The Church Cannot Compete With the World

It has become increasingly popular in churches to model their guest services and children’s ministry environments after places like Disney World, Chucky Cheese, or theme parks. After all, these places are a magnet for kids and are very successful.

I’ll admit that church leaders can learn a lot from these kinds of places. But I want to PUSH BACK against the notion that we have to look like Nickelodeon or spend money like Disney to reach kids. The fact of the matter is that no church can compete with the world on that level; the world has more money, more resources, and more bells & whistles than the church will ever have. Nor should we try. This isn’t an excuse to be lazy or lame – it’s just reality.

However, there IS one area where we can always do a better job than the world in reaching people, especially children and students:

Relationships.

A vicarious relationship with Hannah Montana or a cool set of strobe lights will never impact a child’s life the way that a COMMITTED CARING SMALL GROUP LEADER will. Funny YouTube videos or even Christian concerts may get kids talking for a day or two, but life change happens because a CARING ADULT IS INVOLVED in their lives. Even when it comes to guest services on Sunday morning – we can give away coffee mugs and Starbucks gift cards to first time guests to the point of breaking the budget, but apart from THE GOSPEL and establishing MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS with people, they will only be impressed but not changed.

This is why we must always keep the main thing the main thing. We want to see lives changed. We want to take people who are far from God and turn them into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Yes, we should open the doors with a smile, serve coffee generously, and program well. But let’s not leave God out of the equation, and let’s get directly involved in people’s lives.

My Prayer Journal...

I pulled out my prayer journal last week. It was buried deep in my book bag that I carry around. It's leather bound and well-worn. But I will confess, it has been a little while since my last entry. So I read my way though some of the thoughts I have recorded over the years. It was like catching up with an old friend. A flood of memories came rushing back as I read about and relived past events; Hurricane Ivan, Hurricane Dennis, the collapse of our church building, the excitement of moving into the building, our church’s Ten-Year Hiccup, a few family crises, personal struggles, my meditations, prayer requests, answered prayers, and outpourings of gratitude to God. I was once again reminded of something I don’t always recognize – God is always there.

My prayer journal is a travelogue of my spiritual journey. It contains the ups and downs I go through. I show my emotions in there, confess many sins, and record my prayers. If you are like me you have a hard time keeping your thoughts on track during prayer, especially when you are praying in your head. Putting my thoughts on paper helps keep the task at hand. Writing out my prayers takes a little longer than thinking them and forces me to be clear. Written prayers become deeply embedded in my mind.

Prayer journaling helps me to be more reflective about how I feel and what I’m thinking. It also helps me keep an open mind and heart so that I am better able to hear what God expects of me. My prayer journal is a running conversation with God. At other times it just contains random thoughts.

Writing about these experiences and re-visiting later helps me to gain clarity about my relationship with God, myself, and others. In some ways it is a journey of self-understanding. More importantly, it contains evidence of God’s work in my life.

I'm glad I dusted this book off. It's time to start jounaling again.

Sunday Mind Dump - July 11, 2010

• Church was good today. Attendance was 449 – pretty good for the dead of summer.
  
  
• Preached from Romans 12:1-2 on the topic of surrender. The message title was “A Living Sacrifice & the Heart of Worship.” We learned from this text what God expects from us. After saving our soul He begins His work of sanctification – working from the inside out – and expects that we surrender our Body to Him, our Mind, and our Will. This is all-encompassing and is what a surrendered life looks like.
  
  
• After the message someone told me that they really enjoyed the illustration of surrender – i.e., That everyone surrenders to someone or something. If we don’t surrender to God, we’ll surrender to the opinions or expectations of other people, money, lust, pride, ego, etc.
  
  
• Another couple told me they really liked the thought of dethroning yourself and putting Jesus on the throne of your life.
  
  
• Several people picked up CDs of the message and told me they were going to give them to friends or family members who needed that Word.
  
  
• I just got home from a workers meeting where we talked about security issues related to the Sunday morning services. It was very productive and I especially liked seeing the high level of interest being demonstrated by everyone. This is very encouraging to me. We’ve got some good people at PCC.
  
  
• We are taking a three-pronged approach to security: (1) The Children’s Environment (2) A Background Check for all children’s workers (3) and All-Building Security.
  
