Adjusting to reality

This article in Leadership Journal really struck me, partly because it goes against the grain of the past 30 years of Protestant Christianity. It is about a new pastor at a church that aspired to be a mega-church and never made it there. They built the building, but for reasons you can read in the article, it didn't happen.

So the new pastor comes in and decides that they can still be very effective, just not as a megachurch. The process of change is wrenching, but it can lead to great kingdom growth as the congregation reaches out to the lost and hurting world around us.

I've been thinking about this article as I watch the circus in our state capitol. In many ways, Michigan is like this church. It isn't what it once was, nor what it dreamed it would be. So where do you go from here? I offer some suggestions from the article that are applicable to many churches, the state of Michigan, and individuals who are dealing with the disappointment of a life that didn't turn out the way they had hoped.

1. To be honest about our current condition. This can be hard for a church with such a storied past.

People kept asking: Why have our long-term members left? When are things going to get back to the way they were? What's wrong with us? (Translation: Why have all of these people and businesses left?)

Such questions can squelch even the most sincere brainstorming sessions. The hard truth we've tried to communicate through all of this is that the glory days of the past are exactly that—past glory days. We're not to try to return to them. Garnett will never again be the church it once was. We have to do the difficult thing of letting go of our former glory in order to allow God to do a new thing in us.

2. To relinquish our rights as members to a church building that we are no longer able to pay for by ourselves. The Garnett Church of Christ building is becoming the Garnett Event Center.

Already, several other churches are using our facilities on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon: a Messianic Jewish community, a charismatic Hispanic church, a rock church called Rolling Stone, and a new church plant.

Throughout the week, a number of other events, some church-related and others not, are held at our building. Not only is the rental income from these events helping to pay the bills, but it's also giving us a hospitable presence in our neighborhood. (Translation: No longer will we have a dominant position with a dominant industry fueling our state coffers. We will have to go out and compete for each and every business that we hope to lure here.)

But not without some difficulty. Everyone, myself and all ministry staff included, must reserve any classroom or meeting space equally with those in the community who are using or renting space.

The way we're trying to see it: this building no longer belongs to us. It belongs to our community. This isn't easy to explain to a charter member who's been helping to pay off the building for 20 years!

We've started a bi-lingual preschool that has grown to 50 students, half Anglo and half Hispanic. We've projected beyond our ability to speak Spanish, putting "Bienvenito" (Welcome) on the front doors and asking Spanish speakers to help us translate for different events.

We made it our goal to pray for every family that comes into our weekly food subsidy ministry and to invite them to serve with us.

3. To recognize that the most life-giving activities of our church aren't necessarily going to happen in our facility. Church leaders in event-driven and personality-centered churches tend to gauge success by headcount, the number of people who show up. This is what leaders talked about, and subsequently members tended to judge success by how pews and collection baskets were filled.

With Michael Frost (author of Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture) and Alan Hirsch (The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church), we have been forced to ask new questions: What if events of church, personalities of church, and Sunday assembly went away? What would be our view of the Christian life? What would we do as Christians, and who would we be?

We're working with the local fire department to arrange Spanish classes for them so they can better serve and communicate on daily calls. We're partnering with Habitat for Humanity and our city to build and renovate houses and help people to get back on their feet again.

We are learning to see our community, and individuals, not as needing handouts but as valued people who can together with us serve our Lord and our community. (Translation: Not everyone is going to move all of their operations here. We may have to settle for a tech center and the manufacturing will be done in a lower-cost environment.)

4. To learn to be missionaries in our own culture. Across the street from us, Fire Station 27 is the busiest station in the city. Fire Chief Michael Baker said, "This is a big church and the neighborhood is waiting … waiting to see what you are going to do for this community."

This comment has been forcing us outward, while we are at the same time redesigning our space for community groups to enter. Church Shepherd Robert Garland replied to Chief Baker that "we want to be a better neighbor to you and this community." (Translation: Treat the people we have more hospitably instead of crying about what we used to have or didn't get. Don't stomp on the businesses that are here as we chase our next "fix" of a large employer that is using us as a negotiating ploy.)

And really, that's the first step to becoming missionaries: getting to know our neighbors' needs.

