Yesterday in our church family worship the wind of God was blowing through our service. The music was very meaningful, and the fellowship was strong especially during our potluck. It shouldn't, but it always surprises me when I see God's power move through people. God orchestrated the day obviously, but it was interesting to see how everything came together. I prepared my message earlier in the week to speak about the woman at the well found in John chapter 4, and had found a video about a woman who was in need of Christ`s love called "An Unspoken Plea". I did use these on Sunday, but the movement of God started in our Adult Sunday School class. The lesson was from Luke 8:40-56, Jairus`daughter and the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. We looked at this woman for a few moments and came to the understanding that likely she felt the judgment of her community and felt like an outcast. She felt so unworthy, that she thought she needed to sneak up to Jesus to try and be healed. Here is this unclean woman who simply by touching Jesus made him ceremonially unclean, but somehow knew Jesus could help. She was desperate for help. As soon as she touches him, she is healed and Jesus knows power has left him. So he puts her on the spot an asks who has touched him. She confesses that she did with fear and trembling. And in that moment that Jesus recognizes her faith, she is no longer an outcast, she is accepted into God`s kingdom.
So that was Sunday School, and then I shared about the woman at the well and how Christ accepted this woman and changed her life. She too, felt the judgment of her community, hence why she was at the well alone in the middle of the day. She was an outcast in her village, and it`s to this outcast that Jesus confesses he is the Messiah. Her life is forever changed and she too accepts the welcome into God`s kingdom. The morning was a real reminder to me and others that once we too were outcasts, and yet God`s love embraced us and Jesus changed us forever. The other reminder for me was if Christ can do that for me, why would I not believe he could do that for others. We must never forget that Jesus accepts the outcast, whether they look like a hobo or a lawyer. Which means we must too. Embrace others with love and not judgment, and see the power of God work in their lives. Remember, we too were once outcasts.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Is Jesus cool?
The question comes to mind when I think of some of the trends our churches go through. I also realize that we never really get away from trying to be cool no matter how old we get. Now maybe sixty or seventy years olds don't care anymore, I don't know I am not there yet.
But roughly from pre-teen age and on up we struggle with wanting to be cool. Maybe it has something to do with wanting to be popular, it probably starts out that way. I don't think I want to be popular now. Everyone wants to be liked of course, but I know I don't want to look stupid. Is there a difference between not wanting to look like an idiot, and wanting to be cool? I hope so. Unless, of course looking like an idiot helps embarrass your children, ha ha. Just kidding!
So anyway, back to my question: would Jesus have been considered cool? He was rebellious, putting down the Man! Everywhere he went he caused a stir. he had followers galore! But when I picture cool people, at least from my experience, I always see cool followers. The Jocks have the cheerleaders. The preppies have wannabes, and so on. What did Jesus' followers look like? Well, some of them were fisherman. They worked on the lake catching fish. It's hard, dirty work. Another was a tax collector, who was considered a scab on society. He stole from the poor to give to the rich. They didn't seem cool.
And then there was the people he helped, the lame, the sick, the poor. He touched people with leprosy. He healed the blind. He restored the lame so they could walk. These people were considered sinners, because of their injuries and ailments. They or their parents must have sinned for these injuries to occur.
And then of course, would a cool person be killed for his attitude? Probably not, maybe get detention or something. But Jesus was such a revolutionary that the religious establishment felt they needed to get rid of him permanently.
Well, when you look at the evidence, it appears Jesus isn't that cool after all. And he didn't have cool followers. I don't think Jesus would have been with the cool people. I think he would been with the geeks, the nerds, the loners, maybe the head bangers, the stoners. I think he would have told us to not chase after the cool life, that there is a better life ahead of us if we followed his way. I think he is still saying that, stop chasing cool and take up your cross and follow him.
But roughly from pre-teen age and on up we struggle with wanting to be cool. Maybe it has something to do with wanting to be popular, it probably starts out that way. I don't think I want to be popular now. Everyone wants to be liked of course, but I know I don't want to look stupid. Is there a difference between not wanting to look like an idiot, and wanting to be cool? I hope so. Unless, of course looking like an idiot helps embarrass your children, ha ha. Just kidding!