  
• Here’s how it fleshes out: (1) The children’s ministry environment is now a totally secure area with new check-in & check-out procedures – Ann Lewis is the team leader. (2) All children’s workers are filling out applications and must pass a background check – Gene Tharp is responsible for this process (3) We are implementing an Emergency Response Plan in the event of a medical emergency, a combative person, fire, bad weather, etc – Wayne Orr is the team leader.
  
  
• A lot of summer colds are going around right now.
  
  
• Today was a good day at PCC for me.
  
  
• I’m not only thankful for the friends God has placed in my life, I’m also thankful for the mentors I have learned from.
  
  
• I am specifically praying for three things regarding PCC. I can’t say what they are right now; they have to remain unspoken for now. But I would like to ask you to join me in prayer. God knows what it is.
  
  
• PCC could not exist if it were not for all the key people who make it happen.
  
  
• More and more every day I am learning the importance of honoring the boundaries that I have established in my life. They do me no good if I don’t observe and enforce them.
  
  
• I hope to take a 1-or-2 week vacation in August. That’s anniversary month for Renae and I.
  
  
• I’m thinking about getting around to doing something that I have considered doing for more than a decade: a once-a-month leadership training and development event. It might be called Leadership Summit, or S.A.L.T (Strategic Advanced Leadership Training), or C.O.R.E, or Leadership Advance. This is how it would work: once a month on a Sunday evening we would gather for an hour or two of intense teaching on the importance of spiritual leadership. It would include testimonies and reports from the field and ministry departments at PCC. There would be vision-casting by the pastor, skill-development and leadership training. Also included would be teaching on the Biblical requirement for elders and church leaders, as well as the commissioning of new lay ministers. The benefit for you personally would be enormous, and it would be very good for our church too because we would raising up new leaders for PCC.
  
  
• Would you be interested in something like this? Let me know. Leave a comment.
  
  
• I’m excited about the potential of PCC. I don’t know what to expect, but I do know that God is doing some awesome things right now and it’s only going to get better.
  
  
• My mind is racing like wild about all the things I want to blog about.
  
  
• We need to make some changes in the SCHEDULING of all our VOLUNTEERS who serve on our ministry teams. There are at least ELEVEN ministry teams in our church that are dependent upon volunteers to serve in the rotation. More than ¾ of these teams CHANGE workers EVERY SINGLE WEEK. This is killing us. It is a nightmare for the department head (or team leader) trying keep warm bodies plugged-in every week, and it also creates a lack of consistency (even instability) in the ministry teams. Very often they feel “wobbly.” In response, we are going to be moving all of our ministry teams towards a MONTH-LONG rotation instead. With this kind of consistency our performance would go up exponentially. This CAN be done. Four Sundays in a row is not too much to ask. And given the fact that we offer two services each Sunday, it means that no one would EVER have to miss church.
  
  
• Our motto: ATTEND ONE and SERVE ONE.
  
  
• I’m also thinking about restarting something we used to do, but stopped about three years ago. It was called NEWCOMERS COFFEE (or sometimes called “Pastors Chat”). This was a once-a-month informal coffee in my home for all guests and newcomers who had visited PCC in the last month. The first 25 to sign up would be invited to my home on a Sunday night It was always a lot of fun and highly successful for us. But we had to stop it when the event got too big – my home simply could not accommodate the crowds. I’ve been rethinking this and thought we might could host the event in the atrium on Sunday night.
  
  
• What do you think? Would it be helpful? Let me know. Leave me a comment.
  
  
• Ron & Carole Bryant are doing an excellent job with our hospitality services on Sunday morning. Be sure to tell them so.
  
  
• I enjoyed the song service today. The last song we did (You Are God) is a song we used on our very first Sunday in 1998.
  
  
• Going to get up early tomorrow morning and run 3.5 miles.
  
  
• After the two-week painting project our house is slowly going back together. Next Saturday we are having a major garage sale.
  
  
• As excited as I am about PCC, I am really excited about the fajitas I’m fixing to eat.

Friday Five

1. This Sundays Message: A Living Sacrifice & the Heart of Worship. Based on Romans 12:1-2. We will learn what a living sacrifice is, what the heart of worship is, and the three areas of our lives that God requires we surrender to His will. Only then can we become an acceptable offering to Him.

2. Will be starting a new series soon. I’m working on something I am going to simply call “Rabbi.”

3. For the last two weeks our house has been being repainted. The whole inside. It was a big job. Donnie Smith did the painting – excellent work. Renae and I have moved a ton of junk in and out, and from place to place. Everything we own is piled up in the garage. The painting was just finished yesterday. Now we get to put everything back. Oh, joy. Think we’ll have a giant garage sale Saturday.

