Monday, June 20, 2005
Men's Ministry
Right behind youth is my passion for men's ministry. Maybe it's because I got my call to ministry at a Promise Keepers event or maybe it's because I see men dropping the ball all over the place or maybe it's because of the statistics which basically say that if you lead a teen to Christ there is about a 15% chance of reaching his whole family. If you lead a mother to Christ the statistic goes up to between 30-60% but if you lead a father there is nearly a 90% chance that His whole family will be reached. (It's been a while since I read these stats so I might be a little off, but I know I'm very close) The real tragedy of our time is there is a large population of boys out there who don't know their fathers and who think that a man impregnates a woman and runs away. Now if you're wringing you hands and wonders why someone doesn't do something about that, guess who just got elected? There are a lot of men out there that would like to be good husbands and fathers but really don't know how because they didn't have a father to teach them. If you're wringing your hands and wondering why someone doesn't teach them, guess who just got elected? Men of God it's us. There is also a generation of boys out there that have the idea that not going to church is a sign of growing up and maturity. Why, because mom and the kids go to church, but dad doesn't go, therefore quitting church means you're all grown up. What's the solution? Men getting involved in children and youth mininstry. Men mentoring young boys in the church, especially the "fatherless" boys, (defined as boys whose fathers are dead, gone, or not fulfilling their God given role as spiritual heads of household by taking their sons to church.)
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Right behind youth is my passion for men's ministry. Maybe it's because I got my call to ministry at a Promise Keepers event or maybe it's because I see men dropping the ball all over the place or maybe it's because of the statistics which basically say that if you lead a teen to Christ there is about a 15% chance of reaching his whole family. If you lead a mother to Christ the statistic goes up to between 30-60% but if you lead a father there is nearly a 90% chance that His whole family will be reached. (It's been a while since I read these stats so I might be a little off, but I know I'm very close) The real tragedy of our time is there is a large population of boys out there who don't know their fathers and who think that a man impregnates a woman and runs away. Now if you're wringing you hands and wonders why someone doesn't do something about that, guess who just got elected? There are a lot of men out there that would like to be good husbands and fathers but really don't know how because they didn't have a father to teach them. If you're wringing your hands and wondering why someone doesn't teach them, guess who just got elected? Men of God it's us. There is also a generation of boys out there that have the idea that not going to church is a sign of growing up and maturity. Why, because mom and the kids go to church, but dad doesn't go, therefore quitting church means you're all grown up. What's the solution? Men getting involved in children and youth mininstry. Men mentoring young boys in the church, especially the "fatherless" boys, (defined as boys whose fathers are dead, gone, or not fulfilling their God given role as spiritual heads of household by taking their sons to church.)
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Tabula Rasa
I heard the song a couple of years ago. It was by Al Denson and the title was unusual, Tabula Rasa. It's meaning should be clear to every Christian because when we come to Christ, we get one. Tabula Rasa means "clean slate." It's what happens when we are born again. The old has gone and the new has come. That is how the song applies the message, but today I want to suggest a new application. Tabula Rasa for the church.
What do I mean? Well , what would the church look like if we started over with a clean slate. What if we examined the way we do everything. What if we trimmed the fat? What if we ground our sacred cows into hamburger and directed ourselves away from our man made traditions? What it we measured everything we do, every program we run, every ministry we try too do and measured them against the Word of God and the example of Christ? What would happen? How would the church look and would the world (remember the ones Jesus came to save, the ones God loved enough top give His son for?)? Would the resulting product be a more pleasing bride to the Lord? Dream with me for a moment or rather, dream with God. After all it's supposed to be about Him, isn't it. When as the last time you asked God what His dream was for your church? In all of our visioning for the church, is that ever taken into account? My thought is that this kind of thinking will rock the church to it's very foundation, it may not be for the faint of heart, it will irritate the comfortable but isn't that what Jesus did? Do you have the guts to go to God and say what do YOU want the church to be? Will you make that a matter of prayer for you? And will you follow His leading when He gives you an answer?
At my church we have taken the first step. I call it the Tabula Rasa challenge. I placed a blank canvas on an easel at the front of the church and stocked it with markers and paints. The challenge is this. The congregation has been asked to pray that very prayer, "What do YOU want this church to be Father?" They are then asked to create their picture of what God is showing them. This will be our reminder of God's vision for the church. Of course everything will be checked against the Word of God ad the example of Christ. So far We have a representation of art, symbolizing the use of our individual gifts in service and worship of our God, the vision I got was a red cross, like the logo for the Red Cross, symbolizing the fact that our church needs to be a place of healing, the third symbol is a heart symbolizing a place where people can come and find the love of Christ. It is an unfinished piece a work in progress but when it is finished it will represent God's vision for our church.
