I’m Not Dead

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:47:16 -0500

It has been brought to my attention, by my sister, that my blog has been “dead” for awhile.

And the reason for this is because I have been focusing all my extra time and energy into a book I’ve been writing. So the blog has been put on the back burner for a little while.

I guess I can tell you that the book is going good, and I’m in the final editing stage right now. I’m looking to self-publish, and I’ve been learning about the process, and the many different options that are available.

The book is about my past experiences and lessons learned when I owned an indoor skatepark. This was a very important time in my life, and the lessons I learned in that place were some of the most important to date.

The book starts of with my story of finding Jesus, then it explains how I ended up at a skatepark. In the second section of the book, I share many stories and lessons learned about being a follower of Jesus while at the skatepark. And in the third section, the focus is put on the biggest lessons I’ve learned so far because of the skatepark.

Some of the topics I talk about are: pain, worship, loving the unloved, need for a savior, focus, ministry, death, grace, mission, church, and the Holy Spirit.

After I get the book edited, I’ll post a few chapters up on here to give you a taste. I’m excited about the possibilities with this book, and I hope it challenges you as much as it has been challenging me in my own walk with Jesus.

It’s All About The Money...

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:28:26 -0400

Came across an interesting article this weekend that talks about a topic I’m not really comfortable talking about... giving money to church.

Here’s what the article said...

“An annual study of church giving shows most church money goes to activities within the congregation collecting the money. Only a small percentage goes to outreach, evangelism, or benevolence activities outside the congregation.”
 “Sylvia and John Ronsvalle of Champaign, Illinois-based Empty Tomb inc., in their sixteenth annual study of church giving, say that Christianity in the United States is becoming a “maintenance organization’ that - if trend continue soon will be spending 100 percent of its resources on maintaining its current programs and activities.”

“The average US congregations member gave 2.56 percent of personal income to the church in 2004. That’s down 18 percent from 1968, and below giving levels from the early 1930s at the height of the Depression. Instead, Americans spend almost four times as much on entertainment as on church giving.”

Ok here are my thoughts on this one.

I’m saddened that the church in america spends so much money on themselves. I’m guessing this has to do with buildings, staff, insurance, maintenance, equipment, and the many many tools that it takes to pull of sunday services (sound equipment, projectors, computers, musical equipment, software, printing, handout materials, etc)

To me this is a great argument for organic churches. They don’t require any staff, no buildings, no debt to pay off, no fancy equipment, no insurance. The money collected in simple gatherings of believers can be distributed to those in need in the group and the rest can be used to support the poor in our communities, or to organizations and missionaries that raise their support. And each group can decide where they want to use the money.

I remember reading something that said that more than 80% of funds given in a simple church can be used directly for ministries outside of the group (missions, local charities, etc). If you think about that, it’s pretty amazing, and a great stewardship of our funds.

I’ve heard people say if you want to see where your priorities are, just open your checkbook and look at where you are spending your money.

Ok, Church lets open our checkbook and see where our priorities are... staff, building funds, construction funds, maintenance, insurance, operating expenses. And while these are not always bad things... they have become the main priorities in our checkbooks!

It’s no wonder people in these building are giving less today than they did during the depression! People don’t want to give their money to maintain a country club... they want to be a part of something bigger than that.

I think if the local church flipped it’s priorities in spending, and spent way more outside the building, people would start giving more. Whenever we become inward focused, we loose our sense of mission and people become unhappy. If we keep our focus on seeking and saving the lost, people will give everything they have to be a part of that!

A good quote from blogland

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:20:18 -0400

“The kingdom of God is a powerful force for change, but it not an object to sell. When it is let loose in our lives it has a way of infecting everyone it comes in contact with.”
Floyd McClung

I came across this comment while reading a blog yesterday and it really struck a chord in my heart.

Why is it that Christians feel they have something to sell?

I understand our desire for others to know about Jesus. I understand our desire for others to have a relationship with their creator. But I don’t understand why some take the used car salesman approach to sell Jesus?

I’ve seen this time and time again, and it really frustrates me. These people are more concerned with making the sale, closing the deal, selling the fire insurance... than they are with building a friendship.

I don’t believe the salesman approach works that well.

As a youth worker over the last 8 years, I’ve seen teens manipulated into making “decisions” to buy this Jesus. The teens come forward at these big events, and they raise their hands, they cry out to Jesus, they seriously are interested in the “product” they are being told about.

