Yeah? Well You're In Prison Too

I've noticed a trend in my own family and in the culture at large that when people are passing judgment on others it's usually based on personal comparison and not an unchanging standard.  Barack Obama is already a great President because he's 'better than Bush.'  You see both sides on American Idol where some poor person who's been lied to, thinks or even claims to "know" that they're better than everyone else, while the judges use a standard that says, you have to at least be able to sing.  People plead guilty to "a lesser charge" because a misdemeanor won't look as bad as a felony.  And kids and Christians alike, when accused of wrong-doing often come back with - "Yeah, maybe, but haven't you seen so-and-so?  They're way worse than me"  

That seems a bit like trying to tell someone that you're not in prison because you're serving 6 months for grand theft, but your cellmate is doing 25-to-life for capital murder?  Come on dude, you're still in prison, you're still wrong, you still failed to live up to the standard yourself.

That kind of thinking, and that kind of attitude of superiority based on comparison is ruining the church.  One person thinks because they're Reformed or Arminian,  go to this church or that church, listen (or don't listen) to this pastor or that, use this translation (or don't), understand propitiation, premillennialism and imputation, that they're somehow better, more holy, righteous, closer to God, etc.  Well, comparatively (to others) that may be true, but compared to God's standard not one person is capable of claiming they are better than another (apart from Christ).

This weekend we'll be looking at another thing people hate about Christians - they think we're judgmental.  Some judgment is necessary, especially when it comes to things inside the church, but when we deal with people who are unchristian and don't know Jesus, yeah, well, you were in prison too (you just know who set us free).

Motion and Emotion

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day about message prep and speaking on Sunday mornings and he made the comment that when he's listened to me lately, something's different.  He says he thinks I'm speaking with more passion and people can "sense" it, so lately, the messages have been 'better' (not that ones before were 'bad' but these are more intense I guess)

Now, whether my speaking is better or worse isn't the point.  What got me thinking was the idea that emotions matter.  Think about it.  Have you ever been in a "funk" and been around people who've noticed?  You may say the same things, meet in the same places, do the same stuff, but they can tell that something just isn't right.  You're going through the motions but all without the right emotions.

It works the other way too.  When people see someone who is full of life (has a lot of emotion and passion on display) they wonder if it's just a show.  But when they see it consistently, day in and day out, people are attracted to that, they notice.

So here's my question.  When you look at your friends, who are the ones you are attracted to and want to spend time with?  Is it the ones who seem to just be going through the motions or is it the ones who live with passion and emotion on display for anyone to see.  If you're just going through the motions of life, eat, work, sleep, play, etc.  are you really living?  Stop being afraid to smile, cry publicly, laugh loudly, cheer wildly, tell stories with excitement and share your thoughts and opinions with passion and conviction.  I second that emotion.

Hypocrites

Yesterday, we started a new series called "6 Things I Hate About Christians"  The basic idea behind it is that Christians act terribly unChristian way too often and when the watching world sees us, they become even less likely to listen to us or believe what we have to say about Jesus being Good News.  Sure, there could be more things on the list, but six makes for a good series.  We started out with one common complaint - 

Christians are too hypocritical.

The bad news is, it's true.  The good news is we can change that image by dropping the masks we hide behind and becoming a mirror that reflects more accurately, who Christ is and who we are in Christ.  We hide behind the mask of the rules of Christianity.  We keep trying to "live right" and telling others how to "live right" that we forget that the very reason Jesus came and died was because we can't ever "live right."  It's not so much about following the rules as it is the Rule-maker.

There was a lot of discussion, dialogue and people really having to wrestle with whether or not they were willing to drop their mask and stop pretending they were something they're not, and stop measuring their success or failure as a Christian by how well they followed the rules.  I didn't know how it was going to work, but I took a little risk and we gave everyone coming in a mask.  At one point I asked everyone to put it on (and almost all did) and at the end, I asked people to get up, take off the mask and drop it on the stage IF they were willing to trade it in for a mirror (which we also had on stage).  It was a great start to the series for sure.  Next week: Christians are judgmental.

