Red Rover

Do you remember playing red rover as a kid?  I remember playing a few times in elementary school, along with red light-green light, tag, and hide 'n seek.  These were fun games.

Red rover was my favorite though, because it required teamwork.  For the "speed-challenged" kids, this was a way to be on a winning team.  Do you remember how it worked?

Two teams were formed and kids would stand hand-in-hand in lines facing each other.  One team would call out, "Red rover, red rover, send Susie right over!"  When they called out Susie's name, she had to run across from her team to the other and try to break through the line.  If the team could "catch" her, they could keep her.  If she broke through though, she got to take another person back over to her team.  Eventually, one side would keep everybody, and everybody got to be a winner.

Kind of like the church...

No, not the institution of the church, but the community of Christ followers, bound together by the Holy Spirit.  We stand, hand-in-hand (ideally) facing the rest of the world.  We call out a name, we share our faith, we serve others - and one by one, people run our way.  Our goal is to "catch" those people and make them a part of the Church (again, not the institution, but the community).

At Mt. Bethel, we're talking about evangelism.  Too often, in this game of red rover, we spend too much time enjoying holding hands to call people over.  Or even worse, we consume our time refusing to hold hands so we can call people over.  When we have our act together though, our purpose is to call people out of the world and invite them into a relationship with Christ.

Once we start calling people over, we learn that that is the easy part.  My question to you is, "once someone starts running your way, do you know how to catch them?"

Imagine a salesman.  He knows his product well and it's a great product.  He has a friendly face and people like to engage in conversation with him.  He has a weakness though.  He can't close the deal.  He is incapable of asking someone if they would like to buy his product.  How long do you think this salesman is going to have a job?  How much commission do you think he's going to take home with him?

See where I'm headed?

If we pray for opportunity to reach others for Christ and we do invite them, are we able to close the deal?  If an unchurched friend came to you today and asked about your faith and how to become a part of that faith, what would you tell them?  Would you be able to tell them about Jesus and the love of God?  Would you be able to lead them through claiming that for themselves?

Red rover is a losing game if you can't figure out how to catch those who run your way.  That's tragic when you consider that we're playing for the Kingdom of God.

"It's Like Family Here..."

I read something thought-provoking this morning.  Part of my study for the sermon series I'm in the midst of is reading Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism.  Martha Grace Reese spent years of note-taking in the trenches of the local churches all across the country to put together this project.

The chapter I'm on is a dangerous one - it's about the true health of relationships within the congregation and how that impacts our ability to be evangelists.  She says that "churches where people snap, snipe, pull power plays over the budget, then go home to fried preacher for Sunday supper don't do good evangelism for the long haul!"

What really got me is that one church that appeared healthy, but proved not to be authentically healthy once you dug a little deeper, was one where several of the people made the comment that "it's like family here."

I laughed when I read it, and if your experience has been like mine, you probably are laughing too.  The statement that "it's like family here" is the number one excuse to NOT do evangelism in the local church.  If we were to make a pullstring doll resembling a stereotypical church-goer, this would be one of the three sayings for the doll, along with, "Good sermon preacher" and, "We've never done it that way before."

Let's examine that statement for just a moment: It's like family here.  Now, think about your family.  Not just your immediate family, but the whole group that gets together for a family funeral.

My mother's Aunt Phyl passed away two weeks ago.  Family from all over the lower 48 converged on the small Indiana town where she and Uncle Marvin lived.  Now, understand that this is probably the more "normal" side of my family (sorry Dad).  My grandfather was one of four children who grew up in an Indiana farming family during the Great Depression.  There were two sons, Dick and Rex (Uncle Dick is a story for another post - let's just say they broke the mold on that one).  There were two daughters, Phyllis and Barbara.  Each went on to get married, have children, and build their own lives. 

Within that family, we have a portion that we affectionately pass from person to person.  The rule is that the last person to marry into the family officially becomes the relative of these people.  The rest of us do our best to retain deniability for these family members, simply because they're weird.  My Uncle Miguel was the last to marry into the family for 20+ years, so for that time, he kept his "inheritance."  After that time, I was the first to get married from my generation, so when the wedding rehearsal dinner came around, he presented, with much pomp and circumstance, a certificate of ownership to my bride-to-be.  You could tell he had been waiting a long time for that moment. 

That sounds harsh, and I assure you that it's all in fun.  It's a joke that we've gotten many miles out of and will continue to get miles out of as long as somebody remembers the people we're passing along.

The decendents of this part of the family, I'm told, had a singing contest at my great-aunt's funeral service.  Picture Cousin Eddie from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and you're getting the idea.  Yes, someone like Eddie really does exist, camper and all.

