I read this week that scientific studies show how people working together in co-operation makes them feel better about themselves, their team/group and the goal/task/project. This video shows how one school group improved their school by tackling a large task and having a great time! I bet you smile!
The very latest book from Nelson Searcy is called Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth in your Church. In classic Searcy fashion this book is heavy on practical issues and gives a pragmatic way to increase the impact of your church by increasing the crowd gathering on Sunday mornings. Obviously a large crowd on Sunday morning is not the complete mission of the church, which Searcy acknowledges.
I read this book because I am in a tele-coaching network with Searcy. Otherwise I probably would not have read it. The whole, “Bring your friends to church so that the professional witnesser (the pastor) can tell them about Jesus” style seems so wrong to me. However, this book helped me to frame my thinking to be more along the lines of, “If this church is a great community for you, why not invite people you know you don’t have any sense of community – then, hopefully, they will see that Christ is the key to the community we experience and they will seek Him.” So the focus comes off the guy with the microphone and goes on to the way that the whole community lives in a Jesus way together. That’s the kind of thing I can get behind.
Here’s my take-aways from the book, (we’re supposed to come up with 10 for the coaching network):
Effective follow-up: this is key. Too many church leaders set up some fantastic program and give no consideration to the continued work of effective follow-up. The work does not end with the event – events are beginnings for people.
Most churches face growth barriers around the 65, 125, 250, 500, 1000 and 2500 size.
Searcy suggests “big days” as effective ways to break through these barriers.
60-80% of first time guests at a church are there because a friend invited them.
Searcy claims that only about 5% of Christians have the gift of evangelism. (He then says that he requires all his staff to be doing evangelism regularly – which lets us know the gift mix that he looks for in staff.) I wonder if this is truly a “gifting” issue or if it is the effect of multiple generations being taught to “bring their friends to church” instead of training the people to know what they actually believe in a comprehensible way.
The book also suggests intentionally developing friendships with the intent of inviting people to church. This is weird to me. So, the goal of the friendship is to get them to do a specific behavior we’ve preconceived? I think this line of thinking is so strange. I think it comes from Christians gradually isolating themselves into “Christian only” lives – where they only hang with believers, read Christian books, listen to Christian radio, watch Christian TV and movies, attending Christian events, celebrating Christian pseudo-holidays (like “Harvest Festivals”). This is why it is such an advantage to like in the wildly unChristian Pacific Northwest. It really takes effort to ghetto-ize your faith here because there is so little Christian consumer influence and such a grand openness to spirituality. (and yes, that was a little rant-y)
Relevant church means knowing your culture. If your church sings songs that were written in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s you are relevant to the culture that was under 25 in those times. So don’t be surprised if your “contemporary” style of worship attracts people who are 35, 45 and 55. If you want to impact younger generations understand the culture of now. This actually takes work.
Pray and fast for unbelievers. And for the unchurched. Most people around here believe in God, they probably even pray. But they have no significant relationship with Jesus. They may even like Jesus as a guy, but they need the conviction of the Holy Spirit to show them the extent of god’s love for them.
1 in 4 people will visit your church the first time you ask them. 3 of 4 will visit if you ask a couple times. People want peace and salvation and hope. They are just scared of Christians. Individual Christians are the key to gospel impact – way way way more than super duper pastors.
If your church is making a significant impact for the gospel – reaching and saving prisoners of the epic war – then the devil will likely notice and try to rain on your parade. Don’t quit – don’t quit – don’t quit. It’s worth it. Obey God and repent – the rest is details.
Another great week at The Grove! It’s so much fun to see new faces every week and begin to see some familiar faces too. Our little church is really starting to get in a groove… looking forward to a great Christmas season and an amazing season on growth in 2010!
Here’s some highlights from today:
The first announcement for the women’s retreat was today. The women are always so energetic – I would go to the retreat if I was a woman just based on how excited the ladies who’ve been are. There must be something awesome going on if everybody comes back so amped!
