Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

Pastor Bob Roberts on Catablog: Tolerance Done Right

This past weekend I preached a sermon titled Search Party.  During this talk we considered Acts 4:12,

“Jesus is the only one who can save people. His name is the only power in the
        world that has been given to save people. We must be saved through him" (NCV).

I made the point that people are hopeless without Christ.  In response to our society's value of tolerance in all things religious, I said the following:

We have the tendency to read this through today’s PC terminology.  It’s politically correct to be tolerant of other people’s different views.  So to say Jesus is the only one or the only power can be twisted to seem intolerant.  It’s not intolerant.  It is merciful. 

Last week Catablog, the blog of the Catalyst leadership folks, posted a fascinating story about an evangelical church in Dallas, which conducted educational services with a local mosque and a local synagogue.  The Dallas Morning News reported:

Members of NorthWood and the mosque will attend the regular worship service tonight at Temple Shalom. On Saturday afternoon, the Christians and Jews will visit the mosque. Finally, on Sunday morning, the Jews and Muslims will attend NorthWood for worship.  After each gathering, the three clergymen will answer questions about the differences and similarities of their faiths.

I encourage my readers, especially my parishioners, to read this Catablog article because I think it shows the right way to demonstrate love, acceptance, and yes... even tolerance, while at the same time holding on to the teachings of our Lord.  When asked to describe the weekend, Pastor Bob Roberts said:

The largest mosque and synagogue in DFW along with our church came together not for an inter-faith service but a multi-faith education and relationship building event. On Friday - we all went to the synagogue - had refreshments and conversation for an hour, and then and observed their worship. When it concluded, me, the rabbi, and the imam took Q & A for 45 minutes. Saturday we all went to the mosque - and then Sunday they all came to the church. I'll tell you, it was strange as a pastor looking out and seeing hundreds of head coverings of hijabs, skull caps, etc. Our members worshiped with passion, clapping, raising their hands - and to see other religions interspersed through us as we worshiped was indescribable - all I could think of was Paul in the synagogues, Mars Hill.

I like the idea of a multi-faith "education and relationship building event."  But what about THE QUESTION, the one that can make a Christian appear intolerant, when he or she affirms Jesus as the only way to be saved?  Not surprisingly it was the first question asked.  Here was his response:

I was asked several times about John 14:6 "I am the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by me." I was asked if I believed that - as a matter of fact a reporter asked me that, and it was the first question asked me at the synagogue - my answer. "Yes, I do believe that. I don't wish to offend you or seem arrogant or cocky or narrow. But I believe in the authority of the Bible and it says that - it's a quote from my Savior and I can't compromise on that. It's true for all religions - even Baptist! That doesn't mean I think I'm better than you - it means truth is absolute and not subjective - and wish you all believed that and I'd love to help you with that and then baptize all of you (with a big smile)." To which with a smile being returned I was told "no thank you."

Sometimes it seems that Christ-followers follow one of two extremes when it comes to defending their faith.  On one hand they can take the "all roads leads to one God" approach in an effort to be acceptable to our society, but at the expense of what our faith truly teaches.  But the other extreme can be just as bad - defending the Christian faith in a demeaning and arrogant way.  This article demonstrates the attitude of loving the one that is missing from the faith, which is the central message of our current weekend teachings from Luke 15.

Church Requel Celebrates Christmas Eve With Mosaic

This evening Church Requel will celebrate Christmas Eve with Mosaic Church, led by Senior Pastor Tony Pingitore.  Mosaic is another new church in Mansfield; they began holding their services last December.  For much of 2009 they met in the basement of the Park Avenue Baptist Church.  Recently the two churches merged together under Tony's leadership.

This statement on Mosaic's website sounds very familiar to those who attend Church Requel:  "At MOSAIC, we are charged with hard work in prayer, relationships, serving, and generosity. By all means, we will strive with everything we are given in this life to 'give until it hurts.' MOSAIC will contend to break the typical stereotypes of church. We are together. We are responsible. We are lovingly honest."

Tonight's Christmas Eve service begins at 5:30 PM and will last approximately one hour.  No childcare is being provided.  However, the service will be extremely family friendly!  Their church is located at 296 Park Avenue West by Church’s Chicken.  The Pierce family and the Church Requel family will celebrate together tonight with Mosaic.  I hope to see you there!  - Mark

Catalyst 2009 Day One

Today was an awesome day.  A long day too, but filled to the brim with memories and inspiration.  I'm talking about Catalyst 2009, the leadership conference designed for the next generation of leaders - those either young or, in my case, young at heart.  (One young guy told me today that in the early days they carded people and wouldn't let in anyone over 40.  He was looking at my gray hair as he said it.  Don't know if this is true, but he sure got a kick out of telling me!)

