Tag Archives: church

Brothers, we are all broken

1 Feb

My heart is hurting for people who have been deeply hurt by a church in my area.  As a leader in a church I know that it is not hard to offend someone.  As someone who goes to a church I know that it is not hard to be offended.

But the stories that I am hearing lately are too much.  Church discipline is intended to ultimately be redemptive, to help people get closer to Jesus.  It’s not intended to show your power or authority over your followers.

Pastors can you please take a moment to pray for the people in your area who are hurting because of church leadership.  It’s not fair to those people that their image of Jesus is tarnished because of human agents.

The truth is that we are all incredibly broken people.  The grace of Jesus is the only thing that helps us get our lives back together.  Can we talk more about that?  Can we humbly recognize our need for Jesus?

Leaders, let’s get out of the way of people who are trying to find Jesus.  We are not meant to be gatekeepers of faith.  We are guides.  The only reason that we can guide anyone in their faith journey is because some one guided us.  That person was a broken human too.

Let’s be honest.

Let’s be humble.

Let’s celebrate Jesus’ transforming love and grace.

Let’s help people walk away from sin and towards the grace that we find in the Cross of Christ.

I think that’s what people are looking for when they come to church for the first time.

Love.

Hope.

Healing.

Forgiveness.

Compassion.

Community.

We should be the best at creating environments like this because we have received all of this from Jesus in the first place.

Stewardship [or] All About (all) the Benjamins

12 Dec

I am currently working on a series of sermons about Stewardship.  As a pastor, when I use the word stewardship the common assumption is that I’m going to talk about money.  If I say, I’m doing a series on stewardship, people hear, “Here come four week talking about money, give more, give more, give more.”

Can I be completely honest and vulnerable about something here on my blog.  (I’m going to anyway so deal with it.)  I hate this common understanding of stewardship.  I hate it because it is just too narrow.

Am I going to talk about money?  Yes.  1 week.  Am I going to talk about tithing and giving offerings?  Yes.

I have said before and I will say again, I will never apologize for talking about money at Creekside because no one is getting rich at Creekside.  If all of a sudden all the pastors pull up in Bentleys then we will start apologizing for talking about money so much.  (Just between you and me, we are so far from that becoming a possibility.)

Another part of my problem with the common understanding of stewardship is that all that matters is Tithes and Offerings.  These stewardship campaigns often feel like, the goal is simply to increase tithes and offerings.  To give a shot in the arm for the year to make sure that we keep making budget.  Ministry has expenses, there is no way around that, and at Creekside we try to run a pretty tight ship to make sure that we are getting the most of the resources that people have given in tithes and offerings.  So it’s important to talk about the importance of giving, and we do that every week.

But stewardship, and specifically talking about financial stewardship is more than just tithes and offerings.  God cares about every penny that you spend.  And he cares because he gave it to you, and he wants you to use it towards his purposes in the world and his purposes for your life.

Pay your bills, enjoy your life, there is nothing wrong with doing these things.  But stewardship is so much bigger than just making sure people tithe.  Tithes and offerings are a key indicator in spiritual growth and if people are truly trusting God, but so is whether or not you are spending wrecklessly on credit, or if you are neglecting your financial responsibilites.

All of that is also stewardship.

I think we would all benefit, church attenders and church leaders, to take into account that God has called us all to be disciples, not just on Sunday but every day where ever we go.  And not just with 10% of our gross income, but with every dollar.  God cares about all of our life, and how we are using all that he has given to us to advance his mission of grace to the world.  And he cares about the Benjamins, all of them, as well as the little copper Lincolns.

Church & 30 Rock

28 Oct

I love 30Rock.  Smart, funny, quick.  All good things when it comes to a sitcom.  Kathy and I were watching it the other day, and I was struck by a really fun idea, how does the Church line up with 30 Rock?

This does not reflect Creekside, these thoughts reflect stereotype ideas about local Churches

Jack Donaghey = Lead Pastor

Jack has a lot of ideas, but knows that he is not going to be the one to actually carry them out.  He’s always thinking about leveraging the organization to the next level through things like “Synergy” and “Stratification.”  Jack put in his time and moved up the org chart.  He’s got bosses, but he’s definitely king of his empire.  For Jack it’s TGS and Mircrowave Programming.