Todd Hunter of Alpha-USA articulates well what we want to do: "I want to help people become the cooperative friends of Jesus, seeking to live lives of constant creative goodness through the power of the Holy Spirit for the sake of the world."

That's what we're determined to do: equip our congregation to be Christ to neighbors, co-workers, and family members, rather than trying to coax people into signing up for every church program possible and burning families out with church involvement.

We've had to ruthlessly ask of each ministry venture, "Is this an energy drain? An event without purpose? A building-centered program that determines success by how many populate this building?"

Anything aside from a Christ-centered approach is out in favor of teaching one another how to be incarnational presence of Christ, in practical ways in our jobs, neighborhoods, PTAs, and sports teams.

I know it isn't all directly applicable, but it does ring true for our elected officials, and many pastors and leaders of churches that are not where they dreamed they would be.

For the churches, fix your eyes on Christ and his dreams and plans, not yours. Remember the conversation between Peter and Jesus in John 21:

The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. 18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." 19Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"

20Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") 21When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?"

22Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." 23Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"

24This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

25Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

If you are Peter, the prospect of crucifixion is not something that he relished. Jesus was making the point that it isn't about him, or Peter, but about God, who sent Jesus and called Peter. We would do well to heed that advice. I know I would.

Spitting into the wind

It seems that the Michigan Legislature is not a fan of Jim Croce songs. In their Keystone Cops rendition of how to fix a state's ailing budget, they have fallen back to the old mainstay of raising taxes to fix their overspending problem. It seems that they are of the belief that everything the State of Michigan does is worthy of keeping and therefore, we should stick it to the taxpayers to continue status quo ante. So, in spite of the worst economy in the U.S which is going backward during a growth period for the rest of the country, they are going to stick it to those of us who are still here, and tell those who want to bring business here to pony up to support their system.

Jim Croce had it right:

You don't tug on superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger
And you don't mess around with Jim

They are spitting into a pretty strong headwind, that is quickly turning into a downdraft. All the while the band plays merrily on in Lansing.

If you live outside of Michigan, praise God for your good fortune. If you live in this mess, here are links to contact your state state House or Senate elected officials to voice your thoughts on this situation. Rendering unto Caesar is getting a bit old.

A feature that I would love in a new car

Laugh a little as you watch. As a parent of a 12 year old girl, there is one that is particularly appealing. After all, who wouldn't want a trunk monkey.

Keep Your Eyes Open

Sex Slavery is going on near where you live. Just last year we had busts in Detroit of people holding women and young girls in sexual slavery. It's not just in Asia my friends. Sadly it is in those "Oriental Massage Parlors" you see along the highway. It is in the inner city, and in the suburbs. In the heartland and on the coasts.

Many of them are lured into it with the promise of a legitimate job when they arrive in the U.S. They then have to "work off" the cost of transporting them here. They never manage to earn enough to pay off their trafficker/pimp. And if they go to law enforcement, they face deportation. This is truly sickening and it happens here.

For more information, go here and watch the short video. There are literally millions of people forced into this business. Pray for their safety, advocate for their release, and do what you can to help. Lives may depend on it.

This guy is my hero

My friend John and I built a smaller one that we used to hurl pumpkins at our church's harvest party. The kids loved it, and we had some fun smashing pumpkins. The Wall Street Journal even wrote about him.

Cruelty

Deacon Raphael has started an interesting thread on The Ooze about Michael Vick and child abuse. I'd love to hear your thoughts on why we are obsessed with the animal abuse perpetrated by Vick and his companions.

I know for me, part of it is my love for dogs. I'm rather Franciscan in my love for animals, and I get teary-eyed just thinking about it. But I would never equate treatment of animals with treatment of humans. Especially defenseless humans such as children, the elderly, immigrants, widows and the poor. It absolutely sickens me when you hear stories of children being abused. Here in Metro Detroit we just completed the trial of a disturbed mother who stabbed her children to death and nearly decapitated one of them in the process.

I know children who have been removed from their families because of the abuse in the home. God does provide for them, but there is an element there that can never be recovered for them. It breaks my heart when I come across it.

What links these in my mind is the cruelty and callous disregard for life. People who take pleasure in watching animals destroy each other have problems. There is a proven link between animal abuse and anti-social behavior as adults. I'm not saying Vick et al will become serial killers, but people who idolize them are certainly receiving the signal that someone who has everything the world has to offer thinks this is cool.