I love my family, but I'm not sure that this is the best image for a healthy church.  If my family spent that much time together each week and lived in such close proximity, someone would go to jail for murder. 

Is this the best we can do as the church?  Am I expected to WANT to spend that much time with crazy cousin Eddie?  Or is the church supposed to be something more? 

No, I don't think it will be utopian.  Conflict is an inevitable part of life.  But if you're suggesting that we shouldn't grow and reach others because you might lose that sense of family, you're lying to yourself. 

Church should rise above what we know to be family.  It should be the example for families to aspire to - where the member's actions, growth, and initiatives are supported.  Where love, support, and accountability can be found. 

"While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, 'Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.'  He replied to him, 'Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?'  Pointing to his disciples, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.'" (Matthew 12:46-50)

Bodies

I know that I haven't posted since May 3rd.  I also know that I spend way too much time apoligizing for not writing more on this blog.  My goal this year was to post at least once per week, but once May hit, I found myself nearly speechless.

Early this month, Erin and I got to go on a date with two good friends of ours.  We took the day and went to Atlantic Station in the city to see the Bodies exhibit and take Erin to California Pizza Kitchen.  We also took the opportunity to walk through Ikea and John and I tried out all the chairs.

The Bodies exhibit was really amazing - if you're ever near it, I'd recommend it.  Having grown up with a mom who is a nurse and other family members in the medical field, then becoming a pastor who frequently visits church members at the hospital, I feel like I've learned a good bit about the human body.  I've always found our systems facinating and a good insight into the character of God. 

If you've never heard of the Bodies exhibit, their website explains it this way:

This Exhibition--which features actual human specimens--allows people of all ages access to sights and knowledge normally reserved only for medical professionals. Take the opportunity to peer inside yourself, to better understand how your elaborate and fascinating body works, and how you can become a more informed participant in your own health care.

The first room you enter begins by displaying our skeletal system.  The plaques and posters on the walls give bits of information on everything you see.  The next area shows off the muscles of the body.  Then the nerves and brain, the veins and arteries, the heart, the reproductive system, and so on.  They actually found a way to remove the nerves from a human body intact.  Likewise with our blood vessels. 

As we walked through, I couldn't help but think how magnificently and intricately God has created us.  The way that our organs all work together and the capacity of each to do its job is unfathomable.  In the midst of so much science, it was undeniable that our phisiology is no cosmic accident, but the work of a Supreme Craftsman.

Then I was reminded that, though we are beautiful and a tribute to God's love, we are not perfect.  Just three days later (a day after my last post), on May 4th, I watched a 36-year-old husband and father of two lose his fight against metastatic malignant melanoma.  For a year and a half, I witnessed his efforts to go through medical trial after medical trial, then chemo, and finally heavy doses of narcotics, all to try to fend off this unconquerable foe.  Jason's form of melanoma is considered incurable so far.  Some people have recovered from it, I know one of them, but those occurrances have never been able to be explained by doctors or researchers - they were true miracles. 

Early on May 4th, I went to see Jason at one of our local hospice centers.  They had stopped all treatments and the goal was for hospice to treat his breathing for a few days and send him home with 24-7 hospice care.  The end wasn't supposed to come that soon, and even at that point, we expected to still have a few more days, if not weeks, with Jason.  It wasn't so.  In just hours, he went downhill quickly and we witnessed him breathing his last just before four in the morning.

I've been asked by more people than I care to remember just how God could let this happen.  Why do such horrible things happen to people, especially those still in the prime of life?  Having wanted to shake my own fist toward the heavens, I needed to ask that question for myself.  I knew the answer as firmly as I know that 2+2=4, but grief is rarely that rational and explanations aren't always the best consolation.

The fact of the matter is that though our bodies are works of art, molded by the Potter, and set into motion with incredible internal timing, our bodies are still imperfect.  They fail, they slow down, they stumble, the fall, they fall apart, and eventually, they all die.  We are succeptible to cancer, viruses, and cholesterol.  None of that means that God loves us any less.  In fact, because of that, we are able to see God's love more clearly.

You see, God isn't even the cause of these things.  No, he didn't need one more angel in heaven.  Jason's work certainly wasn't done here.  It wasn't the wrath of God and God didn't have other plans for Jason.  His time wasn't up.

These things are a part of the reality we live in.  To blame God is to deny that his heart was broken too.  I believe that the God of love who created each of us with such grace is not a smiter or afflictor.  I think we do enough of that to ourselves.

So where was God in all of this?  He was by the side of Jason Capes.  Every step of the way, though none of us could feel what Jason was feeling, God could.  Though no one else could find the right words to say, God knew Jason's heart.  God doesn't cause bad things to happen to us, but because God is who he is, we never have to endure those things alone.