Liz Lemon = Associate/Executive Pastor

Liz works hard and carries a lot of responsibility on her shoulders.  Liz is often responsible for making Jack’s ideas happen.  She has freedom to disagree with Jack in conversation but she also wants to make sure that their work is great and innovative.  Liz wants to move the organization forward, but she is working with people who are all working their own agenda, Liz has to build the habit of bringing all these people back to the same agenda.

Tracy Jordan = Youth Pastor

No one knows what Tracy is going to do, but other people will know that they have to pick up the pieces.  Tracy has two guys who Dot Com and Griz who keep him on track.  Youth pastors (having been I youth pastor I know) need to have youth leaders to keep them focused as well.

Jenna Maroney = Worship Pastor

The dreamer. The performer.  Always working on something crazy on the side.

 

I could probably go a lot deeper in this whole thing.  And again, I am not saying this is Creekside, but it’s a pretty stereotypical representation of the Church, based on stories I have heard and seen.  The idea tickled me and I had to write it out.

Some Thoughts On Learning

16 Jun

I am a learner. Not just because I’m in school. It’s the way I am. I love learning. I love the process of learning. I love new ideas and letting them dance around my head with old ideas. Sometimes I have to give old ideas eviction notices to make room for some better renters.

I can’t help it. If I’m frustrated, antsy, angry, annoyed, it’s probably because I have stopped learning. I don’t need to be an expert at any one thing, I like to learn about all kinds of things.

After I complete the MATC at Northwest University. I have a plan to teach myself German and French. Why? Because I don’t know them, and I need to. There is so much information out there that I want to meet.

The thing that I have to constantly be aware of is that I need to not just acquire the information. I have to be very diligent to apply the information. I can learn from anything, but I have to know going in to the project how am I going to apply what I’m learning.

In college I took anatomy, I got a B, I did fine. But I had no desire to apply what I learned so retention and comprehension were not as important as simply passing to fulfill my science requirement.

Right now there are few things that I am loving learning about. First, the theology of Church. My classes, conversations with other pastors, talking to people in church I love to get all kinds of information, and I can apply it immediately. It’s the best. It fuels me, challenges me, and encourages me.

My second favorite topic right now is Comedy. I listen to all kinds of comedy podcasts, I watch comedy documentaries, because I want to apply this stuff to actually doing comedy. I will probably never be an expert at comedy, but I love learning about. I have listened to the Jim Gaffigan podcast of Nerdist 8 times (if you go search it out there are swears so be warned if that offends you). Gaffigan is a comedy nerd and he’s got so much great stuff to say about comedy.

If I wasn’t as interested in applying the information, I wouldn’t really care about taking the time to really learn. I think our education system tries to make everyone a cookie cutter student and we want well rounded students, that’s a good thing. But the better thing is to find what the student wants to learn and pour as much gasoline as possible on that fire.

In the church I think we have these things that we think people need to learn, but we either don’t have a clear application so we strike out, or we are not taking the time to figure out what our congregations want to learn, or what they need to learn (as opposed to what we want to teach). So people die on the vine because we are not speaking to them.

The Body

1 Oct

Ephesian 4:11-16

“And he [Jesus] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

This is the pastors job description, and the goals of our job.  Ultimately, Jesus has called pastors and teachers, and leaders in the church, to help the church grow up.  Pastors are instructed to build maturity, equip people to do the ministry, and to keep the Church on course, instead of being blown about by the trends and waves of the times.

This passage is often used as a proof text for giving away ministry to the church members, and that’s there, it’s important.  But what kind of ministry?  I think it’s supposed to be all kinds of ministry.  From teaching and preaching to serving behind the scenes.

This is really hard to do, because as I give up more and more of what I do, what am I going to do?  Well the pastors who are doing this are able to steer the ship, and keep it all focused on the mission.

But also the more I give away, the more I can love and serve the members of the church.  And the more I love and serve the more that will be reproduced in the life of the church.  What’s keeping the church from growing, I think, is love.  True biblically love for other members of our communities.

Just some thoughts.

Worth It

21 Sep

Today I am tired. Partly because I took my brother in law to the airport at 4:30 am.  But also because yesterday was a busy day at Creekside.  We had 5 baptisms, a baby dedication and a BBQ.  So we had a packed day.