We’re joining with South Albany for the women’s retreat this year. We’re not sure if this is a permanent thing or not, but I’m happy that old friends will be able to re-connect and share in the great stories of God’s work in planting The Grove.
The band was off the chain this week. This is my first official off the chain of the band. They are going to force us to get some decent recording equipment and write some songs so we can share the joy with others.
I don’t know if it was just me noticing, but there were a lot of young people helping put away chairs this week. How cool is it when elementary aged kids can participate in such an important way. I loved it!
We had a little more than 200 people again! Who would have thought we could double up the launch team! I know it was a goal of mine, but to see it really happen reinforces the convictions and calling that God has given to The Grove.
There were 50 kids elementary age and under that checked in today! What an amazing privilege we have to help shape the future of the church in these kids; we’ve got to continue to pray for rising generations, that God will work through them in even greater ways than we can imagine!
The Grove collected about 30 boxes for Samaritan’s Purse Christmas Child gifts! I couldn’t believe my eyes to see the huge pile of shoe boxes at the front today. I heard one family even rushed out of church because they forgot their box and wanted to make sure it was included. The Grove is so motivated to contribute to the gospel all over the world – watch out world!
Preached on humility today from Philippians 2:1-11. This passage is so layered in theology that it’s easy to want to do 17 sermons for these 11 verses. I really tried to move us in a direction of understanding how to live The Good Life, which is a humble life.
In the original greek the word “bowels” appears in the passage. I decided to omit that because too many Grovers would giggle. And would only be able to think about bowels whenever I mentioned being humble. Nevertheless, I also pray that Grovers will have humble bowels this week.
Don’t you love being around people who make you feel important? I hope that people begin to feel that way about being a part of The Grove. Not in a fake smile and handshake way – but in a real, genuine expression of love. I pray that The Grove will be blessed with people who are able to live radically humble lives!
This week coming up I’ve got basketball, doctor appointments, meetings and more! Should be another full week.
Looking forward to going to the Beaver Basketball game next Saturday – compliments of the awesome Tina and Cory. I think LJ is looking forward to it like it’s Christmas!
Larry Shelton, a Theology Professor at George Fox, has written a thorough examination of atonement theories in light of the biblical theme of covenant which leads into an assessment of Wesleyan developments in atonement theology. This book nearly kicked my butt. It was like every other chapter was super exciting theology. The problem was all the other chapters that were tedious scholarly examinations of doctrine and theology. It was a little tough. It was all good work and helpful, but hard for me to make it through many pages in one sitting.
I did really appreciate Shelton’s motivation in writing as he saw his students struggle more and more with modernist theories of the atonement. He felt a conviction to continue to explain the work of Christ’s life, death and resurrection in a way that makes sense and works itself out in practical ways.
Here’s some interesting thoughts from the book:
p.xvii, “My students were becoming more disturbed and less impressed by the traditional theologies of Christ’s death as the necessary penalty God required from humanity in order to reconcile them to divine fellowship…The use of legal models to explain God’s nature as justice has become less compelling for the telling of Jesus’ story of redemption to this generation.”
p.3, “The postmodern culture is profoundly concerned, however, to address the existential alienation of separation from the foundations of meaning in their lives.”
p.22, “Henry Spaulding II is undoubtedly correct in noting that Wesleyan-holiness theology after John Wesley, for example, has been notoriously deficient in reflecting on a Trinitarian ontology other than in ‘purely experiential-expressive ways.”
p.25, “We learn who we are by the response of others toward us. When that Other is God, and when that appraisal is ‘very good,’ humanity is blessed with a secure self-image patterned after God’s own character.”
p.49, “Sin to the Israelite was unhealthy, for it rendered one incapable of living with others or with Yahweh.”
p.155, “The theological systems and ecclesiastical institutions devised in the past should not define the Christian tradition. Rather, it should be defined by its radical passion that sacrificially steps out into the mainstream of the world and with all its might uses every technique at its disposal to fulfill the Great Commission in every age.”
p.193, “Had Wesley also developed the recapitulation and identification emphases of Irenaeus, he might have avoided the theological dilemma he faced in failing to resolve the imputation/impartation issue.”
pages read= 225 ~ year to date= 5994 ~ 2009 goal=9,000 ~ (67%)
The debate over how to reform helathcare in the United States is evoking a lot of different opinions and emotions. Over all of the noise we have got to know that the state of national healthcare really does matter. It doesn’t matter to me how it is fixed, it just needs to be taken care of for the overall health of this country.