Now, God is walking beside Jason's wife, son, daughter, parents, sister, and everyone else that mourns his death.  We are not alone and we have certainly not been forsaken.

Book Review: Radical

I'm really diggin' the chance to preview books before their release date.  A new book coming out this week is Radical by David Platt.  The subtitle says alot about the book - "Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream".  It's a conversation that has come up many times in recent years simply because many of our churches have trouble distinguishing between the two.  Somewhere along the way we decided that a Patriotic American must be a Christian and that a Christian must be a Patriotic American.  To be critical of the American Dream at all disqualifies you to be a true follower of Christ in some circles.  Platt gets us back to differentiating between the two so we can seek a vibrant, deep faith that is true to the message of Christ and sometimes contradictory to our American ethic.

It's an excellent, and much-needed message for many in the American church today.  I realized this last summer when, on Independence Day weekend, the congregation weakly joined together for a well-known hymn, but joined in an sang aloud when one of our members sang "God Bless America" for the offertory.  It's clear that many Christians need to refocus on Christ.  Being an American is great and I know we are people of great privilege and opportunity, but Christ is more.  This is a fact that has evaded the preaching and the devotion of our churches for many years now.

Listen to David tell you about his book:



I thought it was a good book.  Well written with stories to illustrate every point.  The first chapter caught my attention and pulled me right into the book.  I really can't expect anything less from a pastor that has achieved as much as he has. 

The book makes really good points and like any good sermon it comes with a response at the end - an invitation if you will.  David invites his readers to join in what he calls The Radical Expirament - "a one year journey in authentic discipleship that will transform how you live in a world that desperately needs the Good News Jesus came to bring" (back cover).  There is a companion booklet and a small group study to go with it and I believe that if this takes hold and people will actually follow-through with this message and commit to doing something truly radical in their own lives for their faith, the world will be impacted in deep ways.  I hope and pray that it does.

Radical is on point when it comes to understanding that Jesus never promised to make things easy for us or that there would be a non-chalant avenue for us to have a meaningful relationship with Him.  It pushes you to think about the true message of Jesus - one that calls us to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus, even to Golgotha. 

The book is well-written, but a little slow in spots.  The chapters are short and good for reading in spurts.  The first chapter, as I mentioned before, will pull you in.  Some chapters make their thesis very clearly at the beginning, followed by several pages of stories that reiterate the point over and over again.  I found myself reading some chapters to get the point and moving on to the next.  This book is definitely worth reading, but don't let yourself get bogged down in his efforts to drive the point home. 

Waterbrook Multnomah has free copies of The Radical Question - Platt's supplement to the main book - for anyone who wants it (as long as supplies last).  You can get that and read the first chapter HERE.

*This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. Get your copy at the link on the right or HERE.

Free Books for Bloggers

I've found a good way to support my excessive reading habits.  If you're like me and your drug dealer wears a Barnes and Noble apron, I want to share these resources with you.  The only catch is that you have to be a blogger and your blog has to be approved by each of these programs.

Here's how it works.  You sign up for one, some, or all of these programs.  They approve you and then they send you books to review on your blog.  Some of the books will even be sent to you before their release date, so you can brag to your friends that you got the good stuff first.

First, there's Viral Bloggers.  This program is part of The Ooze, an online, emergent church forum/community.  The program is independent of any specific publisher, and they post new books on the first of each month.  Copies usually go fast, so don't waste any time.  I'm working on a copy of The Naked Gospel right now.

 

Then, there's Blogging for Books, a part of Waterbrook Multnomah publishers (a division of Random House).  Blogging for Books sends out emails when new books come available.  They select which ones they will offer you and you choose whether or not you want it.  This program is still relatively new, so they're working out some of the bugs, but I managed to get an early release copy of Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity.

Last, but certainly not least, is the most recent resource I've found.  Sign up for BookSneeze and Thomas Nelson publishers will let you select, one at a time, from some of their most recent releases.  I haven't gotten anything from them yet, but I anticipate getting The Hole in Our Gospel sometime next week.  Apparently, they'll even give you the opportunity to preview some of the Bibles they print.

Have fun and let me know how they turn out for you.  If you find any more resources like these, please share!

Moving Tradition Forward

"Do not ask, 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions."  (Ecclesiastes 7:10)

This verse is one of those gems that you read, almost forget, and rediscover some time later.  Every time I read it, I am reminded that God's best work still lies ahead.  Mark Beeson quoted this verse earlier this month on his blog and I had that experience of finding something I didn't know was missing, like pulling out your winter coat for the first time in November and finding $20 in the pocket.