So anyway, back to my question: would Jesus have been considered cool? He was rebellious, putting down the Man! Everywhere he went he caused a stir. he had followers galore! But when I picture cool people, at least from my experience, I always see cool followers. The Jocks have the cheerleaders. The preppies have wannabes, and so on. What did Jesus' followers look like? Well, some of them were fisherman. They worked on the lake catching fish. It's hard, dirty work. Another was a tax collector, who was considered a scab on society. He stole from the poor to give to the rich. They didn't seem cool.
And then there was the people he helped, the lame, the sick, the poor. He touched people with leprosy. He healed the blind. He restored the lame so they could walk. These people were considered sinners, because of their injuries and ailments. They or their parents must have sinned for these injuries to occur.
And then of course, would a cool person be killed for his attitude? Probably not, maybe get detention or something. But Jesus was such a revolutionary that the religious establishment felt they needed to get rid of him permanently.
Well, when you look at the evidence, it appears Jesus isn't that cool after all. And he didn't have cool followers. I don't think Jesus would have been with the cool people. I think he would been with the geeks, the nerds, the loners, maybe the head bangers, the stoners. I think he would have told us to not chase after the cool life, that there is a better life ahead of us if we followed his way. I think he is still saying that, stop chasing cool and take up your cross and follow him.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Organic Church cont'd
Good morning!
It's a very blustery day in Lethbridge, with winds gusting up to 90 km/hour. No better day than today to talk about Organic Churches!
I was asked some questions in one of the comments on my blog last week so I thought I would respond to those and add some more thoughts.
"My question for you or anyone else, what forms can the organic church take, that is what could it look like?"
What could organic church look like? Well, I touched on that a little bit last week. Organic churches are not based on program or location really. They are based on following the mission of Jesus, so they really can be anywhere. They also tend to follow a simple form of leadership and structure. The biggest form for this would be the house church movement. House churches are simple. Typically, they have a meal together. It's all ages, children are involved at all levels. I have also heard of churches forming out of coffee shops and pubs. But if people in these churches have kids, they likely won't stay in those settings long. A good resource to read would be The Tangible Kingdom by Halter & Smay, and Organic Church by Neil Cole. There are likely other books out there on this topic as well, I don't have an exaustive list at my disposal.
"Another question, where do you start if you are already in a church or leading a church?" Simple answer would be starting with yourself. I am in this exact setting right at the moment. If it takes time to build trust with unbelievers, it can take even longer to build trust with your church. The big reason being many in the church do not understand this new language or methodology. Many in the church are asking the question, "Why aren't people coming to Church?" Obviously that's the wrong question to ask, but as leaders we have to frame our answers to get people to realize church is not a building, it's the people of God. And as the people of God, we are called to be missionaries, to reach others for Jesus. As a pastor, I try to place myself in places where I can rub shoulders with those who do not know Jesus and begin to build friendships. This may not go anywhere, but how else can I sow seeds of the Gospel if I never leave my office. So if I move my office to Starbucks or Tim Horton's once or twice a week, then I am exposed to the world. If things progress with this and you gather a group, likely you need to talk to your Board if it will involve more of your time. Ultimately we need to lead by example. No one will follow us if we aren't doing it ourselves.
If you are a Board member or attendee of your church, and you feel a calling to go in this direction (make sure you have prayed on this), then go to your pastor and tell him/her you have been called to be a missionary to reach your neighbourhood/city for Jesus. Begin small and don't give up meeting together. It's important that the Body of Christ gather together. We are never meant to be lone ranger Christians.
"Are there resources online that are available for those interested in learning more?" The Church of the Nazarene has a website, Organicnazarene.net. Darrell MacLearn is heading this network and is a great resource. They are also on Facebook. Neil Cole has cmaresources.org. Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch are involved in some very interesting work in Australia and have spoken in conferences around the world. Their books are very helpful in changing how we think about church. I especially enjoy Michael Frost's talks about missional church and you can find some of that on vimeo. There is a ton of stuff out there, but use some discernment. There are some people that are totally jaded with church that they create an insular ministry and speak against the church in all forms but their own.
My one piece of advice would be to not form a church if you are a group of angry people. Anger will not help you reach others for Jesus. Being dis-satisfied with the traditional church is a little different. If you turn that dis-satisfaction into a passion to take hold of Jesus' mission and become missionaries in your neigbourhood, amazing things can happen. But be prepared for it to take some time. Relationships and trust do not happen overnight.
btw - Keep the Japanese people in your prayers and support disaster relief organizations where you can.
It's a very blustery day in Lethbridge, with winds gusting up to 90 km/hour. No better day than today to talk about Organic Churches!