But following the sales pitch, these new consumers go home to their lives and they usually decide in a very short amount of time that the product they were sold, does not work as advertised. They come across trouble in their lives, and this Jesus they heard about, doesn’t make their lives any better. They pray to Jesus, and they don’t always hear from Him. They wake up day after day, and they don’t have the warm fuzzies they had at that event when they made this new purchase... and they decide Jesus isn’t real because they aren't any happier.

I’ve read studies that say that less than 10 out of 100 will usually continue following Jesus after one of these event type “transactions”.

And there are many other ways people try to sell the world Jesus.

Just look at most Churches in America. They have slick marketing and advertising teams making brochures, billboards, websites, and tv/radio adds that all try to lure people into their buildings.

Inside the buildings we have fancy multimedia presentations, music only sung by pretty/amazingly talented people, bookstores, and mini starbucks selling coffee to wake people up to hear a polished message by a professional speaker we call the pastor.

It all seems like we are trying to sell something, doesn’t it?

I know people who use high pressure tactics to “convince” others that Jesus is what they need. They think that they can debate others into believing. They seem to think that following Jesus is just head knowledge. You understand a few concepts, you pray some prayer and boom.

Are we going about this all wrong?

If Jesus is who He says He is, do we have to lure people into a building or an event to “sell” Him?

It seems to me that in the Bible people were naturally drawn to Jesus because of who He was, and what He did in their lives. Why aren't people being drawn to this Jesus?

Could it be that we have an entire generation of Christians that don’t have lives that reflect Jesus, and are no longer attractive to the world? So... they are using other things to attract people to our sales pitches?

In that blog I was reading Floyd says...

“When it is let loose in our lives it has a way of infecting everyone it comes in contact with.”

Why isn’t this happening?
Why isn’t the church infecting anyone?

Could the Jesus they have bought, be a counterfeit? Could that be why people aren't attracted to Jesus any more?

I think if followers of Jesus really want to impact the world, they need to quit putting on big events, doing fancy weekly shows called “sunday services”, going door to door as salesman... and get back to loving people in their everyday lives.

And when I say this, I’m talking to myself as much as I’m talking to anyone else.

Floyd is right! When Jesus is real and alive in our lives, it is contagious no matter where we go.

What if LIFE was the program. What if LIFE is the event. What if LIFE is the building. What if LIFE is the best context to spread the good news that Jesus is the way.

It seems to me... this is what Jesus and his followers did in the New Testament.

The great writer CS Lewis said it best...

“The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christ's. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose.”

Let’s get back to showing the world Jesus through our lives... and lets get away from selling the world something else.

PS: If you are reading this, and do not happen to believe in Jesus, I personally want to apologize for how the church has tried to sell Jesus to you. I hope you would forgive those that may have ruined your view of Jesus. And I would encourage you to read the New Testament for yourself and see who Jesus really is.

Thoughts on the parade

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:21:20 -0400

Last weekend we had the Farmers Festival here in our town. It’s always a great time. Lots of excitement... crowning of the festival queen... the art show...the Bob Seger cover band... farmapalooza... the mechanical bull at the party tent... cotton candy... fireworks...tractor pull... and of course the parade.

My kids love the parade for all the right reasons... tons of candy! Everybody in the parade throws out lots of candy for the kids and it’s very cool. This year we came home with over 4 pounds of candy. I’m not kidding!

Some cool floats this year...the corn maze truck was sweet! It has a cheese burger on the roof, a rooster on the front, and an alien on the side. Not sure how all those go together but it was way cool.

The Ricola men were cool too...

You can’t see it in this picture but on the semi truck bed, there is a full band playing along. Totally awesome in my book!

And then there were the tractors...

It being the “farmers festival”... means there were more tractors in this parade than any parade in the history or time. I wish I had an old tractor to just drive around town!

But something really struck me this year at the parade. It was how the local church was representing itself to the community.

This one was doing a good job I think...

Their float was rocking with music, and tons of objects made from recycled stuff, people in tyedyed shirts, lots of candy... way cool. It actually won float of the year, and I didn’t get a good picture of it, just the back “Care For Gods Earth”.

And then there was this float...

No candy, no music, just a mini replica of their building on a trailer with puttputt plastic green grass.

And this one...

At least this one had some people on there throwing candy to the kids. But there it was again, a mini replica of a building. Almost looks the same as the other float, white with black roof and a steeple.

And so my gears began to crank. My frustration began to creep back. Why do so many churches promote a building instead of Jesus.