I'm a fan of the Catalyst podcast.  I've been listening every month for two years now.  On the last "road trip" podcast Ken Coleman and Brad Lomenick told us to arrive early.  I took them at their word and rolled out of my hotel shortly before 6am.  After a short breakfast and a brief drive on deserted, dark highways I arrived at the Gwinnett Conference Center around 6:40.  I thought the doors were going to open at 7:15, but they didn't open until 7:50.  That was my longest wait of the day.  Good thing I had my Kindle with me and could get some reading in while I waited.

The Catalyst team did a great job of making the wait time as enjoyable as possible.  They had hundreds of gallons of free coffee available.  They had people walking around with paper clothing and magic markers asking us to "make our mark" on their clothes.  They had a pre-show band.  They even had a helicopter that came down load and dropped all kinds of goodies on us while we waited.  I made friends with a young man named Roberto, who just recently was honorably discharged from the Navy.  His home is in Denver, but he was stationed in Atlanta and decided to stay.  Why?  Because he attends "Andy Stanley's church" and loves it!  Maybe ministry is in his future!

Speaking of Andy Stanley, he was our first speaker today and will be our last speaker tomorrow.  Altogether there will be 10 sessions, 6 today and 4 tomorrow.  Andy taught from Joshua on the topic of leadership.  He referenced his father, Dr. Charles Stanley: "God takes full responsibility for the life wholly devoted to Him."  Andy told us that when God does His greatest work in us, we won't even know it.  Our mark isn't worth our life.  Living to make my mark is too small a thing to give my life to.  But surrendering wholly my life to God so He can use me - That is worth everything!

That was just the beginning of our day!  For me, we could have stopped right there and I would have got my money's worth.  But the day went on with great speakers and great singing and worship.  Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers: The Story of Success, spoke to us about the dangers of overconfidence based on the abundance of information.  Shane Hipps, lead pastor of Trinity Mennonite Church and a former career as a strategic planner for Porsche, told us that the medium we use to convey our message is important - that words and images are processed in our brains differently.  Rob Bell, founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church reminded us that sometimes the crowds thin.  After all the crowds deserted Jesus - so we should not be surprised when it also happens to us. 

And we heard from Tony Dungy, who won the Super Bowl both as a player and as a coach.  He shared both a great personal testimony of his relationship with the Lord as well as some great leadership advice: "People need us as leaders most when things are not going well."  Shortly after Tony's talk, Reggie Joiner - one of the founding pastors of North Point Community Church and a Catalyst Emcee - came to the platform to tell us that "sometimes we get so busy with what we're building we forget what we are becoming."  He passionately advices us to take care of our families first and the church second.

Matt Chandler, lead pastor of the Village Church, reminded us that God has been using men and women to tell His story for thousands of years.  We should run the race well for the 40 years we have our opportunity.  And Francis Chan closed the last session with one of the best communion talks I have ever heard.

 Throughout the day we were treated to an enthusiastic display of lighting, sound and music that, at times, almost seemed overwhelming to me.  But, then as my friend this morning reminded me - At least I wasn't carded when I came in!  In addition to the fun music, we also enjoyed the antics of Emcee Reggie Joiner (playing the straight man) and Lanny Donoho, cutting up with quips all day long.  Though this morning the joke seemed to be on him.  While we were waiting in the long line to get into the conference center, a petition was passed around asking Reggie to get a tattoo.  It appeared to me that Reggie trapped him into saying "yes," and before Lanny could change his mind a tattoo artist appeared on stage to begin the process of "making his mark."

The theme of making our mark was repeated throughout the day.  I actually benefited because my name is Mark.  They asked all the Mark's to stand, at which point they passed us shirts that say, "Hello my name is Mark!"  We were asked to wear the shirt all day, which I did.  As a result I had people saying "Hi Mark" all day long.  Even though this was my first time here, I felt welcomed by everyone I came saw! 

This day made its mark on me in many ways.  Right now I'm so tired I don't think I can keep my eyes open much longer.  But I will dream of the things I experienced today.  I'll wake up early and get back in line for Catalyst again tomorrow.  And when I fly back home tomorrow night, I'll leave with a greater confidence that I am not alone.  I am just one among many leaders, who desire more than anything, for God to make His mark through us.

Rememberance of Past Provides Faith for the Future

This morning I came across this interview by Ed Stetzer of Jerry Harris, senior pastor of The Crossing.  One thing Jerry said near the beginning of the interview hit home with me:

Well, in a lot of ways I think that church growth is kind of like faith. It's like walking through life backwards. You can't see where you're going, but you can see where you've been and where God's been and what He's done. And we do make plans. We actually do make plans, but very little of what we have done ever ended up looking like what it was originally intended to look like.

This is what I was reflecting in yesterday's post (It's October - Let's Launch a Church!)  Yes, we make lots of plans - I'm a planner by profession!  But often God has a different plan; we just don't know it yet.  So we plan and we follow in faith.  Sometimes, like right now, I so want to fast forward a few weeks or months and turn the page to see what God will do.  Perhaps fortunately, this is not an option for us.  God grants us one day at a time and we each have the choice to life this one day fully engaged... or not.