We have determined to upset the apple cart and slay any sacred cows we find. We are determined to be Tabula Rasa to the glory of God. How about you?
God bless,
Dave
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I heard the song a couple of years ago. It was by Al Denson and the title was unusual, Tabula Rasa. It's meaning should be clear to every Christian because when we come to Christ, we get one. Tabula Rasa means "clean slate." It's what happens when we are born again. The old has gone and the new has come. That is how the song applies the message, but today I want to suggest a new application. Tabula Rasa for the church.
What do I mean? Well , what would the church look like if we started over with a clean slate. What if we examined the way we do everything. What if we trimmed the fat? What if we ground our sacred cows into hamburger and directed ourselves away from our man made traditions? What it we measured everything we do, every program we run, every ministry we try too do and measured them against the Word of God and the example of Christ? What would happen? How would the church look and would the world (remember the ones Jesus came to save, the ones God loved enough top give His son for?)? Would the resulting product be a more pleasing bride to the Lord? Dream with me for a moment or rather, dream with God. After all it's supposed to be about Him, isn't it. When as the last time you asked God what His dream was for your church? In all of our visioning for the church, is that ever taken into account? My thought is that this kind of thinking will rock the church to it's very foundation, it may not be for the faint of heart, it will irritate the comfortable but isn't that what Jesus did? Do you have the guts to go to God and say what do YOU want the church to be? Will you make that a matter of prayer for you? And will you follow His leading when He gives you an answer?
At my church we have taken the first step. I call it the Tabula Rasa challenge. I placed a blank canvas on an easel at the front of the church and stocked it with markers and paints. The challenge is this. The congregation has been asked to pray that very prayer, "What do YOU want this church to be Father?" They are then asked to create their picture of what God is showing them. This will be our reminder of God's vision for the church. Of course everything will be checked against the Word of God ad the example of Christ. So far We have a representation of art, symbolizing the use of our individual gifts in service and worship of our God, the vision I got was a red cross, like the logo for the Red Cross, symbolizing the fact that our church needs to be a place of healing, the third symbol is a heart symbolizing a place where people can come and find the love of Christ. It is an unfinished piece a work in progress but when it is finished it will represent God's vision for our church.
We have determined to upset the apple cart and slay any sacred cows we find. We are determined to be Tabula Rasa to the glory of God. How about you?
God bless,
Dave
Monday, June 13, 2005
What about church sizes?
While emailing with a friend, I began to further contemplate the benefits and downsides of church sizes. I am the pastor of what I very affectionately call a micro-church. Here is my little internal debate.
There are blessings to both formats large and small churches. I find that the smaller ones can be better relationally though a big church with small groups can pull this off too and smaller churches can become "closed." Larger churches usually have more in the way of resources but it usually requires and act of congress and 16 committees to get anything done. I hate the committee concept and I have yet to find a church board in the Bible. Don't get me started. I have no problem with accountability and wise use of resources, but too often the Spirit cannot move without the permission of the board. I much prefer a deacon led structure, where the people are in charge of both the spiritual and the business of the church. When you split those two you have a compartmentalized church,this is spiritual and this is business mentality where things get really messed up. Christians can't afford to live compartmentalized lives, neither can churches.
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While emailing with a friend, I began to further contemplate the benefits and downsides of church sizes. I am the pastor of what I very affectionately call a micro-church. Here is my little internal debate.
There are blessings to both formats large and small churches. I find that the smaller ones can be better relationally though a big church with small groups can pull this off too and smaller churches can become "closed." Larger churches usually have more in the way of resources but it usually requires and act of congress and 16 committees to get anything done. I hate the committee concept and I have yet to find a church board in the Bible. Don't get me started. I have no problem with accountability and wise use of resources, but too often the Spirit cannot move without the permission of the board. I much prefer a deacon led structure, where the people are in charge of both the spiritual and the business of the church. When you split those two you have a compartmentalized church,this is spiritual and this is business mentality where things get really messed up. Christians can't afford to live compartmentalized lives, neither can churches.
Friday, June 10, 2005
The role of the young in the church.
As most of you know I have a passion for youth ministry and a love for youth ministers that comes from time spent in the trenches. As we look at this time of year, many of our churches face a time of tragedy. Some of our best and brightest will graduate from the church. Their time in youth group is over, many if not most churches have very inept young adult ministries, and the students have not really been take seriously by the church as a whole. The time of their parents being able to force them to attend worship is over. Mind you all of this is happening at the time when a lot of these people face the most uncertainty they have ever faced in their lives and may well be the time when they need the body of Christ the most.