I’ve seen these floats and others like them in many parades over the years. And I just wonder why people are so in love with their white buildings.

Do people really think that a mini model of their building is a great way to represent Jesus?

I didn’t see any farmers with mini models of their barns. I didn’t see any banks, hospitals, or businesses with mini models of their buildings... no not one. I didn’t see anyone else in the parade have a mini model of their buildings.

But for some reason churches like to do this.

I wonder if they think people will flock to their buildings when the see their “cool” mini models?

What does this say about the Church in rural America?

Are we obsessed with our buildings? Are we telling people that Church is the Building?

If we really believed that “we” are the Church... what would that float look like?

And I’ll close with this last picture from the parade. This guy, and usually his wife, drive every year thru the parade in this car, waving bibles out the windows, blaring hymns...

Oh and for those wondering about the gray car... no candy!

Can’t wait for the parade next year!

simple church

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:31:36 -0400

“When the solution is simple, God is answering.”
albert einstein

What is simple church?
When I read the new testament I see simple Church. When I look at mission work all over the globe, Mozambique, China, and India... I see simple Church. I see a Church without man-made barriers. I see a Church that can’t exist without the holy spirit. I see disciples being multiplied. I see God’s light being taken into dark places. I see Jesus being the head of the body. I see a simple Church.

Simple church is a re-definition of “church” in the western traditional context. Asking the question “what is Church”, then stripping it down to the bare necessities.

Neil Cole calls it “organic church”, and he explains it like this...
Instead of putting on a show and expecting everyone to come to us, the Organic Church takes the Kingdom to places where there are lost people and lives the Kingdom life among them and doesn’t shy away from the gospel of the Kingdom. The lives that are drawn to Christ through that experience become the new church in that environment.

Simple Church is discipleship driven. It is thru these relationships that lives are set free, and families and communities are transformed for Christ. And it is thru disciples, that more disciples are made, and churches are multiplied.

Simple Churches can meet anywhere. Some meet in homes. Some in restaurants. Some in bars. Some in city parks. Some under trees. Some at work. But all meet together in the name of Jesus. Most gatherings have less than 20 people.

Robert Fitts explains gatherings well in his book “The Church in The House”...
No frills. No Ceremony. No rituals. No symbolism. It is simply a time for the people of God to come together with Jesus in the midst. They talk. They sing. They pray. They eat a meal together. They take the holy communion together and study the Bible. They share what God is doing in their lives. They intercede for people and for all kinds of needs all over the world. They minister one to another through the gifts God has given each one. They love one another and seek to encourage and build each other up in their faith.

What simple church is not.
1. Simple Church is not a smaller version of the traditional sunday service. It’s something different.
2. Simple Church is not “better than” traditional church. It’s just another expression of Church.
3. Simple Church is not inward focused. Groups are born “pregnant”, looking for ways to reach the lost and give birth to new disciples.
4. Simple Church is not always the same thing as “house church”. House churches tend to have a reputation of being filled with disgruntled Christians that sit around and talk bad about the “institutional church”. Simple Church is not about this at all. Simple Churches are not limited to just meeting in homes, they can meet anywhere.
5. Simple Church is not “perfect”. People are messy, and if “we are the Church”, then the Church will reflect this.
6. Simple Church is not an easier way of doing church. By spending more time focusing on less people, it can be more difficult.
7. Simple Church is not a program. Life “is the program”. Simple Churches do not create programs to bring lost people to church. Instead they go where lost people already are, and they connect with them there.

I know that this is just a brief summary of Simple Church, and not everything is talked about here. But it needs to start somewhere, and honestly I don’t know everything about Simple Church. I’m not claiming to be an expert... just a guy who has been called in this direction, and is willing to go. As I learn, explore, and live, I hope it shows others that God is real, and that he still speaks to us today!

(One last thing about Simple/Organic Church... I’m really sick of labels and models, but if I was to just say Church, most people would have a different picture in their mind of what I’m talking about here. So I’m using the label Simple Church, even though I don’t really like it. I just like that it’s something that every follower can do, and it doesn’t require all the hoops the traditional Church makes people jump through. I really want my faith to be more simplistic, and I’m hoping this direction helps.)

If you’re interested in learning more about the Organic Movement, some good books to check out...

Organic Church, Niel Cole
Revolution, George Barna
Church Without Walls, Jim Petersen
The Church In the House, Robert Fitts
New Testament, Bible