I know this is an incomplete thought, and there will be more later. I'm just struggling with the topic right now.

Remembrance Day

Following The Great War (now called World War I) the victor countries commemorated the cessation of hostilities on Remembrance Day, which is Nov 11, the day the armistice was signed. In the current hostilities in which we are engaged, I don't believe there will be an armistice signing. Unfortunately this war is ideological, not national, and the combatants are scattered among a number of countries.

Today is the 6th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C. There will be solemn ceremonies marking the deaths of nearly 3000 Americans who went to work on a beautiful day and did not return home through no fault of their own, other than working in the target buildings. Take a moment to pray for the families that were left behind on that day. The grieving still goes on for them. Their loved one's death will be back on the news again to remind them of that awful day.

As you remember those horrific events, take my colleague Sandra's suggestion and do a good deed today and every day. I don't know if doing good deeds will change the hearts and minds of those bent on our destruction. But it will help us fulfill the Golden Rule established by our Lord, Jesus Christ. He is the one we will answer to, not Osama Bin Laden or his Allah.

God help us all.

Something to think about

As you watch the testimony of General Petraeus in front of Congress, put this video clip in the back of your mind. How would D-Day have been handled in an era of 24-hour cable news?

This isn't perfect, and it isn't political. It is directly aimed at the way the modern media comports itself.

When up is down and down is up

Props to Kurt's Korner for his call on the Bizarro World- Michigan Style. I sense that the apocalypse may be upon us. Michigan is 0-2 and has been beaten like a rented mule at home. They have been humiliated by a 1-AA team and a not-great Oregon squad. And they have looked totally discombobulated in the process, which is atypical for them.

The other bizarrity is that the Lions looked good and are undefeated. I think I'm going to sell all my possessions and move to the mountaintop. This is so odd. The clip below encapsulates my thoughts this morning.

Avoiding temptation

The dead-tree edition of today's Monroe Sunday News has a nice article on how to avoid financial junk mail. Unfortunately it is not available online. The gist of the article is that 1) many people are tempted to take out more credit than they can handle; and 2) these pre-approved offers are a identity theft risk.

I do have good news. If you so desire, you can opt out of receiving these offers. All you have to do is go here and follow the instructions. It takes about 2 minutes and you can choose to opt out for 5 years or permanently.

Consider this an early Christmas present from me to you.

When Time passes you by

You become the Michigan football team. One week after a humiliating loss to a Division 1-AA school, they get pounded by Oregon at home. I credit Bishopman for calling me out on this yesterday. It appears that the modern version of football has eluded Michigan's coaching staff. Every time they see a spread offense and a mobile quarterback, they struggle. It's been that way for nearly 10 years, since Donovan McNabb did them in when he was at Syracuse.

I think it is time for a change at the helm. And please, do not promote any of the current staff to the head job. We need a winner in Ann Arbor to offset the mess that is the Lions.

This passes for news?

Please tell me why I should care about this. I suspect most people are "snorey and stinky" in the morning. That is why it is called morning breath.

As if there was nothing else to cover.

Sheesh.

It's not just Michael Vick

Sure Michael Vick has pleaded guilty to gambling and some dogfighting charges. He will probably get a year or so in prison for the interstate portions of the crime. He is now the poster-boy for this issue, but it is far more pervasive than you might have other wise thought. The Detroit Free Press as a story on how pervasive it is in Metro Detroit.

I just have a hard time believing that there are people who are so cruel to animals in my own community. I'm a softy toward animals, especially dogs. To imagine the fear and pain that they go through in this process is something I cannot process. Here is a video clip of a dog fight (warning - it is a bit graphic). I show this only to appeal to you to keep your eyes and ears open for dogfighting. Call the police or the Humane Society if you suspect something is amiss. Don't let them suffer any more for the amusement of some very sick individuals.

I need a little help from my friends

My is dying. Sadly, it is not long for this earth. It seems that time has caught up with the 3-cylinder engine. So I appeal to you for assistance. If you come across a car that is in reasonable shape for a couple grand, drop me a note. I'm looking for a 4-door sedan that isn't a pig on gas. I can't be real picky in this price range, but you never know.

However, I don't want any of the following :

The European beater.