Here's what it looked like from where I was standing - bunch of hypocrites! (tough to take a great picture with the lighting, but you get the idea)

Prep, Planning and Panera

With the kids at home with the Grandparents, snow outside and 3 dogs inside.  I figured it'd be better if I left to get some work done.  So I spent the afternoon at Panera Bread (great soup) and finished up Sunday and Outlet Study Guides, got some work done on next week and spent some time dreaming up ways to impact this city.  Been a long day but I'm really excited about our new series starting on Sunday "6 Things I Hate About Christians."  First thing we're tackling is the idea that so many people view Christians as HYPOCRITES.  The sad news is, they're often right.  The good news is - it doesn't have to be that way.  The Great News is Jesus is still on the throne and offers LIFE to all who come to Him!

Here's what I look like after hours spent eating and drinking Panera's offerings.  Hey, at least I have picking Lora up in another hour or so to look forward to.  Missed her bunches today.  She's got to be the greatest wife ever (and the fact that she's smokin' hot doesn't hurt either)

Thank You Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I just finished watching this video with all my kids as part of their school for the day.  Amazing.  Eloquent.  Clear.  Powerful.  Challenging.  Motivating.  Truly one of the great speeches of all time.  Click HERE and read the text version.  You can really see the imagery, the forceful repetition, and even the Scriptural references he so seamlessly wove in.

I must admit, his dream hasn't yet been realized.  The sooner we as a nation realize that, the sooner we can fix it.  I am actually really excited about the inauguration of Barak Obama.  Sure I didn't vote for him (and I still wouldn't if given another chance) but what we'll be witnessing tomorrow is a huge milestone, the likes of which Dr. King was dreaming about.  

Take some time today to consider the contributions of men and women like Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, Booker T Washington, George Washington Carver, Jackie Robinson, Mary McLeod Bethune or W.E.B. DuBois.  This country - our country - is better because of them.  Thank you Dr. King for dreaming big dreams and believing that opportunities still exist for all people.

Visitorship or Followership

With all the thoughts on worship lately, I've really been taking a lot of the comments in, reading more, searching the Bible and trying to come to grips with what worship at or in the church looks like.  Man, there are a million different thoughts and ideas floating around out there.  Some Biblical, some practical, some personal and some just plain nuts.  I still don't have "thee" answer, but I do have some clarity so thoughts I'd share my thoughts.

It seems as though worship in the church is suffering from the same kind of disease that western Christianity is suffering from - it's compartmentalized.  Believers have their "God-time", their family time, their church time, their exercise time, their work time, their down time, etc.  We schedule everything and stick it in a nice little box often right next to the words "to do" so we can check it off when it's done.  A friend of mine pointed out that even us pastors are contributing to the problem when we ask people "How's your spiritual life?" (like it's a separate part and not just life).

So I got to thinking about how people approach church and worship.  A lot of people come to a church looking for something and wanting to be taken care of, noticed, accepted, or whatever.  There's a place for that for sure, but it's not (and shouldn't be) the highest goal.  When that happens, people approach church, worship, God and Christianity like they're visitors, expecting someone else to do all the work and preparations before hand so that we can just show up and enjoy.  We (pastors and church leaders) do it too.  We prepare for guests to come, practice "our lines" and hope to make them feel welcomed enough that they can see, feel, connect or accept Jesus.  Not a bad thing either is it?

But I don't want to be a visitor when it comes to Christ; you know, here one minute and forget about Him the next.  That's why so much of the world sees us as hypocritical (BTW we'll be talking about that in our next series "6 Things I Hate About Christians")  I want to be a follower of Christ.  I want our church to be a follower of Christ first and foremost.  People coming to church to worship should be coming as followers of Christ (not visitors) - intent on lifting up His name, participating and sharing in the praise of who He is.  That needs to be the focus - Him.