This video from TED explains why I think this way. It’s not a partisan political issue as much as it is an issue of America being able to contribute to the world in a beneficial way. The second to last chart about the emergence of China simultaneous to American stagnation is amazing.
Today the Grove set-up team worked in the rain for the first time. We’ve been blessed to get the kinks out of our system in the sunshiny Oregon weather and it’s paying off now that winter is here. Today was just a fantastic day at The Grove – there was a real sense of passion and conviction in the worship and in response to the teaching. The community is growing – growing together, growing spiritually and growing bigger!
Here’s a rundown of what’s up!
Preached today on the second half of Philippians 1. I do believe there were 4 full teachings in there, but I want to finish up this book by the end of the year. Today we focused on Christ being above all else – over our situation, our enemies, our life, our death and our suffering. Just all the big stuff.
I still spell Philippians wrong half the time. Why didn’t Paul write letters to Troy?
There were like 5 first time people/families who filled in cards this week. Even more who I met but we didn’t get a card from. And a couple more people decided to return a second time.
One of my favorite conversations right now is when people talk to me about how the environment/message/people/location/etc. of The Grove is exactly what they need in order to meet God and hear from Him. The conversations sound different all the time, but every time I see God working.
My second favorite thing about The Grove right now is how diverse it is. We have all sorts of different people gathering – moms, dads, grammas, grandpas, kids, teens, young singles, engaged couples. There are police and sheriff officers, firefighters, artists, poets, homemakers, businessmen, skaters (that’s me), indie rockers, students, industry workers, tradesmen, sales people, Christians and loads of unbelievers who are trying to find what they’ve been looking for, for so long, but (maybe) didn’t even know it. The diversity on a Sunday morning is just so awesome because early on in planning for The Grove we got rid of our “target audience demographic” and just decided to be real, meaningful, significant and relevant. So you can wear jeans or a suit – and you will fit in (and be comfortable) at The Grove. You can just be you – and be welcome with us.
There were about 200 people who joined in at The Grove this morning. Fantastic! Only like 30,000 more people in Albany to reach!
College football on Saturday was exceptional. Really fun SEC and PAC-10 games. I wish I could have DVR’d the Texans game today. They are getting much better this year.
My new favorite twitter feed: @jessebdylan – he finds AMAZING links on the web!
This week we have loads of meetings and conversations that are going to be happening – I’m almost done a whole book that covers historical views of the atonement. Rough, slow reading – but every other chapter is amazing me! Looking forward to walking through this week – no matter how deep it gets!
The final third of Wright’s amazing book focuses on the response of the church to the reality of the new heaven and new earth. Shaping the church for its mission in light of its destination. It’s the conviction of hope put into practice.
Here’s what I found remarkable:
p.207, “He has enlisted us to act as his stewards in the project of creation. And, following the disaster of rebellion and corruption, he has built into the gospel message the fact that through the work of Jesus and the power of the Spirit, he equips humans to help in the work of getting the project back on track.”
p.209, “Martin Luther’s words about the proper reaction to knowing the kingdom was coming the next day being to go out and plant a tree.”
p.217, “The present system of global debt is the real immoral scandal, the dirty little secret – or rather the dirty enormous secret – of glitzy, glossy Western capitalism. Whatever it takes, we must change this situation or stand condemned by subsequent history alongside those who supported slavery two centuries ago and those who supported the Nazis seventy years ago. It is that serious.”