Saturday I learned how to set-up the baptismal.  It’s not fun, but it’s worth it.  It’s worth it to sweat for the gospel.  Celebrating changed lives is worth it.  A lot of people serve at Creekside.  And Serving is not to make you feel good about yourself.  Serving on a ministry team is all about loving others and creating an environment where they might meet Jesus.

Worship teams, Coffee teams, ushers greeters, kids workers, media teams, let’s not ever lose sight of the fact that all that we do it’s worth it. You get up early you make arrangements for your kids and family, and you sacrifice your time and energy, and it’s all worth it, because lives are changing, and more and more lives are going to be transformed because of your willingness.  It’s worth it.

Thanks to to everyone who made yesterday happen.

27 Jul

So many things I could say about this picture.  The first thing that came to my mind was, is this what your church looks like?  Add the four bases, add some front door living room, kitchen, get your purposes in there, and of course you need to launch multi-site right now.

Just because you can add it doesn’t mean it fits.  Seriously, take a minute to determine what makes the church you serve in unique and build on that. Don’t Jerry-rig something into your system that should never have been added.

Spectator or Contributor?

23 Jul

I hate to watch baseball, but I have fun playing baseball. I suck though so you probably shouldn’t invite me to be on your league team. I love to watch football, but I’d rather play.

Bottom line is I would rather be a contributor than a spectator. I would rather know that I had a hand in the process of creating something. Contributing creates ownership and community.

I listen to a show called TBTL (it’s on 97.3 KIRO 7-10 pm weekdays or you can podcast it). To me the brilliance of TBTL is that they allow the audience to contribute. And it’s not just about making an argument about something like most talk radio. TBTL allows people to participate in creating the actual content of the show, and their blog.

Case in point, I sent a video to Jen the producer today:

Jen not only posted it on their blog but she emailed me to tell me she like it and posted it.  I’m not a contributor to TBTL-dom.  This is not the first time I’ve submitted something to TBTL, but every time I submit something and they use it TBTL stock goes up in my mind.  I feel like I’m part owner of TBTL.  That makes TBTL more fun for me, and I’m sure other folks who have contributed to the show feel the same way.  Just ask Doug Shrecengost.

What are you contributing to?  Your Church, Community, the company you work for?  How can you contribute to making it better, stronger, more fun?  Don’t just spectate and criticize, contribute.  That’s the best way to make your mark on something.

In the Church world, this is my area of knowledge, the people who are most invested in the church are those who contribute, not just money, but time and energy.  They are the ones who are your key indicators to health.  They are the ones who bring life to organizations that are struggling.  The contributors are key to the future.  So my challenge then is to not just raise up leaders or volunteers, but to raise up contributors.

Thanks TBTL for the life lesson.  (Cue the more you know music . . . Flying star . . . )

Church Prayer . . . Moms’ Day

10 May

Today I had the privilege to pray during our church service, every time I get to pray is a privilege. Sometimes I know exactly what I am supposed to pray, and other times I don’t know and I start praying and God talks to me while I’m praying. It sounds weird I know, and I can’t explain it. Today I was praying for moms and I said, God is with moms when their babies are crying in the middle of the night, and when moms are crying for their babies in the middle of the night.”

As soon as I said those words I was blown away by how amazing moms are, and how God’s love is evidenced in a mom’s love. I don’t think it’s good form to regularly quote yourself on your own blog, but I wanted to share that thought.

Some Blog Thoughts

16 Mar

Los is back with a great post here.

of particular note is #4.

I wonder if modern day Christian leaders are more concerned about becoming famous than becoming Jesus?

And here’s a quote from Will Wilimon

“The gospel is not simply about meeting people’s needs. The gospel is also a critique of our needs, an attempt to give us needs worth having. The Bible appears to have little interest in so many of the needs and desires that consume present-day North Americans. Therefore, pastoral care will be about much more than meeting people’s needs. It will also be about indoctrination, inculturation, which is also- from the peculiar viewpoint of the gospel- care. Our care must form people into the sort of people who have had their needs rearranged in the light of Christ.“

thanks Bob.

And from Ben Arment

Next time we complain about our audience not bringing their Bibles or not laughing at our jokes or not taking us seriously or listening intently, we have to remember… we raised them that way.

Just some thoughts from the blogosphere.

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