President's Speech

I was watching the news tonight about the President Obama's Speech to Congress regarding Health Care Reform. Now I don't know where you fall on this debate, but it doesn't really matter. To be honest, I'm more concerned about the inability of our leadership to work together to come up with solutions. I mean let's be real, for some people it's too late. There are people, right here in the US who are being overlooked. They are starving for medical attention and even dying from curable diseases. This is more than politics and far more than economics, this is morality! How can we sit back and do nothing? Worse yet, how can we allow our own civilities to be eroded away by simple issues. That really speaks to a great problem that is systemic to our entire political system and that is how our lawmakers interact with one another. No wonder they're not passing meaningful legislation. In the President's speech one Republican Congressman yelled out, "You Lie." This isn't the Dark Ages! You have a time and a place for your response. You have no right to say it then and there. That is inappropraite and it leads us down a VERY slippery slope to chaos and chaos will get us nowhere!

It saddens me. I'm not real worried about Health Care. I'm not terribly concerned about taxes or the economy. But I am deeply concerned about how we go about treating one another to work on these issues because they are setting the example for our nation, and most likely the entire world, that the way we treat others is not important. Love, respect, and the simple appreciation for human dignity is unimportant. If that's the example that our leaders are setting, what do you think a 13 year old in a struggling family is going to start to hear? What do you think a parent desparate to feed their children is going to hear? What do you think the average American is going to hear when things get tough? They're going to hear that the rules don't apply. They're going to hear that anything goes. They're going to hear that we're in the jungle and the Big Fish doesn't just swim by the little fish. If he's hungry he can eat him. And that concerns me. I'm not exactly a little fish, but I know there's always a bigger fish. So I ask you, what do you see in this debate? What concerns you? Is it the issue at hand? Or is it the underlying issue that's preventing us from making any significant progress?

Surviving Life's Losses

This week we looked at how Jesus dealt with death. We checked out John 11 and the death and resurrection of Lazarus to see how God comforts those who lose loved ones. So what did you think about it? Did you miss the message? You can read it here. But what are your thoughts? Were we on track?

Has it been that Long...

It's been a while since I've put a posting up on my blog. To my loyal readers (all two of you - my mother and wife :) I apologize. But, in my time away I've been doing some really cool stuff. For example, just last week I was down in Orlando, Florida on a church planters conference called, Exponential. And for those who have never been to a church conference, I have to tell you it is one of the coolest places I've ever been. Now before you start picturing a bunch of middle-aged, bald guys walking around in clerical collars talking about a bunch of deep theological issues, let me re-frame the picture for you. There were 3,000 Christians who were all deeply devoted to Christ. They walked around in shorts, t-shirts, golf shirts, and sandals, and they were all about networking. Who can you meet? What problems have they solved? How can I help them and they help me? It was absolutely great. And for all those who weren't as fortunate as me to attend, I want to share a video with you. This was the introduction to the final speaker...and I have to say, he lived up to the hype!!!

Food for Thought

I got an e-mail this week with some very interesting quotes in it and I think they need to be shared. One of my goals as a leader of the church is that I want the community to see the church being the church, not just doing church, and these quotes help reinforce my reasoning.

• “I want to make a difference. I don’t want to talk about being like Jesus. I want to be like Jesus. I have yet to find a church that really does what Jesus said to do. Most churches I have been a part of waste their time arguing about what Jesus said.”
  
  
• “I want to be part of a church that matters. I want to be part of a church that saves both lives and souls. I want a church to teach me how to help as many people as I can.”
  
  
• “Real religion isn’t about who is ’saved’ and who is ‘going to hell.’ Real religion is who is loved, and fed, and listened to, and respected. It isn’t enough to pray for somebody’s soul when they are hungry and sick. The church I used to go to regularly prayed for the hungry, but I never really prayed until I prayed with the hungry before serving them a meal.”
  
  
• “A passive Christian faith is of little or no interest. It is the urgency of the need that results in a radical discipleship.”

Getting to Know Him

Over the past few days, I've found myself talking to more than a few people about "church growth" strategies. Everyone wants to talk about how to grow the church and how to bring more people to Christ. And it really is a wonderful thing, but I found myself time and again telling them that as I step back and look at the places that have had success, and as I look at the momentum that our South Hanover campus is gaining, I am more and more convinced that it is ALL about relationships. To my knowledge, there is only one family that came through our doors because of of a postcard or a banner that they saw on the roadside. The vast majority of people that have come through our doors are there because someone invited them. Someone they know and trust said, "hey, why don't you check out our church." And I am convinced that that is the only way that a church can grow.

Look at scripture. In Matthew 16:15-18, Jesus has an exchange with Peter:

¹⁵ "But what about you?" he [Jesus] asked. "Who do you say I am?"

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

¹⁷ Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of death will not overcome it.

In this passage, Jesus shows Peter that he doesn't care what other people think about him. He cares about what Peter thinks about him. He cares about the relationship he has established with one of his closest disciples. Jesus notes, "you are Peter [which means rock] and on this rock I will build my church..." In other words, on Peter, on my relationship with him, on my love for him, on his trust in me, I will build my church. And the key to building churches is just the same--relationships.

I've found over the past few weeks that relationships are key. As you get to know people and you learn their likes and dislikes, their strengths and weaknesses, the intimacy grows and they become more comfortable. The same is true of their faith. As a Christian matures, their relationship with Christ becomes more solid. They know his likes and dislikes, their intimacy grows and their spirit becomes more comfortable with God. So the answer to the question is simple. If you want to get to know HIM, get to know them.