While we cannot look forward, we do have the option to look backward.  While we cannot live in the past, we can stop every now and then to see the great things God has already accomplished.  I was amazed yesterday morning as I recalled all that God has done in the short life of Church Requel.  Frankly I spend so much time in the moment and focused face forward, that taking a moment to look backward is a rarity for me.  However, considering all that God has done thus far has given me great hope and anticipation of the great things HE will accomplish going forward. 

Some of these great and wonderful things may be the very things I'm planning.  They also may be completely different.  For example I would never have thought that God would have brought as many young families to our young church.  I'm amazed every week when I see so many people less than 3 feet tall!

What is it about the future that has you feeling anxious this day?  Take a moment to remember the great things that God has already done in your life.  Is there any reason to suppose He won't be there for you in the future?  Be flexible in your thinking and in your planning.  Give tomorrow your best shot, but leave the details up to Him who writes creation by his very words!  Blessings on your day, Mark

Life of a Church Planter a Juggling Act

Starting a new church is a lot like a juggling act - the hardest part is keeping all the balls in the air!  Yesterday, in particular, was a day when I went from one project to another, starting early in the morning and ending sometime into the evening. 

Readers of this blog know that I like to do Bible study videos.  At the beginning of the year I was doing one every day, but as our public launch has neared I've cut the schedule to two or three a week.  As of yesterday I hadn't done any, so I decided to dedicate some time to wrapping up Matthew 7.  This was a significant milestone in that it concludes our study of the Sermon on the Mount.  Believe it or not, we began our study of this greatest sermon on February 15th with Bible Study #60.  More than seven months and 105 videos later, we have finished this section of Scripture!  Hooray! 

There also are a number of new videos we need for the ChurchRequel.org website, answering some basic questions about our church.  Last week we created a video about our new location at the Mid-Ohio Conference Center.  Yesterday we added a video answering the question, "Why Requel?"  I took the video camera out to our local movie theater and recorded a three-minute video about what requel means (retelling the story in a new and fresh way.)  Since the word comes to us from the movie business (like sequel and prequel), I thought the theater backdrop and a little Star Wars theme music underneath would be a creative way of answering the question.  When I got back to my office I found out that my microphone wasn't set up correctly, so I had to drive back out to the location and redo (requel?) the shoot. [Important: what question do you think we should answer next? You can comment at the end of this article!]

I'm also juggling the advertising balls lately.  I'm working with several different advertisers to figure out the best way to get the word out to our community.  We will probably work mostly with billboards since that seems the best way to get the word out to just about everyone in Richland County.  But I'm also working with radio and TV stations as well as Internet marketers.  Even if we don't use all our options (can't afford everything), I'm establishing good business connections for later advertising.  And I'm keeping track of those people who have been incredibly helpful, as well as those few who won't even return a phone call!

In the midst of all this, I'm working on doing the regular jobs (the ones I really love) of a pastor.  I still have to get this week's sermon down on paper, meet with our worship leader, Nate Williams, to plan this weekend's service, make a few phone calls for childrens' ministry, and print sermon handouts for this weekend.  This afternoon I will attend the Pastors' Brown Bag Lunch, a monthly gathering of clergy in our area.  And I have the privilege of performing a wedding on Saturday, which means a rehearsal Friday night as well as the ceremony on Saturday - all about 90 minutes west of here. (So I'll have some drive time and get a chance to get caught up on some podcasts!)

I once had someone tell me that the job of a church planter was a young man's job.  I still don't completely agree with that statement, though now I can appreciate why people believe it to be true.  What might be more correct is to say that the job of a church planter is only for the high energy man or woman, regardless of age.  One cannot ever do just one job in this role.  The old adage of keeping your eye on the ball will not work in this job.  The successful church planter keeps his eyes on all the balls!

What Did I Expect?

I just finished reading The Fine Line: Re-envisioning the Gap between Christ and Culture by Kary Oberbrunner.  Near the end of the book Kary shares an online post by his friends Joe Boyd and Mark Palmer.  I found this encouraging as I'm in the middle of getting a new church in Mansfield, Ohio.  I have experienced most of this personally.  What did I expect?  (I suspect I'll come back to this post often.)

