. I was the kid (am the adult) who just stood there and made faces at himself to see what they looked like?! But today was different. I had a mission as soon as I saw that crazy 48-sided mirror. I was gonna look at the back of my head...

While I didn't find a full fledged "hole" in the hair yet, it is certainly lighter, thinner, and AWFUL!! In my own little silly mind, my hair is all I have. I've always had thick crazy hair. My hair is ME!?! And now, I'm on the slow painful road to Andre Agassi. (no offense Andre...) Funny how I was almost completely content with my age/life/etc today until I saw the back of my own head.

The same thing happens to me just about every darn time I open up my Bible to read. I know what's inside of that book... I read it all the time for work. But really getting inside and taking the text into my soul is a lot like stepping into a hall of mirrors for me. I'm reminded of the things I've forgotten; the ways I'm called to love, the ways I'm called to serve, to obey, to teach, to be humble, to die to myself, to suffer, to receive, etc. There are days I close my Bible with the fear that my soul is on the slow painful road to Andre Agassi. Have I've lost the ability to grow hair? Have I lost the ability to bear fruit? Does everyone else know I'm "bald" but me? Why didn't anyone tell me about this?!?

About 2 years ago, as a joke, a friend of mine took a picture of the back of my head and said "Someone needed to tell you... you're starting to go bald". I was silently crushed, but it did cause me to think about how I did my hair. (Vanity, vanity)

A few months ago, I joined an accountability group. Occasionally one of the guys in the group will tell me about a similar baldness they see in my soul. It helps me to think about how I live my life, and I try to make changes and think about the way I live.

Go. Find a hall of mirrors. Take a good look at yourself. Bald is beautiful (I keep telling myself that), that is unless the baldness represents a lack of spiritual growth, spiritual fruit, or spiritual discipline. One of my favorite quotes (it hangs on my wall) is this... "the Bible is like a mirror in which you can see yourself more clearly, if you dare to look"

 Yup. I'm bald, and I'm back. I'll be praying for you... please pray for each other.

Is it the place?

Man, am I blessed...

I work in a building that is less than 3 years old. For the most part, it still looks very new. It smells nice, the carpet is pretty clean, there are nice chairs and tables, and I get to watch others appreciate the building's "new/niceness" every day.

It's no secret, I work in a NEW church. And I know the truth is that there are some people who (at very least) visited and started worshiping with us on Sundays BECAUSE it is a new church.

Is it the place? Do people really come to/stay away from church because of a building? The simple answer is YES. Whether we like it or not, the CONSUMER in us has been trained to look for value, to look for quality, and to avoid what might appear to be 'off-looking', or poorly maintained facilities. We do the same thing with malls/restaurants/parks/schools/etc.

If you haven't stopped reading yet, I want to share something with you. In a few more months/years, the building I work in won't be new anymore. If we're not careful, the holes in the walls will grow, more of the grass will die, the bricks on the outside of the building will begin to crumble, the parking lot will break-apart, the gym floor will rip, etc...

WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS?? I love that I work in a new building, but sometimes I wish I didn't. Right now, there are people who know me as the guy who works at the NEW church. I'm WORKING HARD to lose that label. I want to be known as the guy who works at the church that feeds the poor and walks with the lost.

Is it the place?? ... I think so, but only because we've let it become so. Scripture reminds me that the fruits of my life (my actions) will ultimately be what I am judged upon. What else does our community know us by if they don't see our FRUITS (God's love displayed in our actions) on display. They just know us by our buildings. The church with the big stained glass... the church with the gym... the church by the school... the old church... the new church... the church that is falling apart.

I work for a church, and I don't feel compelled to attend or worship at ANY of the places I just mentioned. But the church who LOOKS to serve, whose members are SEEN in service helping the world around them? I'd volunteer to FIX or REBUILD the old/broken/stained/smelly building which houses God's church... the church that brings glory to God by serving others.

If it is all about the place for you, if you see the community around you asking things like "why should we attend that church... its so outdated", maybe its because we haven't given them anything else to know us by...

I'm praying tonight to be a better follower of Christ. I'm pretty sure that means I have a LOT of work to do, and won't have much time to keep the church feeling SUPER new. If the church I work at falls apart in the interim, maybe you'll feel compelled to help me fix it when you see Jesus in me loving the community you live in.