Maybe it's time we stop treating people like visitors and start preparing for the followers to come.  Maybe it's time to stop worrying so much about "how" and start focusing solely on "who". (Hmmm, I like that - same letters totally different end result)  Maybe it's time we evaluate a successful church or worship service not by the positive or negative comments, but by whether or not everything pointed to the One who is worthy.  And if that's the case, we need strong leaders (pastors, worship leaders, etc) who can stand before the people and challenge them to "follow my example as I follow the example of Christ" *

So what are you?  A visitor?  A follower?  Who's your church preparing for?  Visitors?  Followers?  Both?  Help me understand this.

Swaziland

I've got some more information on our planned trip to Swaziland this summer.  First of all, space is limited for this trip.  Ten is the magic number, and since I'm going that leaves 9 spots left.  If I take my oldest, you can do the math, there's just 8 slots open.

The money we're collecting will go to help set up a solar-powered well in Maloma - an area deeply affected by a drought the last three years and where the situation is so bad that people who are alive while you're reading this, will die before we finally arrive in July because they don't have access to clean water.

Unless something changes, the dates are gonna be July 31 - August 10.  We'll fly out of Dulles in DC, head to Johannesburg and then to Swaziland.

The cost still isn't (and won't be) totally nailed down, but early estimates are between $2500 and $3000 for the 11 day trip.  Remember, we live in a fairly stable and predictable country, but no guarantee what costs among other things are going to be like in Swaziland in 7 months.

Start praying for Swaziland and us now.

Problem Solved

Since making the switch to Apple, one thing I've noticed is that they tend to solve problems and innovate with useful ideas.  Sure, they've got some of the "cool factor" stuff but beyond that is a stable, functional set up.  I've told Lora that when we replace our desktop (which won't be too long) we're getting an iMac (now if I could just get that iPhone I keep hinting at!)

Since we don't have any official office space, we spend a lot of time emailing documents back and forth and when you mix in people who don't have or use a Mac and need things in Word or some other format, you can see where it might get to be a pain.  We've toyed with googledocs but it just didn't work for us (our problem for sure, not google - it's a great app).  We've dreamed about office space.  We've tweaked and tried to improve our communication.  I think the time has finally arrived.

From what I've seen, iWork '09 will finally solve our problems.  There is a share option that will upload any document to iWork.com AND create it in multiple formats (.doc, .pdf) for people who don't have Pages.  Most likely this is how we'll distribute extra small group material, how we'll "group think" through the series planning process, coordinate and review messages and keep certain "system" files (the processes for getting certain things done) updated.  Can't wait.

See?  Problem solved (and this is just the first release)

Shared Leadership

I generated a fair amount of input, discussion and even some more questions from THIS POST and that's great.  What I'm excited about is that the wheels are already in motion to build up the leadership structure of Discovery so that whenever an issue that effects the spiritual life and health of Discovery's people comes up, there will be others who can help discern how best to deal with it from a biblical perspective.

Since we've started, most of that critical input has been coming from pastors who are outside of Discovery.  These guys have prayed for and otherwise supported what we've been doing here and have also been "in the trenches" much longer than I have so they have perspective and practical examples they can share as well.  Starting a church from scratch had me very careful about putting people into leadership too soon.  1 Timothy 5:22 talks about not being too quick to appoint spiritual leaders and it's been just over 2 years so I think we've waited long enough.

I'm excited because there are a few men who have demonstrated a love for the Lord, a faithfulness to the work and they have confronted me on occasion so they are definitely not "yes men", but spiritually-minded men who only want to make sure that whatever we do, we honor God and lead others to do the same.  So in the next couple weeks, we'll finally begin meeting, discussing, praying, and hammering out the details of how SHARED leadership is going to work at Discovery.

Can't wait to see how this is going to make me, Discovery and all involved stronger.

Getting Ahead

Today the staff and myself are headed out of town for a couple days to get away and plan more of the details of 2009.  I'm already excited about stuff that I know about and really looking forward to getting more details nailed down.  The good news is we're starting in April and going from their so I already feel like we're ahead.