I was asked some questions in one of the comments on my blog last week so I thought I would respond to those and add some more thoughts.
"My question for you or anyone else, what forms can the organic church take, that is what could it look like?"
What could organic church look like? Well, I touched on that a little bit last week. Organic churches are not based on program or location really. They are based on following the mission of Jesus, so they really can be anywhere. They also tend to follow a simple form of leadership and structure. The biggest form for this would be the house church movement. House churches are simple. Typically, they have a meal together. It's all ages, children are involved at all levels. I have also heard of churches forming out of coffee shops and pubs. But if people in these churches have kids, they likely won't stay in those settings long. A good resource to read would be The Tangible Kingdom by Halter & Smay, and Organic Church by Neil Cole. There are likely other books out there on this topic as well, I don't have an exaustive list at my disposal.
"Another question, where do you start if you are already in a church or leading a church?" Simple answer would be starting with yourself. I am in this exact setting right at the moment. If it takes time to build trust with unbelievers, it can take even longer to build trust with your church. The big reason being many in the church do not understand this new language or methodology. Many in the church are asking the question, "Why aren't people coming to Church?" Obviously that's the wrong question to ask, but as leaders we have to frame our answers to get people to realize church is not a building, it's the people of God. And as the people of God, we are called to be missionaries, to reach others for Jesus. As a pastor, I try to place myself in places where I can rub shoulders with those who do not know Jesus and begin to build friendships. This may not go anywhere, but how else can I sow seeds of the Gospel if I never leave my office. So if I move my office to Starbucks or Tim Horton's once or twice a week, then I am exposed to the world. If things progress with this and you gather a group, likely you need to talk to your Board if it will involve more of your time. Ultimately we need to lead by example. No one will follow us if we aren't doing it ourselves.
If you are a Board member or attendee of your church, and you feel a calling to go in this direction (make sure you have prayed on this), then go to your pastor and tell him/her you have been called to be a missionary to reach your neighbourhood/city for Jesus. Begin small and don't give up meeting together. It's important that the Body of Christ gather together. We are never meant to be lone ranger Christians.
"Are there resources online that are available for those interested in learning more?" The Church of the Nazarene has a website, Organicnazarene.net. Darrell MacLearn is heading this network and is a great resource. They are also on Facebook. Neil Cole has cmaresources.org. Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch are involved in some very interesting work in Australia and have spoken in conferences around the world. Their books are very helpful in changing how we think about church. I especially enjoy Michael Frost's talks about missional church and you can find some of that on vimeo. There is a ton of stuff out there, but use some discernment. There are some people that are totally jaded with church that they create an insular ministry and speak against the church in all forms but their own.
My one piece of advice would be to not form a church if you are a group of angry people. Anger will not help you reach others for Jesus. Being dis-satisfied with the traditional church is a little different. If you turn that dis-satisfaction into a passion to take hold of Jesus' mission and become missionaries in your neigbourhood, amazing things can happen. But be prepared for it to take some time. Relationships and trust do not happen overnight.
btw - Keep the Japanese people in your prayers and support disaster relief organizations where you can.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Organic Church
Alright, I have been put in my place and I am going to try a little harder in resuming my blog. I have also changed some of the settings so anybody should be able to comment.
Anyway, I spent the weekend in Calgary at an Organic Church Network training Seminar. Darrell MacLearn is the director of this ministry for the Church of the Nazarene in US and Canada. He is currently based out of McKinney Texas leading and planting organic type churches, as well as traveling and educating leaders on this cutting edge ministry.
Let me take a moment to explain what organic means. (this could be a long blog) Organic means natural of course, but it also has a reproductive quality to it. Organic multiplies, look at Mark 4 for more on this.And when we talk about church, at least in North America we have this strange idea that it's about a building. But church is really meant to be defined this way: The Church is the People of God empowered by the Spirit of God on the Mission of Jesus in His world (taken from Darrell MacLearn). So when we have a more complete understanding of why we are here, it changes the game. When you look at the explosion of growth around other parts of the world, it's because the focus is Jesus and not on building or land. Hopefully, I haven't over-simplified, but I have generalized a little for the purpose of my blog.