• Expect pain
• Expect to be misunderstood.
• Expect to be persecuted and expect it to come first from those who follow Jesus.
• Expect to be maligned, attacked, and ridiculed from all sides.
• Expect to grow tired and weary.
• Expect to want to give up.
• Expect to lose many old friends.  Expect to lose all of you friends where the "church" is the central reason for your friendship.  Only your deep and Christ-centered friendships will endure.
• Expect to be labeled (a freak, a hippie, a cult leader, a quitter, a fraud, an idealist, a  purist, a heretic, a divider, a communist, a jerk, an egomaniac, a devil worshiper.)
• Expect to weep ... deeper and stronger than you ever have.
• Expect to doubt your calling, your convictions, your path, your faith, and your life.
• Expect to be lonely.
• Expect to be seen as utterly unsuccessful.
• Expect to die... nothing will be left of you.  You will cease to exist.  The last things in you to dies will be your desire to be great for God and your desire to be happy.  And then, you will finally...
• Live. Expect life.  Expect meaning.  Expect to finally understand the prophets and apostles.  Expect to know Jesus and his life... for that is all you will have ... and that is all that you need.

Invested Today into The Nines

Today I invested my day into "The Nines," an online conference where 70 leaders spoke for 9 minutes each to an online audience of more than 5,000 participants from 40 different countries.  As I write this, my mind is way too full of so many great ideas.  I tried to post over on Twitter all day today as I heard good things.  Here is a summary of the things I picked up today:

• Signs of sneaky pride - forgetting that the gift is bigger than the person.  Am I growing impatient with people?  Am I unwilling to hear painful truth?
• Mark Beeson - "Some people will love me, but not love what I'm doing.  They won't join.  Some people will love what I'm doing, but not me so much.  They won't join.  Some people will love me and love what I'm doing, but won't like the folks already on the team.  They won't join.  For people to really connect with my church's mission, they have to really connect with me, with the mission and with the other people already on the team."
• Anne Jackson - "Does working in the church interfere with my communion with Christ?  I must learn to take care of myself in ministry."
• Scott Hodge - "Make sure I make time in my calendar to shut my mout, get quiet, and hear from God."
• Scott Hodge - "The moment I stop hearing God's voice is when I stop leading."  Am I hearing from God?  Am I willing to obey?
• Perry Noble - "This is not our church but God's church.  Leadership is as easy as listening to God.  Ask God: 'What do YOU want me to do here?'"
• Perry Noble - "We can't plan a movement of God, but we can prepare for it."
• Skye Jethani - "Abandon outcomes of ministry.  They belong to God.  My legitimacy comes from being a child of God!"
• Skye Jethani - "We look at success based on how many people are impacted by our ministry.  This puts a huge burden on pastors and is not Jesus' way."
• Scott Wilson - "Grow leadership capacity of those leaders under me." Scott gave his staff members a $500 budget bonus to read 35 books in a year.  But if these leaders didn't grow, they had to go.
• "Worry is temporary atheism."
• Amy Hanson: "Every 7 seconds an American turns 60.  Create innovative ministries to unleash baby boomers.  This is too momentous to ignore!"
• Dino Rizzo - "Know the people you serve.  Read their prayer requests.  What hurts them should hurt you."
• Nancy Beach said she had had many private, whispered conversations with those who have struggled with their senior leader.  Her challenge to us: "As people get closer to me, do they see Christ or not?"
• Reggie McNeal - Must think of the church as a "who" and not a "what."  Church doesn't have a mission.  The mission has a church!
• Len Sweet - How do we deal with a big head?  With a broken and a contrite heart.  We need both of the following: a humble confidence AND a confident humility.
• Len Sweet had a great story to remind him of dealing with a big head.  His office (his lair) is made up of a navy ship door, in which he must step up over the threshold but he also has to dip his head down.
• Greg Surratt:  Do you ever get discouraged from doing god's work?  Remember this: "There has never been a day when God said, 'I didn't see that coming!'"
• Rick Rusaw - Many churches have disengaged from their community and culture.  This can be seen in recent survey in which 66% of Americans said that "Churches have little or no value to them."
• Margaret Feinburg - What works for the vintner in Fresno won't work for vintner in Napa.  Both should b celebrated.  The work of a small church ministry should be just as celebrated as that of a large church ministry.
• Pete Wilson - We often measure church attendance and giving, but more important... Are we loving God and loving people more?  We should be measuring that!
• Walter August - "People will come to the pastor for counseling, but have they already prayed first?  Don't help people circumnavigate God's counsel!"
• Jon Tyson: Church is not about techniques, but about power of the cross of Christ.  Remember that as a pastor, I'm not just a leader... I'm a spiritual leader!
• Larry Osbourne: "Be careful when you idolize the Acts 2 church.  They didn't move out until Acts 8!  Beware of the holy huddle!"
• Neil Cole: "God is looking for servants who will lead.  Am I willing to make a name for Christ?  Jesus is not really all that interested in my branding!"
• Reggie Joiner to pastors: "Fight for your family, sons, daughters, and your spouse!  We are at a crossroads of broken homes within the church."
• Bill Easum: "Leadership is not about how many followers you have.  What are your followers actually doing?"
• Bill Easum: "Stop doing all the playing on your team!  Start being the scout.  Look for other leaders.  What do I need to stop doing?"
• Bill Easum: "Stop my to-do list and start my to-be list, a list of people who could be leaders of the future!"
• Geoff Surratt to pastors about their home life: "Declare a ministry free zone!"
• Jenni Catron: "We have shrunk Jesus to the size where He can save our soul, but not where he can change the world."
• Bob Pierce: "Don't fail to do something just because you can't do everything!"
• Mark Batterson: "I'd rather have one God idea than 1,000 good ideas!"
• Rich Nathan: "Some churches focus on evangelism.  Others focus on social justice.  Why not BOTH?  Doesn't have to be a choice of either or."
• Sam Chand: "The difference between large ministries and small ministries is the pain threshold.  There is no growth without pain.  Great growth requires great pain!"
• Mark Deymaz: "God is not interested in churches healing the race problem in America.  He wants to use the race problem in America to heal our churches."
• Brian McClaren: "The gospel is no an evacuation plan.  It's a transformation plan."
• Brad Bell: "The greatest church you will ever pastor is the one you lead at home.  Don't give everything to the church and leave the scraps for the kids."
• John Ortberg: "Disciples are hand-crafted, not mass produced. Each one grows spiritually in a different way."