Is this going to be yet another whining blog about the pathetic condition of the church, absolutely not, there are far too many of those already. The fact of the matter is young adult ministry is tough. As mentioned above the time period between 18 and 25 is the largest transitional perion a person might ever face. In a single group, you may have single people, married people, parents, not to mention college students, laborers, the unemployed and under empployed career people and on and on. It is a time of tremendous diversity and also sometimes tremendous adversity. These are also people with tremendous energy and vitality that are crucial to the church and if we lose them (and we are) we will pay for it down the road.
But remember this is not a whining piece. This is a proactive piece so what can we do to keep them. Well a couple of things come to mind. First of all, if you wait until they graduate you have waited too long. Whole funding youth programs and having vital youth ministries is Vital, it is also vital to make sure that the youth are part of the whole church, building relationships with people of all ages. Mentoring is a key in this. By the time a student is a graduate they should be fully invested in the church.
Give them a ministry. Get to know the kids, find their giftings and talents and involve them in activities that will be fulfilling for them and help to draw them into ministry. This doesn't mean heap all the garbage jobs on them that the older members dont want to do. I realize that they need to be taught to serve and that some things just need to be done, but if you don't work by their side on the hard "unfun stuff" they will; quickly feel put upon and they will be right. I can almost hear someone saying it now, "But they're too young." No they're not, read the beginning of Jeremiah and Timothy and you will quickly see that God does not have an age limit. Give them what they are ready for and give them help (that can keep them out of trouble, but not do everything for them) and don't be afraid to push them a little. Remember teens can kill giants when God is with them.
Love them, (real love not the lip service kind) involve them and don't treat them like second class citizens. If you are going to put a teen on your board, for example, don't make him a token, listen to what he has to say. And lastly strike these words from the vocabulary of every church member, "Our youth are the church of the future." WRONG! They are the church of the right now and if you don't involve them now you may not have them in the future.
Oh and one more thing for the Christian ed people, drop age based sunday school classes for adults in favor of multigenerational classes where the young can learn from the old and the old can learn from the young and INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS can be fostered. This can go a long way into eliminating the us and them mentality that thrives in too many churches.
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(1) comments
As most of you know I have a passion for youth ministry and a love for youth ministers that comes from time spent in the trenches. As we look at this time of year, many of our churches face a time of tragedy. Some of our best and brightest will graduate from the church. Their time in youth group is over, many if not most churches have very inept young adult ministries, and the students have not really been take seriously by the church as a whole. The time of their parents being able to force them to attend worship is over. Mind you all of this is happening at the time when a lot of these people face the most uncertainty they have ever faced in their lives and may well be the time when they need the body of Christ the most.
Is this going to be yet another whining blog about the pathetic condition of the church, absolutely not, there are far too many of those already. The fact of the matter is young adult ministry is tough. As mentioned above the time period between 18 and 25 is the largest transitional perion a person might ever face. In a single group, you may have single people, married people, parents, not to mention college students, laborers, the unemployed and under empployed career people and on and on. It is a time of tremendous diversity and also sometimes tremendous adversity. These are also people with tremendous energy and vitality that are crucial to the church and if we lose them (and we are) we will pay for it down the road.
But remember this is not a whining piece. This is a proactive piece so what can we do to keep them. Well a couple of things come to mind. First of all, if you wait until they graduate you have waited too long. Whole funding youth programs and having vital youth ministries is Vital, it is also vital to make sure that the youth are part of the whole church, building relationships with people of all ages. Mentoring is a key in this. By the time a student is a graduate they should be fully invested in the church.
Give them a ministry. Get to know the kids, find their giftings and talents and involve them in activities that will be fulfilling for them and help to draw them into ministry. This doesn't mean heap all the garbage jobs on them that the older members dont want to do. I realize that they need to be taught to serve and that some things just need to be done, but if you don't work by their side on the hard "unfun stuff" they will; quickly feel put upon and they will be right. I can almost hear someone saying it now, "But they're too young." No they're not, read the beginning of Jeremiah and Timothy and you will quickly see that God does not have an age limit. Give them what they are ready for and give them help (that can keep them out of trouble, but not do everything for them) and don't be afraid to push them a little. Remember teens can kill giants when God is with them.
Love them, (real love not the lip service kind) involve them and don't treat them like second class citizens. If you are going to put a teen on your board, for example, don't make him a token, listen to what he has to say. And lastly strike these words from the vocabulary of every church member, "Our youth are the church of the future." WRONG! They are the church of the right now and if you don't involve them now you may not have them in the future.