(my grammar and language skills are AWFUL...)

I'll be praying for you... Please pray for each other.

Is it the time

Over the next several days I'll be working through the first paragraph of my initial Lenten post; what is keeping folks away from churches. I'm no genius, just trying to offer ideas...

Is it the time?

Our church is considering whether to add an additional worship service to the site where I am assigned. Of course, one of the first questions we ask ourselves is, "what time should the service be held?". As important as that question is for those who already gather for worship, it is more important for those who are not yet worshiping with us.

Is it the time of our services which causes new people to stay away? Possibly. In an era where 2nd jobs are more common, and when family time is more scarce than ever, perhaps the clock-time of service does matter more than we think. Perhaps gone are the days when people woke up on Sundays and thought, "man, it is probably TIME to go to church...". Perhaps time, sleep time/spare time/rest time, has become more important. So, will we simply stand on a soapbox and scream "get your priorities right and get to church on Sunday morning!!"? Back to that in a sec.

Is it that there are just more things to do during "church time"? This feeds into the last paragraph, but I've noticed that sports/club leagues/swing choirs/etc (my context) often take us away from our weekends (or old weekend routines) season after season. After a while, we get so used to being away/busy on the weekend that it becomes routine and we look to fill our weekends with more of whatever has become familiar.

Is it the time...in our lives? "I'm young/old/busy/etc, and I'll go back to church when I get the time...". I really think that this might make up a large and ignored "category" of what we would classify ignorantly as "unchurched". Those who are at least interested in the idea of God,Jesus, and even church, but have priorities which keep them away from church until it better suits their time. And WE in the church have fed them all of the insight needed to back up this theory about ignoring what we call "church". "Your relationship with God is personal, not social. God loves you, and no matter what you do, as long as you say you believe in Him, you're golden...".

In the right context, I believe the above statement has truth in it. But we've robbed a generation of an important truth regarding TIME. Time is an offering. It is a demonstration of priority. So when I ask "is it the time" that keeps you away, it is both an apology in behalf of the church for not acknowledging how much time it does take to follow Christ as it is a question about whether the 830am service is too early for you to wake up and come to church.

So, what is the answer... How arrogant would I be to suggest I had it!! But here is an idea. CHURCHES and church leaders, we can't assume the world will know about Christ if we don't offer people opportunities to come back (on the time we've given them) and hear the message of Christ. Start "church" (sharing the message of Christ and serving others as a community) at different times, in different locations, with different activities, etc. Make it worth their time so that you can teach them about how much their time matters to Christ. Maybe once we all sense the importance of worship in community and in action, serving the world and supporting each other, we'll be more apt to sacrifice a few more hours a week to enjoy the worship of God which does come with in the gathering labeled 'church'. (maybe even on Sunday? If that is important in your context...)

It is all about the time. Speaking of which, my daughter just fell asleep on my lap, so it's time to get some chores done while she sleeps!

If this post made any sense, share the idea with others. If it made you mad, or if you disagree, share that too! At least we'll be talking!

I'll be praying for you... please pray for each other.

Wanna help me with something?

Is it the time? Is it the place? Is it the people? Is it because there is no evidence? Is it because it isn't believable? Is it because it doesn't matter? Is it because it isn't worth it? Is it because it isn't good news? Is it because it is too hard? Is it because it isn't real?

(2 steps back)

Part of my job is trying to figure out what attracts and/or pushes people away from attending church. Along with that, I'm thinking about starting an alternate type of worship service at our church. As I sat down at my desk trying to figure out if/where those two things intersect, 2 more ideas thoughts came to mind:

*I better keep praying about this!
*Who would come to this service/how would I invite them?

"*" #1 seems to me to be obvious. "*"#2 isn't quite so easy. So, what better way to jump back into the blog than to ask some of my friends (and your friends/etc) the first set of questions above. What keeps you away from church? What would provoke or pique your curiosity enough to make you think about coming back?

Often we tell people to invite their friends to church. When they say no (creatively or otherwise) I think we forget to ask the follow up question... "Why not?" What is the real reason? What is their real answer? THEIR ANSWER, YOUR ANSWER, MY ANSWER IS SO VERY IMPORTANT!!!

I think corporate worship (oooh, I really dislike the word 'corporate') is a necessary part of the Christian experience. It fills a need, a desire which I believe God has for us to be in community... I think we need to be a part of a group that prays/learns/thinks/grows/serves together, and "church" seems to offer an opportunity to do those things.