The church I serve has a rich heritage.  Mt. Bethel was founded in the 1820's and officially established in 1833.  177 years later, the people of Mt. Bethel have claimed a number of traditions.  Next month, we'll celebrate Homecoming, on the third Sunday of May, and we'll invite a past Mt. Bethel pastor to preach before we enjoy a lunch of countless and sometimes mysterious casseroles.

If you ask anyone who has been a part of Mt. Bethel for very long about their tradition, they can tell you.  Diane, our Church Historian, knows the church and the area around it better than anyone else I've met.  When she looks around, she sees more than we do - she sees the general store on the corner that was torn down decades ago, the old plantation just up the road that is now a large subdivision, and the important people that I only know as headstones in the church's cemetery.  You can learn much about the psychology of a congregation when you know its traditions.

Tradition is vital to our understanding of God.  Every good Methodist knows that the Wesleyan Quadrilateral outlines the sources by which we derive our theology.  Scripture is our primary source of knowing God, but it's informed by our reason, our experience, and our tradition.  Tradition shows us how God has been present to those in need, how he has picked us up off the ground and dusted us off and how often he has offered us grace and mercy when we've done some ridiculous things. 

What tradition do you come from?  How does it shade your understanding of God?

I asked a candidate for ministry that question yesterday.  Some ministers and some churches see the shadows of their heritage and rather than living with and learning from those scars, they simply discard any tradition and try to be something completely "new."  Other ministers and churches embrace their tradition as the "good ole days" and try to convince the rest of us that there's nothing better than life in the 1950's (before cell phones, email, bad traffic, and integration). 

My next question to the candidate was, "How do you intend to move that tradition forward?"

The tradition that informs my understanding of God and the world is a conservative one.  I come from the first church on the city square with people and means.  Preaching was usually strong and always grace-filled.  These churches were usually in the middle of poverty-stricken communities and not the best at reaching out or drawing new people in.  But, once new people came in, they were the best at taking care of them.  I am the result of a community that nurtured and cared, that held me accountable and afforded me every opportunity to know God and serve him.

My tradition could be a little pretentious at times.  Easter was a hat-wearing competition for some of our ladies.  The youth group was cliquish at times.  The preacher was always someone with chevrons on the sleeves of his robe.  Brass memorial plaques were found in hallways, classrooms, offices, and of course, all over the sanctuary.

My tradition, though it was a good one that benefited me and serves me well now, is far from perfect.  If my life is going to make a difference and my ministry is going to be fruitful, I have to ask that second question - how will I move my tradition forward? 

I can do like many others - I can enforce tradition as law.  I can do the expected.  I can learn from the mistakes of those who came before me, but be unwilling to make some mistakes of my own.  I can do that, serve for 40 years and retire with a pat on the back from my Bishop and colleagues, but is that really good enough?  Is it enough to push the pause button on history and live with the security of knowing what comes next?

As the Church, we have not arrived at perfection, despite the self-praising of some Christians.  The truth is that our work is never done until every person knows Christ and has a relationship with Christ.  And guess what - people who don't know Christ are being born every day.

I figured up the other day that if the mandatory retirement age for United Methodist pastors stays at 70, I have 40 more years of ministry before I have to retire.  I've served for five years already.  I hope that in 2050, I'll be able to look back and know that my life's work has made a difference.  I pray that those who come after me will have a better tradition and heritage to claim because I was a part of it.

Don't ask, "Why were the good ole days better than these?"  That's a foolish question - today is another day on the way to God's Kingdom fully revealed on earth.  God's greatest plans for us still lie ahead if we will get off our tradition and drag it forward through the ages.

Book Review: This Little Prayer of Mine

What do children add to your church's life?  What have they taught you?  What are you teaching them?

Many parents today expect the church to teach them everything about God.  Parents gladly take a back-seat in hopes that their child has the right spiritual mentor.  The truth is that faith in God usually sticks better when a child can look at the difference it makes for their mom or dad.  Monday through Saturday, the way a parent lives their faith will make a more lasting impact, hands down.

Some parents become apprehensive when it comes to teaching their kids about spiritual matters.  We know how to teach our kids to recite the sing-song blessing before dinner, but what about teaching them to really pray?

I have a resource for you.  In February, Waterbrook-Multnomah released This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano.  It's a short, simple children's book, endorsed by the National Day of Prayer.  My kids love to read and be read to and this is a good discussion starter with any child.

Beyond "God is good" prayers, this book is one prayer, being prayed by a child, that covers several aspects or types of prayer from petition and intercession to repentance and thanksgiving.  In fact, this book is so well-rounded that parents may find themselves learning from it. This book is a good one for every home with kids. 

I've got an extra copy for a giveaway.  I'll give it to the first person with kids to leave a comment.  Leave your name, email address, and how many kids you have and I'll send this copy to you.

*This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.  Get your copy at the link on the right or HERE.