Church Planting Books Fail to Inspire

Yesterday, on my day off, I picked up two books on the topic of church planting:  Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer and Launch: Starting a New Church From Scratch by Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas.  Even though it was not a working day I thought it would be worthwhile for me to get inspired and maybe pick up some good ideas for our own new church launch.

Admittedly, I haven't finished either of the books yet.  And I'm convinced that both books are well written by experienced authors, who have much to offer.  I'm sure I will pick up some good ideas.  But I must admit that both failed to inspire me.

At first this really bothered me.  After all, I'm an avid reader.  Reading usually does inspire me.  Books have changed my life so many times.  But, in this case, I was left flat. 

After I thought about it for awhile, I realized that these books could not accomplish what God has already accomplished in my heart.  I'm already so inspired, so excited, so transformed by the mission we have at Church Requel - that no other book could ever add to the vision we already have.  Church Requel is new.  It's different.  It's special.  It's a vision that God has given to a small group of people in Mansfield, Ohio to reach people for Christ in Mansfield, Ohio.  While I'm not opposed AT ALL to using good ideas that have worked in other places, we already have so many great ideas.  My primary goal now is to accomplish the ideas we already have.

The other thought I walked away with yesterday was that I'm not all that excited about the concept of "launching a church."  I AM VERY EXCITED about "being the church," whatever its size or length of existence.  What got me up and running this morning was thinking about specific people and how they would partner with CR to reach our community.  I'm excited about Shaun and his commitment to help with financial organization.  I'm excited about Rich and his commitment to helping people find their spiritual gifts for service.  I'm excited about Tami and Nate and Mary Kay and Nancy and Cindy and Steve and Jonathan and Bethany and Jessica and Ron and Mary and Matt and Windi and Mark and Bonnie and Nina and (I could go on and on here... Don't want to be the Romper Room lady looking through her magic mirror - {if you're younger than 40 you may not get that last reference}).  I'm excited about some of the folks I'm talking to who have not yet partnered with us, but are thinking about it.  I'm excited about the kids who are coming (SO MANY!) and what God may accomplish through them in their lifetimes, if we do our job right.  I'm excited about our communions, our worship times, our prayer life, our fellowship, our vision casting.

I know I'm rambling - but you need to know that this new church and its new life is SO COMPELLING to me!  Reading other books about how someone else has launched a church is like looking at a still, black and white photograph compared with being immersed in a full color, 3-D movie.  I'm glad God has used other men and women in other places.  But I'm really turned on by what God is doing with my partners and me right now and right here.

Church Stats Tell Why New Churches Are Important

This morning I'm reading Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer.  Ed provides a list of statistics about churches in North America, which is startling.  If you've ever wondered why you should be a part of a new church plant, consider the following:

• Churches are closing at a phenomenal rate.  Eighty to 85% of American churches are on the downside of their life cycle.  3500 to 4000 churches close each year.
• The percentage of Christians in the U.S. population dropped 9 percent from 1990 to 2001.
• The number of unchurched people has almost doubled from 1991 to 2004.
• There are 120 million secular undiscipled people in the United States.  The U.S. is the largest mission field in the Western Hemisphere and the 5th largest mission field on earth!
• In 1900, there were 28 churches for every 10,000 Americans.  In 2004, there were 11 churches for every 10,000 Americans.
• Churches over 15 years of age win an average of 3 people to Christ per year for every hundred church members.  Churches under 3 years of age, on the other hand, win an average of 10 people to Christ per year for every hundred church members.

When I read these BIG PICTURE statistics, I'm reminded anew why it's important to be part of the church planting movement. 