Oh and one more thing for the Christian ed people, drop age based sunday school classes for adults in favor of multigenerational classes where the young can learn from the old and the old can learn from the young and INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS can be fostered. This can go a long way into eliminating the us and them mentality that thrives in too many churches.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
The question...
Some time ago, I was watching a repeat of Malcolm in the Middle. Yes I know...but what can I say sometimes the best way to find out how the church is impacting the culture is to monitor the culture. This particular episode was hilarious. Malcolm's parents had a baby and it was time to try to get day care for the child so they could go back to work. The reputations of the their other children had preceded them and so they were unsuccessful at finding anyonee to take this child. There was only one place left, the day care run by the local church. In order to be accepted to this day care, they had to be accepted by the pastor. (Yeah okay that's far fetched but work with me here.) Hal and Lois had the kids all dressed in their sunday best and were trying to convince the pastor that they were committed Christians. Things were going along okay until their second-to-youngest child Dewey asked the pastor, "Why do you have all those 't's' hanging on your wall?" Is that funny? It is too me, but it brings me to a point.
Some people are offended by that question. If these parents would have been doing their job the kid would see a cross in the letter "t" and not the other way around. Lighten up! One of the best things in the world that can happen is when a lost person asks a question about the cross. It's an open door. The question for the church isn't how that question can be asked, but rather when the question is asked will you be ready to answer it.
When I go out to do arts ministry, I try to create images that don't answer all the questions. When people see an artist painting a picture of Jesus, one of two things will happen. They either pat you on the back and say I am a Christian too (as if it were a secret hand shake for the good guy holy person's club) or they say "Uh oh, a picture of Jesus, I better run before I get hit over the head with the Bible." Instead I search and pray for images that hold the answers but make the viewer ask the question.
No matter what you do live your life with such unquestionable character that people will have all kinds of questions that you really want to answer. To slide two verse of scripture together, "Let your light shine before men and always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have."
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Some time ago, I was watching a repeat of Malcolm in the Middle. Yes I know...but what can I say sometimes the best way to find out how the church is impacting the culture is to monitor the culture. This particular episode was hilarious. Malcolm's parents had a baby and it was time to try to get day care for the child so they could go back to work. The reputations of the their other children had preceded them and so they were unsuccessful at finding anyonee to take this child. There was only one place left, the day care run by the local church. In order to be accepted to this day care, they had to be accepted by the pastor. (Yeah okay that's far fetched but work with me here.) Hal and Lois had the kids all dressed in their sunday best and were trying to convince the pastor that they were committed Christians. Things were going along okay until their second-to-youngest child Dewey asked the pastor, "Why do you have all those 't's' hanging on your wall?" Is that funny? It is too me, but it brings me to a point.
Some people are offended by that question. If these parents would have been doing their job the kid would see a cross in the letter "t" and not the other way around. Lighten up! One of the best things in the world that can happen is when a lost person asks a question about the cross. It's an open door. The question for the church isn't how that question can be asked, but rather when the question is asked will you be ready to answer it.
When I go out to do arts ministry, I try to create images that don't answer all the questions. When people see an artist painting a picture of Jesus, one of two things will happen. They either pat you on the back and say I am a Christian too (as if it were a secret hand shake for the good guy holy person's club) or they say "Uh oh, a picture of Jesus, I better run before I get hit over the head with the Bible." Instead I search and pray for images that hold the answers but make the viewer ask the question.
No matter what you do live your life with such unquestionable character that people will have all kinds of questions that you really want to answer. To slide two verse of scripture together, "Let your light shine before men and always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have."
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Ban the Bumper Sticker!
Yeah I know I'm a free speech guy too, but I've had enough and I am asking that all Christians cease and desist from using the bumper sticker as a tool for getting the "Christian message" out. What has caused this? Well as many of you know I had a health scare some time back and as a result I am a lot better about caring for my temple these days. I was walking the streets of beautiful downtown Hamburg PA and I saw this stroke of geniuus adorning the bumper of a non descript blue sedan. It said, "Any kind of sex that can get you thrown into hell, isn't safe!" No you don't understand, this walk is supposed to be good for my heart and all of the sudden that little vein in my temple is throbbing. I can think of only one thing...Ban the Bumper Sticker.
Why, you may ask? Do I believe that all kinds of sex are okay? No I hold to the conservative view that sex is reserved for marriage. I do believe there is such a thing as sexual sin, the it is defined in the word of God and that if there isn't a special place in hell for child molesters, maybe there should be. Okay that last part may bave been out of bounds. But that bumper sticker has an agenda too. It is defining certain sexual practices as being able to send us to hell. It is not sex that sends us to hell, it is sin in general and pride in our filthy rags righteousness is a sin too. Where is the love in that statement. We were created in God's image and God is love. Rather than pronouncing judgment on thois in sexual sin (or any other sin for that matter) we should be showing people a better way, the way of love. Our heart should grieve over the things that grieve the heart of God. I can think of nothing that grieves the heart of God any more than people perishing in their sin. So instead of spending our time trying to figure out who is going to hell, let's spend our time introducing people to a risen savior.