I'll be honest, I feel like it's taken me this long to just be able to breathe enough to plan that far out.  There's been so much to do to get Discovery started and I know we can be that much stronger and better, but I feel like I've been distracted some by all the crazy details I never really planned on.  Don't get me wrong, we planned - and we saw very clearly last year how God can (and does) work through our prayerful preparations.  Amazing honestly - and all God (we had no idea some of the "stuff" that would happen).

I feel good, but I also feel a bit a pressure.  A lot depends on me being disciplined and working ahead.  I'm learning, but it's really not my strong suit.  That said, I'd like to ask for your prayers as we head into planning and as we start this year.  Pray for me, pray for the staff, pray for this city and the people we're going to love, serve and reach this year.

Here's a glimpse of some of the things in the works this year:

• New leadership team (not staff changes, just including more people in the leadership loop)
  
• Outlet (small group) improvements including 'homework' and better discussion guides
  
• Parenting classes (no we don't know it all, but we can help and encourage)
  
• Mission work in Swaziland this summer
  
• More serving opportunities right here in Greenville
  
• Partnering with more local community organizations (like we already do with Care Pregnancy Center, Hope of Glory, etc)
  
• Helping start another church here in Greenville (soon too)

And none of that counts stuff that we'll be teaching on and going through - that by itself is enough reason to be stoked, but put it all together and it's looking to be a GREAT year.

Thoughts On Worship

Every week, we give everyone the opportunity to write a question or comment that we'll address before the service is over.  I never know who writes what.  Today there was one that I really appreciated and I'm not sure if I totally handled it well (despite the reassurances and encouraging comments from a number of people).  Maybe I should wait, but I think I'll process this outloud.

Here's the story.

The service today went well.  The music was good.  It was loud.  There were haze and lights.  We sang Never Stop, I Am Free, I Will Hold On, God of This City and Let God Arise.  It was loud.  The bass was thumping, the lights were shining, people were singing.  Did I mention it was loud?

The comment simply said (as best I can remember) - "I didn't come here for a rock concert.  I thought we were here to "worship""

Sometimes I read comments, sometimes I don't.  I felt like I needed to address this.  Now, I don't know if the person who wrote it did so because it was loud, because of the lights and the haze, because the rest of the room was dark, because it was electric guitars and drums, or because of the style of music we played.  So I'm not 100% sure what they meant.  But here's what I said (again, as best I can remember):

We play this music, use the lights and all that stuff because that's how we express our worship.  If you're coming here expecting us to give you what you want in terms of worship, you have a misunderstanding of what worship is.  Worship is what we give to God.  It's our response to Him.  It's about what we give, not what we get.  I don't think we're doing anything that dishonors God, that blasphemes Him or is sin.  If you don't like how we do this, Discovery might not be the best place for you, and that's ok.  But we do the best we can to offer this to God, to give God our best and this is how we do it.  I hope you can appreciate that and that it makes sense.

Some people clapped, others gave me positive comments afterwards, but I had a conversation after that really brought up a good point, and that's what I'm struggling with right now.  I had just finished spending 40 minutes talking about how Discovery is intent on becoming the OTC church.  The church Of This City, but also the church people reach for when they need help (the Over-The-Counter church) and here I was saying if you don't like it, we might not be for you.  Now I understand that OTC medication isn't one-size-fits-all.  You don't pick up hemorrhoid medicine for your headache, and cough medicine won't do anything to help you get rid of your warts.  So how does this fit with worship and us being the OTC church?

I honestly don't have the answer.  I'm glad the question was raised.  Is there a difference between personal worship and corporate worship?  Should there be?  If so, what is it and how does that or should that come across in our music and our Sunday presentation?  Great questions - think you can help by sharing your thoughts?  I'd love to hear them.

One Last Look Back at 2008

Just found this while I was cleaning out stuff from my computer.  I think I posted it early, but just in case you missed it....

I have to tell you, we bought one of these and we love it.  She really is just like it says on TV!  Although she's run out of fertilizer and isn't quite as efficient when it comes to being an alarm, she's still a great buy!

This Is Just Crazy!