Lebron James: "A Second is a Long Time"

I'm continuing to enjoy my Kindle subscription to the NY Times.  Here were the articles of interest to me this morning.  Feel free to comment below!

Cavs Win at Buzzer - What would a Saturday morning be without the Sports section of the paper.  Truth be known, I'm not that partial to pro basketball.  But I have to admit there is something I love about LeBron, a player who could play anywhere for any amount of money... and he chooses Cleveland.  In their last minute loss two days ago LeBron took responsibility, even though he scored 49 points.  Last night with only one second to make the shot James flicked his wrist, dropping a three-pointer to beat the Magic 96-95.  Beyond the joy of the Cavs win, why would I include this in today's favorite list?  Here's Lebron James quote afterward:  "For me, a second is a long time.  For others, it's very short."  Here's my question for you.  How much will you value every moment of your day today?

The Big Pulpit - This article provided some insights into the ministry of Rev. A. R. Bernard, a Brooklyn megachurch.  A couple quotes from the article grabbed my attention.  "... the Christian Cultural Center, the nondenominational church he founded nearly 30 years ago with 20 folding chairs that has swelled into the city's largest, with 31,600 members."  What grabbed my attention?  I can identify with the 20 folding chairs.  Ha!  There was one other aspect of the article that brought chagrin.  The writer of the article makes the point that every pastor is selling "the same product... a relationship with God."  Rev. Bernard's comment: "We all get our meat from the same warehouse. Lamb is lamb.  Beef is beef. It's how we prepare it."  Now I know how easy it is to have words twisted, but would I even want to think about my congregant's relationship with God as "a product?"  Would I ever want to think about the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world as "Lamb is lamb?"

Unchurched 20 Somethings More Spiritually Opened

A recent study says that people between the ages of 20 and 29 are more open to spiritual truths and more readily believe in the one God of the Bible than their older generations.  Yet these same twenty somethings are dissatisfied with today's church.  The study's findings are spelled out in the book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them.  According to the Baptist Press, here are some of the results of the survey:

For the most part, the theological beliefs of unchurched 20-29-year-olds are closer to historic Christianity than the beliefs of older generations who are unchurched. According to the study: More than 4 out of 5 of the younger group (80 percent) believe in God -- 8 percent higher than unchurched adults 30 and older. Additionally, 57 percent of 20-somethings are more likely to say "there exists only one God, the one described in the Bible" -- nearly 10 percent higher than older adults.

Unchurched 20-29-year-olds also affirm the uniqueness of the Christian God at a higher rate than their elders. While 67 percent of unchurched individuals over 30 say the God of the Bible is no different than the gods of other religions, only 58 percent of 20-somethings agree.

Unchurched 20-29-year-olds even affirm the central doctrine of Christianity -- the resurrection of Christ -- at a higher rate. Two out of 3 individuals (67 percent) in their 20s say they believe Jesus rose from the dead. Only 54 percent of older unchurched adults believe this.

Yet according to this same study, the twenty somethings are LESS likely to attend church.  Jason Hayes, one of the three authors of the Lost and Found book writes, "The world is watching, and young adults are looking to see a real and authentic faith from Christians. It's not enough for the church to simply believe the right things. Our actions must be connected to these convictions as well."

This confirms what I'm banking on with the new Church Requel.  I've decided to take the church back to its roots - meeting in a home, focus on Scripture - readings, studies, and preaching, worship always including communion, authentic praying.  This means that our services will go longer than an hour and that not everything will be polished to perfection.  But it will be an authentic faith. 

Yesterday we enjoyed the presence of a new 20 something year old man.  He seemed genuinely moved by the experience.  After lunch he even came back over to the house to visit.  (I'd love to say that he came to see Mary Kay and me, but I think he was more interested in my 20-something children than us!)  However, without prompting he told me that it had been a long time since he had experienced church like he did in our home yesterday.  I would be delighted if more twenty somethings found their way to Church Requel.

Differing Views on Church Disciplines - Funny!

I just read a post from the Internet Monk that I found fascinating.  The question was raised:  "To what extent can the church mandate personal spiritual practices?"  Six different pastors from different liturgical backgrounds answered the question in great detail.  Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Baptist, and Methodists.  While they all are worth reading, the Southern Baptist writer was (purposely) knee slapping funny.  Here's an excerpt:

Wyman Richardson/Southern Baptist: Any attempt to “mandate personal spiritual practices” in a Baptist church is likely to go over like a pregnant high jumper. In fact, most Baptists view the word “mandate” in about the same way they view the word “heroin”: we know some people do it, but we think they shouldn’t.

I may be exaggerating a bit…well…no I’m not

.
Now, certain civic practices are essentially mandated by the congregation. Ask any Baptist preacher who has forgotten to recognize the veterans on Veteran’s Day or any preacher who has, even worse, forgotten to recognize mothers on Mother’s Day. I tremble as I type. So there is an implicit mandate from the congregation based on its own idiosyncratic and, largely, civic traditions. But that’s not even liturgy. That’s syncretism.