4. The church building is full of people today. The regular Friday crew has come to clean, set up, etc. About twelve people. This is always the last push in preparation for Sunday. Couldn’t do it without these great workers.

5. Rethinking Our Future. The biggest hindrance to future success is PAST success. Because something worked in the past, the tendency is to keep doing the same thing in the present believing it will bring success in the future. Not always so. Times change. Churches change. The context changes. We're putting a lot of things on the drawing board right now.

Wisdom for Pastors....

• Misusing ANY doctrine to excuse evangelistic apathy and defend ones failure to witness to the lost is exegetical apostasy.
  
  
• If you genuinely love people, you will have to lock the doors to keep people away. People always flock to places where Christ-like love is given.
  
  
• A church stays small when a pastor uses an outdated preaching style. God has called you for today's hearers, not 500 or 50 yrs ago.
  
  
  

Texting While Driving

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Five Reasons I Give to Pace Community Church

In addition to being the founding pastor of PCC, I am also a member who financially contributes to the ministry here. I give at least 10% of my pre-tax income (from all sources) to the church that I belong to. Here are five reasons why:

1. First, I believe in the mission of PCC. I’m very glad to be part of a church that really cares about reaching people who are far from God. This is a church that doesn’t just give lip service to evangelism, we put our money where our mouth is. Every time I hear another story about a family put back together, or a teenager who decides to follow Christ, or a man who finally gets back in church after 30 years away, I know my contributions played a small part. The lives of people are being changed by the power of God through he ministry of PCC, and I’m glad to be involved. Jesus said that our treasure would follow our heart, and since my heart is in this church I want to financially support it.

2. Secondly, I want to model an example to my family and the congregation of PCC. I’m so tired of hearing people complain about the younger generation of today. In many respects they are simply following our example. I don’t want selfish children or selfish church members who are concerned only with their iPods, new cloths, stereo systems, and other toys. I want my family and the PCC family to be generous and care about other people. That doesn’t happen by accident. Someone has to model an example in front of them. I can’t tell others not to be selfish and then spend 100% of my paycheck on myself only.

3. Third, I give because God commands me to give. In the Old Testament God commanded His people to tithe and obedience to this plan was not optional. In the New Testament Jesus endorsed tithing as something to be done. We are instructed to give by being motivated by love and generosity. Jesus talked about a lot about giving. Paul talked about giving. So when we tithe, give, and bring offerings today, we are following the pattern given in the Bible. “Because the Bible tells me so” is a pretty good reason for me.

4. Fourth, to position myself for God’s blessings & protection. God said He will rebuke the devourer for my sake if I am faithful in giving. I need this kind of protection. I am not rich enough, smart enough, or powerful enough to secure my family’s financial future by my own efforts. So it is very important to me that I position myself under God’s umbrella of blessings and protection.

5. Fifth, So I can hear God say one day, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I want to hear God say “well done” in Bible reading, soul winning, leading well, feeding this flock, being faithful, and all the other things that go with being a Christian. But I also want to hear Him say “well done” when it comes to faithful stewardship because that is as much a part of my Christian life as anything else is.

Tomorrow....

Tomorrow I will be posting two blogs:

• The Sovereignty of God in Salvation
• The Free Will of Man
  
  

Sunday Mind Dump - July 4th, 2010

• Happy 4th of July! Hope you and your family had a good day.
  
  
• After church this afternoon Renae and I had some family and friends over for dinner. We grilled chicken, pork sausage, kabosa sausage, baby back ribs, steak, pineapple, and corn. In addition we had mashed potatoes, creamed corn, strawberries and shortcake, and garlic bread. Pretty fine eating. BTW, I did not eat anything sweet. But it was still a pretty good spread.
  
  
• The month of June has been a very long month for me. Things got pretty hectic and almost spiraled out of control. I couldn’t slow it down and as a result, some other important things have fallen behind. Hope to correct that in July. Time to take the bull by the horns.
  