I have years of knowledge when it comes to church planting and some experience with it, but after this weekend I realized I needed to get back out there and try again. I currently pastor a church in Lethbridge, and have been sowing seeds for some time about starting new work for the Kingdom of God which doesn't have to be in a church building. If we focus on Jesus and His Kingdom and the mission He has called us to which is making disciples, I think church will naturally form out of that mission. These churches may not be big, but they will be beautiful because they will have the aroma of Christ. These churches can also pop up anywhere, houses, coffee shops, pubs, malls and the like.
Understand that this isn't about being disenfranchised, it's about realizing the mission of Jesus is more important than the building we might meet in to talk about Him. Understand too, that this isn't meant to replace the current church model. It's one model among many.
There is probably more I could say on this, but if this is something you are interested in, then let's talk. Let's start a conversation and see what God can do with it.
Anyway, I spent the weekend in Calgary at an Organic Church Network training Seminar. Darrell MacLearn is the director of this ministry for the Church of the Nazarene in US and Canada. He is currently based out of McKinney Texas leading and planting organic type churches, as well as traveling and educating leaders on this cutting edge ministry.
Let me take a moment to explain what organic means. (this could be a long blog) Organic means natural of course, but it also has a reproductive quality to it. Organic multiplies, look at Mark 4 for more on this.And when we talk about church, at least in North America we have this strange idea that it's about a building. But church is really meant to be defined this way: The Church is the People of God empowered by the Spirit of God on the Mission of Jesus in His world (taken from Darrell MacLearn). So when we have a more complete understanding of why we are here, it changes the game. When you look at the explosion of growth around other parts of the world, it's because the focus is Jesus and not on building or land. Hopefully, I haven't over-simplified, but I have generalized a little for the purpose of my blog.
I have years of knowledge when it comes to church planting and some experience with it, but after this weekend I realized I needed to get back out there and try again. I currently pastor a church in Lethbridge, and have been sowing seeds for some time about starting new work for the Kingdom of God which doesn't have to be in a church building. If we focus on Jesus and His Kingdom and the mission He has called us to which is making disciples, I think church will naturally form out of that mission. These churches may not be big, but they will be beautiful because they will have the aroma of Christ. These churches can also pop up anywhere, houses, coffee shops, pubs, malls and the like.
Understand that this isn't about being disenfranchised, it's about realizing the mission of Jesus is more important than the building we might meet in to talk about Him. Understand too, that this isn't meant to replace the current church model. It's one model among many.
There is probably more I could say on this, but if this is something you are interested in, then let's talk. Let's start a conversation and see what God can do with it.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Is this relevant?
It's been a while since I have blogged here, and honestly I am not sure how effective I am at communicating or how far reaching this goes. It's interesting to realize that anyone can become an author now by way of this route, but do they have anything relevant to say? Who knows!
I have come to realize that I am a rare species in the world of Christianity: someone who is committed to the cause. Now this isn't a humble brag, because I am not a perfect person in any sense of the word. But I really want to see our world changed for Christ and His Kingdom. Now as I say that, like everyone else, I too get caught up in the ways of the world and my focus goes elsewhere more often than I like. But my passion is to see others come to Jesus, and I only know how to do that through the church. I wish there were more like one of my Board members, who cries because somehow we are missing the mark when it comes to reaching those who need Jesus.
Now I am not complaining about my church, I love my church! I also know that other churches are in the same boat as us. The only solace I gain is realizing that people still want answers about the the Big questions about life, the universe, and everything. Somehow, we have to invite others into our sphere, or get invited into theirs so we can share our thoughts about life, which includes how the Good News has changed ours.
If I am off-base don't be afraid to tell me. If there isn't much response, this may become my signing off of blogging for a while.
I have come to realize that I am a rare species in the world of Christianity: someone who is committed to the cause. Now this isn't a humble brag, because I am not a perfect person in any sense of the word. But I really want to see our world changed for Christ and His Kingdom. Now as I say that, like everyone else, I too get caught up in the ways of the world and my focus goes elsewhere more often than I like. But my passion is to see others come to Jesus, and I only know how to do that through the church. I wish there were more like one of my Board members, who cries because somehow we are missing the mark when it comes to reaching those who need Jesus.
Now I am not complaining about my church, I love my church! I also know that other churches are in the same boat as us. The only solace I gain is realizing that people still want answers about the the Big questions about life, the universe, and everything. Somehow, we have to invite others into our sphere, or get invited into theirs so we can share our thoughts about life, which includes how the Good News has changed ours.
If I am off-base don't be afraid to tell me. If there isn't much response, this may become my signing off of blogging for a while.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)