Now, what many Baptist pastors do in an attempt to see their people “buy into” a particular devotional practice is either (a) guilt the people into it, which works in more sado-masochistic churches or (b) buy it in an over-priced, glossy, packaged, pre-fabricated format and then hope to dress it up with enough carnival atmosphere that the people will think it’s possibly more entertaining than the new episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County…which none of us watch, of course, we just stop “for a few minutes” while channel surfing.

You must understand: worldwide, intergenerational, transcontinental liturgical consensus and tradition cannot accomplish in over a thousand years what the latest Christian marketing gimmick can accomplish in a fortnight in a denomination that has learned to buy into almost anything so long as the workbook eventually has a final page and its presented in 150 font.

You can get Baptists folk to do just about anything (except fast) so long as you slap “40 Days Of…” before it.

Read the whole thing over on the Internet Monk site.

Seminaries Not Just For Pastors

Derek Cooper, who wrote the book, So You're Thinking About Going To Seminary: An Insider's Guide, was recently interviewed by Christianity Today.  As in the past, poor economic times proves to be a boon for seminaries around the U.S.  As the unemployment rate increases, so apparently, does the enrollment of seminaries.  But are all these new seminarians planning on entering the ministry?  Nope... this is one of two big misconceptions, according to Cooper, of seminaries.  Speaking of the two misconceptions:

First, those who attend seminary assume that one of seminary's main purposes is to provide the answer to this or that great biblical or theological question. Instead of understanding seminary or theological education in terms of a mathematical formula to be solved, however, it is more like a tension-filled narrative that is to be lived out. Seminaries, in other words, are better at asking questions than answering them.

Second, those who do not attend seminary assume that only people called to the pastorate or some other full-time Christian ministry are encouraged or even eligible to attend seminary. The truth is, however, that seminaries are filled with students who will pursue a variety of professions after graduation.

I wonder if Ashland Thelological Seminary has seen any increase in enrollment lately.  Anyone know?

Great Expectations... of a Pastor

I came across another great blog today, Confessions of a Small-Church Pastor by Chuck Warnock.  The post that grabbed my attention was this:  "What your church members want from their pastor."  Chuck starts off his blog saying that if anyone goes to a Christian book store and peruses the books for pastors, one would think that congregations want "great preaching, inspiring vision, and larger-than-life leadership."  That certainly is what I have been taught to think over the past few years.

However, Chuck has a different viewpoint - the view from the small church side of things.  He thinks people want from their pastor: (1) their time, (2) their ear, (3) their presence, and (4) their prayers.

I'd be interested to know what you think.  Here's the thing.  It seems pretty clear to me that there is no such thing as the perfect pastor, right?  I mean we will never get everything we want in any pastor.  Probably the more time a pastor spends doing the four things Chuck mentions, the less time and creativity the pastor will have for things like preaching, vision and leadership.  So what do you expect?  Comment back to me.  I'm serious.  I want to know.  I'd like to see a discussion. This is personal.  What do YOU expect from your pastor?

Ed Young's "Sexperiment" on Colbert Report

Pastor Ed Young of Fellowship Church recently was a guest on The Colbert Report.  Young challenged the married couples in his church to enjoy sex seven days in a row.  This got Colbert's attention:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Ed Young

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The NY Times also reported on this "Sexperiment" at Fellowship Church.  According to the Times, the series received a mixed reaction from the congregation:

Those who attend Fellowship’s location here or one of several satellite churches in the Dallas area and one in Miami are used to Mr. Young’s provocative style. (The real “f word” in the marital boudoir, he says, is “forgiveness.”) But the sex challenge was a bit much for some of his church members, who sat with arms crossed in uncomfortable silence, he recalls, while many in the audience gave him an enthusiastic applause.

One parishioner, Rob Hulsey, 25, said his Baptist relatives raised their eyebrows about it, but he summed up the reaction of many husbands at Fellowship Church when he first heard about the sex challenge — “Yay!”

A week later, he and his wife, who are expecting a baby and have two older children, could not stop holding hands during the sermon. His wife, Madeline Hulsey, 32, said she was just as thrilled to spend a week focusing on her husband. Usually, “we start to kiss, and it’s knock knock knock, Mom!” she said.

Withing the past year I was given the charge to give the "sex talk" to the Crossroads' congregation.  It was one of the biggest challenges I ever faced as a teacher / preacher.  Balancing good taste with giving advice that is truly helpful and straightforward was not an easy task, but one of the most rewarding.  Many people told me how helpful it was to them. 

However, I can't imagine challenging a congregation to the "seven days in a row" challenge.  What do you think?  Good idea?  Or not so much?

Perry Noble: "15 Things to Know BEFORE Starting!"