  
• In the second service today a man YELLED at ME from the congregation. It was his first time at church and was a total stranger to me. I was saying something about “common sense taking flight” in our society today and he yelled out (at me) something about condoms. Okay, this was a freak-out moment. It stunned everyone. I turned to the man, pointed my finger at him and almost yelled back at him. It was very awkward and tense. Instead, I just moved on with my message because he quieted down. I started looking around and could not find an able bodied man to escort this guy out, or even go sit near him. So I kept on going with my message until I finished. After I dismissed service, this guy decides to comes to the font towards me, and he does so very rapidly down the isle as I’m trying to come off the platform. I thought, “Something bad is about to happen.” So instead of waiting for him to get to me, I started towards him just as rapidly and met him in a way that interrupted his pace. He said, “My name is so-and-so.” I said, “I’ve got to tell you something, you were way out of order with your outburst and it startled everyone in the room. We don’t do that here.” He apologized saying, “Yes, I know I should not have said that.” We continued the conversation and it ended well. He said he would be back.
  
  
• This experience UNDERSCORES the point of how quickly THINGS CAN GET OUT OF HAND in a church service. Just when you start relaxing and everybody cuts out for July 4th activities, then BAM! – a stranger shows up in the second service and creates a scene.
  
  
• I also realized something else; if someone is going to get out of hand in a church service, they might be more likely to do it in the second service (like today) because there are fewer people in the building and there is less of a show of force.
  
  
• I’m not crying wolf, here. This really happened, and it happened today.
  
  
• Last Wednesday night we had vandalism at our church. Someone was cutting doughnuts in the parking lot, leaving rubber on the pavement. We could see the numerous skid marks that indicated they were doing it again and again. The car must have eventually spun out of control because it slid sideways into a white rail fence and busted it completely down. Posts, rails, post caps, and bushes were scattered all over the place. Did this vandal leave us a note, offering to pay? No.
  
  
• Yesterday, Saturday, was a good day. Started at 7:00 AM with a 3.5 mile run. Afterwards I did a lot of yard work. Then Renae and I mowed 3 acres of grass on a lot we own (and hope to build on). I then shoveled a half trailer load of dirt, twice; once when I shoved it in, and once as I shoveled it out. I used the dirt to back fill the retaining wall I recently built. Then I went to Home Depot and bought 20 bales of pine straw, came home and spread them in the flowers beds. The day ended at 7:00 PM. I felt like I burned one million calories yesterday.
  
  
• I love the summer because of the long days. And I like doing hard strenuous work outdoors.
  
  
• In the month of July I will be conducting a series of meetings that will include all staff, department heads, and maybe even all-workers. There are some things we need to talk about, some things we need to clean up, some things we need to improve, and some things we need to change.
  
  
• These meetings will include security related issues and background checks for all age-level workers. Some changes in personnel will also take place. There will be changes in some of the schedules and activities we do. There will be time changes for the Sunday services. I’m also going to be giving a talk entitled, “It’s About the Weekend.” I want to be sure that everyone is putting their best effort into the Sunday morning experience first. Otherwise, we will end up spreading ourselves too thin which always results in mediocrity across the board. I also want to talk about our mission because I think some mission drift has set in.
  
  
• Having said that, I also want to add that - RIGHT NOW - Pace Community Church HAS THE BEST TEAM we’ve ever had. The current cadre of leaders, staff members, department heads, and workers are the best that we have had in our twelve year history. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go over the last decade, but this is the best team yet. Some of the people have been with us since the beginning, others are newer. But collectively, this current team represents the best we’ve ever had. They are highly motivated and enthusiastic about their roles. They have a “can do” attitude about getting the job done. Most go above and beyond the call of duty. They serve selflessly and give sacrificially. They love their church, embrace its mission, and are not troublemakers. From my perspective, this is ENORMOUS. Amazing things can be accomplished for the kingdom of God with a team of people like this. The only thing that is needed now is clear decisive leadership. I think people want to know “what are we doing?” and “where are we headed?” I hope to answer those questions very soon.
  
  

This Sunday

This Sunday is July 4th, Independence Day. It was on this day 234 years ago that the United State of America gained its independence from from Great Britain. We are a great nation and all Americans have much to be grateful for.

Yet, we are not without our problems either. As a society we are becoming increasingly godless. In spite of the unprecedented prosperity (in all of human history) that we as Americans enjoy, we are more selfish, greedy, ungrateful, and arrogant than ever before. And in some ways we are beginning to lose our conscience as a nation.

That's what I will be talking about this Sunday. "Does America Have a National Conscience?" In this message we will find out what happens when God is eliminated from our national conversation, and what we as Christians should be doing.