SO, would you help me? Send me a note. Ask a friend. Why do people stay away from church? I'm going to spend time over lent trying to answer for myself EACH of the questions above with this blog. If you want to tag along, I'd love that. You should know, if you haven't read my blogs before, I'm NOT VERY SMART! But, I do want to find the answers...maybe you'll help me.

In the interim, I'm hoping to start a new worship service called "reCAP" at the CLC (the church where I work) on Sunday nights. It will be small and differently organized than our other worship services. We'll be quickly "recapping" the sermon of the day (3-5 minutes) in case you missed or chose not to come to church. Then, we'll attempt to "reCAPTURE" the essense/vision of the scripture used for the day (10-12 minutes). Think of it as the 2.0/next level version of the morning services, BUT with emphasis on PRACTICAL APPLICATION. There will be time for discussion, maybe an interesting video or 2, and perhaps some snacks.

WHY START ANOTHER SERVICE that perhaps NO ONE WILL COME TO??? (well, based on your feedback over the coming weeks, I may not!! :) ) My thought is that we need to better equip ourselves to not only SHARE the things we learn, but to LIVE the things we learn. We need to be better followers/disciples. This is just an attempt at digging deeper, and offering a new/different way to come together and worship.

If you're from around Ankeny, we'll start "reCAP" the Sunday after Easter and maybe I'll see you there. (unless you convince me otherwise!!) If you aren't from around here, but want to share your ideas, I'd love to hear from you! All ideas you have - even the ones which disagree with everything I've stated in this blog - are both welcome and appreciated.

Hey, I'll pray for you. Please pray for each other.

John

We are one (./?/:(/etc)

CLC Sermon question for the week - (sorry, no Michael Jackson performances this week)

If you hear the words "We are one" within a religious context, do you hear them spoken as a statement, question, or something else entirely?) I wonder if your response is directly correlated with your comfort level in church on Sunday morning or with the idea of church/organized religion to begin with?

Responses to this BLOG can and will be repeated during the sermon tomorrow! :)

Take up your cross...with Me.

This past weekend I delivered a message based on the last portion of chapter 8 in the gospel of Mark. This is an excerpt from the larger passage which was used... (34b-38)

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

This time of year, pastors often provide sermons/messages on Christ's journey to the cross. One of the ways we can follow Christ's example is indeed to do what he asks in the scripture above...take up our cross. This week, there were people in the congregation who both stopped me after service and also mentioned to me in emails that they WANT to give up their life as Christ asks...they want to give up their personal/selfish desires...they want to take up their cross, but they feel like it will be so hard. Or they feel like when they do try, it is too heavy to carry alone.

Some also mentioned to me that they feel like they've made small changes in their lives, but feel Christ calling them to MORE sacrifice...MORE service. All of these things can cause us to fear what we know to be true. As disciples of Christ, we are called to the cross.

I tried to tell each of them that I often feel the same way. Whenever I decide to "take up my cross", I find myself not only wondering how I am going to carry the cross more than a few feet, BUT ALSO how I will be able to carry it tomorrow.

What I didn't talk enough about in my sermon was this...taking up your cross is not something you have to do alone. Check out Matthew 11:29-30...

29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Admittedly these scripture passages were not recorded together, but in the larger context of Christ's teaching I think they help provide to us a more complete promise and message. Jesus has already carried the cross for you. He asks us now, as His disciples, to be willing to do the same. THAT BEING SAID, he also promises us that we can learn from Him, lean on Him, and walk WITH HIM as we carry our cross.

My yoke is easy and my burden is light...those words DON'T tell me that a choice to live sacrificially and carry a burden/cross will necessarily be EASY, but they do remind me that I am making a mistake when assuming I ever have to carry the cross alone.

This lenten season, as I pray that God reveals to me ways that I can be a better disciple by taking up my own cross, I will also pray that God reminds all of us that HE has already carried the heaviest burden, the sin of all creation, with Him to the cross. That is a much heavier cross than I will ever have to bear. So, what burden should I fear? If Christ has already conquered the cross, let us all have the faith to acknowledge there is no cross we cannot bear WITH Christ when we choose to be yoked to Him.

I'm praying for you...would you pray for me.