Sometimes people ask me why I spend so much time writing and reading blogs.  What I'm about to share with you is EXACTLY why.  Yesterday Perry Noble, pastor of  NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina wrote in his blog: "15 Things I Wished I Would Have Known."   I want you to understand the value of this.  Here's a guy with ten years' experience leading a church with more than 10,000 people attending every weekend, and he stops his week to write down - for my benefit and yours - the 15 things he wished he would have known when he was exactly where I am now (and you too if you're part of Church Requel.)  Seriously, you have to go there right now and read this!

Here are a few of my favorites:

#3 - There is not a formula for growing a church.  That is so great to know.  Should save a lot of time trying to figure out the "how to grow a church" the right way, the best way, the fastest way.  Instead maybe I/we should focus on #5...

#5 - I should spend way less time focusing on being "right" and way more time on being faithful. Preach it brother.  I need to hear it.  Faithful... tall order... think you could help me with that?

#10 - I don't always have the best ideas.  Yessir!  That's true.  Now can I remember it?  Can I practice celebrating everybody else's bright ideas?

#14 - Leadership is as easy as listening to God.  ... or as difficult as listening to God.  Anybody else besides me get sidetracked with so many things that just must be done that I don't make the effort to really listen?

Ok... here's the big wow at the end of his post that makes me want to save this and read it over and over:

The fights, the sleepless nights, the critics, the spiritual warfare, the long meetings, the frustration…IT’S ALL WORTH IT!  When lives get changed…it’s worth it.  When hell becomes less crowded…it’s worth it.  When repentance takes place…it’s worth it!  When marriages are restored…it’s worth it.  IT IS SO WORTH everything we go through!!!  SO…don’t EVER give up–EVER!!

Thanks Perry.  Think I'll keep this one tucked away during those discouraging moments.  But, my dear reader, if I should ever get discouraged and forget, please remind me to NEVER, EVER give up... EVER!

Christianity Today: Most Redeeming Films of 2008

Before you jump over to Christianity Today, which one film did you watch last year that you thought was the most redeeming?  CT has taken a vote and now has a list of the top ten.

I have to admit that I'm really behind in my movie watching.  Most of these flicks I haven't even seen yet.  (why do I have that Netflix account again?)

Ok, once you've written down in the comment section your vote for most redeeming film, you have my permission to go see the list of the top 10 most redeeming films.

Swerve: "How Would Jesus Pump Gas?"

This is a funny and sad commentary on life in general and church life in particular.  Bobby Gruenewald from LifeChurch.tv posted this unsolicited voicemail yesterday.  What would you do if you got this on your church answering machine?  Would it change your mind about Christian or church bumper stickers?

Voice Mail Message by lifechurchtv

Digital Financial Transparency

Three difference articles caught my eye today and got me to thinking about financial transparency.

• First was this announcement from Executive Pastor Tim Stevens that Granger Community Church had to lay off 8 staff members and cut hours for another 15 staffers. 
• Second, was this article from Reggie McNeal about a conversation he was part of today with his server from Cracker Barrel, who openly wondered how her church could be spending so much money on a new building when so many people are hurting financially.
• And finally there is this article from Aaron Linne at LifeWay Digital Media Publishing.  Aaron makes that point that the digital way of embracing community is transparency and that perhaps churches could be more transparent with their members online about their church finances.  He asks:  

Would your church benefit from being transparent?  Would your community see the struggle of planning a church budget, and realize how important their contributions are?  Or would the community rebel against the budget, and decide that the pastor doesn't need an assistant or such an extensive book collection?

Moving forward I will do all that I can to be as financially transparent with our new congregation as I can be.  With the advances in web technology we should be able to inform our parishioners exactly where we stand on a month to month basis.  My guess is that I'm not the only one thinking this.  When we all come out of this economic malaise, I'm guessing that financial decisions will be more open to church members than ever before.  What do you think?  Would you want to put your church finances out to church members on a regular basis?

Church Super Bowl Party Ok with NFL, But What About God?

For those churches wanting to hold a Super Bowl party at the church as a party or outreach event, you now have the permission of the National Football League.  According to this article from OneNewsNow.com:

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently stated churches can now watch the Super Bowl live as long as they do not charge an attendance fee. John Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute is thankful for the change.
 
"Well, churches can now have football parties and show the Super Bowl on a screen larger than 55 inches," he explains. "It's taken two years, basically, of the Rutherford Institute harassing them."
 
Whitehead notes the conditions. "As long as the viewings are free and they're on the premises of the church," he points out. "So it's legal now and you can do it. The NFL will not harass you."

However, you might want to check first with the Internet Monk, who recently received a memo from God.  He says (tongue in cheek) that God wants to make sure that churches have church on Sunday night and not do the Super Bowl Party. 

Bottom line:  Ok with the NFL.  Maybe not with God... if you're a real church... who really loves Jesus.