p.219, “…much conservative theology, not least in the United States, where it counts heavily at the moment, has also served to reinforce the dominance of the West. The Cold War years enabled the United States to build up its persona as God’s answer to communism. Many conservative churches there still live by the belief that what’s good for America is good for God…”
p.226, on preaching, “God works as a result of prayer and faithfulness, not technique and cleverness.”
p.231, “But the shoulder-shrugging functionalism of postwar architecture, coupled with the passivity born of decades of television, has meant that for many people the world appears to offer little but bleak urban landscapes, on the one hand, and tawdry entertainment, on the other. And when people cease to be surrounded by beauty, they cease to hope. They internalize the message of their eyes and ears, the message that whispers that they are not worth very much, that they are in effect less than fully human.”
p.253, “Christian holiness consists not of trying as hard as we can to be good but of learning to live in the new world created by Easter, the new world we publicly entered in our baptism.”
p.283, “What you do with your body in the present matters, he insists, because God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Glorify god in your body because one day God will glorify the body itself.
pages read= 295 ~ year to date= 5769 ~ 2009 goal=9,000 ~ (64%)
The second section of Wright’s Surprised by Hope deals with the future for the world and, especially, for the church. It is an amazing examination of the Scriptures and the historic developments regarding the end of the world – at least as we know it.
It even includes some thoughts on purgatory and the writings of Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict). This understanding of purgatory, and final destinations of people according to Roman Catholic doctrine, is important for two reasons: first, because it has changed a lot recently due to outreach efforts in developing countries and, second, because those of us in protestant traditions find our roots in catholicism. Moreover, the doctrine of purgatory was one of the issues of the early protestant reformers – if it changes now, could the church move toward a more unified future? Which is to say, will Luther’s dream of reforming the Roman Catholic church finally develop fully – will the Catholic church reform to a more biblical doctrinal position?
Here’s what I highlighted:
p.81, “…there are two quite different ways of looking at the future of the world…The first position is the myth of progress…”
p.93, “The early Christians did not believe in progress. They did not think the world was getting better and better under its own steam – or even under the steady influence of God. They knew God had to do something fresh to put it to rights….They believed that God was going to do for the whole cosmos what he had done for Jesus at Easter.”
p.94, The “image-bearing capacity of humankind is not in itself the same thing as divinity.”
p.95, “What matters is eschatological duality (the present age and the age to come), not ontological dualism (an evil “earth” and a good “heaven”)
p.105, “Heaven and earth, it seems, …are made for each other in the same way (Revelation is suggesting) as male and female. And when they finally come together, that will eb cause for rejoicing in the same way that a wedding is…”
p.112, “The method of the kingdom will match the message of the kingdom.”
p.131, “Parousia is itself, in fact, one of those terms in which Paul is able to say that Jesus is the reality of which Caesar is the parody. His theology of the second coming is part of his political theology of Jesus as Lord. In other words, we have the language of parousia, of royal presence, sitting in a typically Pauline justaposition with the language of Jewish apocalyptic.”
p.157, “Suppose a cannibal eats a Christian, and suppose the cannibal is then himslef converted. The Christian’s body has become part of the cannibal’s body; who will have which bits at the resurrection?”
p.167, “Ratzinger detached the doctrine of purgatory from the concept of an intermediate state and broke the link that in the Middle Ages gave rise to the idea of indulgences and so provided a soft target for Protestant polemic.”
p.170, “In fact, Paul makes it claer here [Romans 8] and elsewhere that it’s the present life that is meant to function as purgatory.”
p.171, “The revival of a quasi purgatory in our own day, therefore, is beside the point. It is a strange return to mythology just when we should be having our feet on the ground. It is ironic that in some circles the aim seems to be to sidel up to Rome in a friendly way, at the very moment when two of the leading conservative theologians in Rome, Rahner and Ratzinger, have been transforming doctrin into something else. It’s time for a deep breath, some clear thinking, and a sigh of relief.”
p.184, “There is a great mystery here, and all our speaking about God’s eventual future must make room for it.”
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