What are people thinking when they slap a message on their cars like this? Someone will see it as they drive by and turn from their wicked ways. I suppose that this could happen but by and large they'll either shake their head, ignore the sticker or give you a finger gesture you'd probably just as soon not receive. I don't want to judge the motives of the person placing the sticker on their car, but to me this sticker does nothing but say look how good I am. We feel like we are so much better than the world. We say we are the church and they are the world as if the world is to be despised. And a lot of people do despise the world. Not me, I think hating the world is evil andd ungodly. Oops I can hear the hate mail coming now, but think about it. Why did Jesus come? To save the world! Why did God send Jesus? Because he loves the world! Who did Jesus send his church to and command them to reach? The World. I hate sin. I hate what it has done to my life and I hate what it is doing to the world, but I don't hate the world. I am called to love them and so are you.
When we point to certain practices and say that it will condemn people to hell we get into sin management. People will think if I can quit that, I'm good. That's not the answer. All sin condemns us and only Jesus can save us. We're not here to sell fire insurance. We're not here to manage sin. We are here to make disciples of Christ, followers of the sinless Christ. We don't "sell" a faith that is for some time beyond death, we are here to teach people to follow the one who came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Eternal life starts at the moment we come to Christ. Christianity is for the here and now. How can you start down this path? For starters scrape your bumper and live your life as a message of the love of God.
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Yeah I know I'm a free speech guy too, but I've had enough and I am asking that all Christians cease and desist from using the bumper sticker as a tool for getting the "Christian message" out. What has caused this? Well as many of you know I had a health scare some time back and as a result I am a lot better about caring for my temple these days. I was walking the streets of beautiful downtown Hamburg PA and I saw this stroke of geniuus adorning the bumper of a non descript blue sedan. It said, "Any kind of sex that can get you thrown into hell, isn't safe!" No you don't understand, this walk is supposed to be good for my heart and all of the sudden that little vein in my temple is throbbing. I can think of only one thing...Ban the Bumper Sticker.
Why, you may ask? Do I believe that all kinds of sex are okay? No I hold to the conservative view that sex is reserved for marriage. I do believe there is such a thing as sexual sin, the it is defined in the word of God and that if there isn't a special place in hell for child molesters, maybe there should be. Okay that last part may bave been out of bounds. But that bumper sticker has an agenda too. It is defining certain sexual practices as being able to send us to hell. It is not sex that sends us to hell, it is sin in general and pride in our filthy rags righteousness is a sin too. Where is the love in that statement. We were created in God's image and God is love. Rather than pronouncing judgment on thois in sexual sin (or any other sin for that matter) we should be showing people a better way, the way of love. Our heart should grieve over the things that grieve the heart of God. I can think of nothing that grieves the heart of God any more than people perishing in their sin. So instead of spending our time trying to figure out who is going to hell, let's spend our time introducing people to a risen savior.
What are people thinking when they slap a message on their cars like this? Someone will see it as they drive by and turn from their wicked ways. I suppose that this could happen but by and large they'll either shake their head, ignore the sticker or give you a finger gesture you'd probably just as soon not receive. I don't want to judge the motives of the person placing the sticker on their car, but to me this sticker does nothing but say look how good I am. We feel like we are so much better than the world. We say we are the church and they are the world as if the world is to be despised. And a lot of people do despise the world. Not me, I think hating the world is evil andd ungodly. Oops I can hear the hate mail coming now, but think about it. Why did Jesus come? To save the world! Why did God send Jesus? Because he loves the world! Who did Jesus send his church to and command them to reach? The World. I hate sin. I hate what it has done to my life and I hate what it is doing to the world, but I don't hate the world. I am called to love them and so are you.
When we point to certain practices and say that it will condemn people to hell we get into sin management. People will think if I can quit that, I'm good. That's not the answer. All sin condemns us and only Jesus can save us. We're not here to sell fire insurance. We're not here to manage sin. We are here to make disciples of Christ, followers of the sinless Christ. We don't "sell" a faith that is for some time beyond death, we are here to teach people to follow the one who came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Eternal life starts at the moment we come to Christ. Christianity is for the here and now. How can you start down this path? For starters scrape your bumper and live your life as a message of the love of God.