The American War Wagon







I would love a low-rider, but I'm not sure the rest of the family is on board with that.







Seriously, if you come across something you might think I would be interested in, I'd appreciate the heads-up.

Saying goodbye to a Godly Man

Dr. James Kennedy has gone on to meet his Lord. He pastored the same congregation for what seemed like forever, and preached from his heart standing firmly on scripture. His Evangelism Explosion helped millions better share their faith, and the kingdom advanced because of it.

Well done, good and faithful servant.

Here is a memorial site dedicated to Dr. Kennedy.

The University of Michigan's National Championship dreams

Click on the video to watch where they went.

What can you possibly add to this story?

This one left me slack-jawed, which isn't easy. Let me see if I have this straight. 45-year old woman loves kids, regrets that her kids are growing up. So she is happy when her daughters become pregnant at 14, twice, and all live together on public assistance. No this isn't the South or Appalachia. It is the United Kingdom.

As a church, the one daughter's statements should be cause for serious introspection:

"I've wanted kids since I was 12," she said.

"I was sick of babysitting other people's and wanted one of my own.

"Gavin, my boyfriend at the time, and I weren't using contraception, and I was aware I might get pregnant. But I knew I'd be happy if I did."

She continued: "I never found it hard being a young mum.

"Both my children were good babies, so I always got enough sleep.

"And I wasn't worried about it changing my lifestyle. I never did anything but stay in and watch TV anyway.

"There's nothing to do around here, so having kids keeps me busy.

"I feel good about bringing life into the world."

There is a significant portion of the population in the Christianized West who have a very odd moral compass. This is quite simply about self-gratification, not in a sexual sense, but in a "babies bring me joy" sense. There is a lot of work to do in our own backyards, as well as the mission fields. Pray for workers who will see the fields "White for harvest" and respond to the Lord's call. They are certainly needed.

Living without TV

Sometimes I don't appreciate God's sense of humor. In July, we decided to put our TV on vacation hold (a cool DirecTV feature) until October 1. We realized we were watching too much TV as it was, and a break would be good for all of us. Little did we know that our TV would be unavailable until then.

Right before we left to go to Colorado in July we had a toilet overflow in the 2nd floor bathroom that destroyed the living room ceiling. On July 13 (a Friday to boot) we left to go on vacation as the emergency contractors hired by the insurance company were ripping out our living room ceiling. As of September 3, we still don't have use of that room, and all of our furniture is stacked in the dining room, including the TV. Needless to say, we are unhappy with the insurance company's "PREFERRED CONTRACTOR", and we hope to have our living room back soon.

I tell you this not to evoke sympathy for us. Yes it has been a hassle having 1/2 of the first floor virtually unusable. When Deb and the girls are sleeping, I have very few places I can go and read. I do miss my couch and recliner. But I am getting some reading done. The girls have been reading quite a bit, which is something we wanted to encourage anyway.

I'm also going to bed earlier, which is one of the goals of my "Rule of Life." I tend to stay up later watching television, and then am groggy in the morning.

The greatest benefit was this weekend. Not having TV kept me from seeing the greatest debacle in NCAA Football history. The #5 ranked team in the country, the University of Michigan, lost at home to a Division 1-AA team. This is akin to the Washington Generals beating the Harlem Globetrotters. Except that it counted.

I am thanking the Lord for Prevenient Grace, which kept me from throwing something through my television when that happened.

How would Jesus Pastor?

Take a look at this article on Charles Sheldon. I'm in the process of reading In His Steps, and I love it. It's not great literature, that is true. But it is thought-provoking and inspiring to think of how the world would be different if people actually lived their lives based on the question "What would Jesus do?" It follows the story of the fictional town of Raymond which is transformed when a dying stranger wanders into a church service and asks, in a roundabout sort of way, the question "what would Jesus do?"

It's a good, quick read, and an inexpensive paperback book to pick up. I'm enjoying it immensely, and it presents a very different, action-based, not intellectual, form of discipleship.

Your local library probably has a copy.

This brought tears to my eyes

What a powerful representation of the joy of Christ, the way we become distracted, and how Jesus will intervene to rescue us and protect us from that which seeks to destroy us. The song is "Everything" by Lifehouse.

Thanks to Dan Doktor for sharing it with me.