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Religious

Grand and Beautiful Testimony

     Craig Barnes is a Presbyterian pastor and president of Princeton Theological Seminary and someone whom I admire a great deal. Before his current presidency, Barnes was the preaching pastor for the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA. During his ministry with that congregation, the church undertook a renovation and expansion of their facilities. At the launch of the financial campaign for the work, he wrote a letter to his congregation. I share a portion of it here with you.
 
     “When someone enters your home, they learn a lot about you. The way you decorate and furnish the rooms, the art and photographs that hang on your walls, and even the way you maintain the house tells people who you are and what you value. The same thing is true about our church home. A church is certainly more than a building. It’s the people, centered in Jesus Christ, who make up the church. But every church expresses its personality and values by how they organize and maintain their building.
    
     Our church is a grand and beautiful testimony to our devotion to Christ. The great lantern that sits above our Sanctuary is a physical witness to our mission to be the light of hope to the community around us. Our grandparents who built this facility wanted people to follow that light into the congregation where they would find a ministry that can restore the human spirit. But after all these years, our church home is now in need of some significant renovations.”
    
     Perhaps what I like best in those words from Craig Barnes is the image that the church is a grand and beautiful testimony to our devotion to Christ.
    
     Years ago, during my first ministry in Florida, there was a young family in the church I served. The wife was a former Miss Florida. She was active in the church, he was not. One day she dropped by the office and told me how unhappy she was. As a former beauty queen, she had always enjoyed the attention, the affection that came with the title. When she married, she believed that the only affection and demonstration of devotion she needed now was from a husband. Yet, something happened. His affection for her evaporated – at least any demonstration of it.
  
     He was in sales so he drove a new car with all the bells and whistles.  It was necessary for him to make a favorable impression on potential customers. They couldn’t afford two nice cars, he thought, so he required his wife to drive an old pick-up truck that lacked air-conditioning. As she told me through tears, it wasn’t so much that she hated driving that ugly truck, though she did. What bothered her was that it didn’t concern her husband that she had to settle for the old truck. The old truck became for her a symbol that he no longer valued her, no longer desired the best for her, and no longer had a grand and beautiful devotion to her.
    
     The Bible teaches that Jesus has chosen to “dwell” in us – to take-up residence in our lives. The Lord of all, the One who rescued us from death now makes His home in each of us. The question we must ask is, “What kind of accommodations are we providing?” Do our lives resemble an old, ugly pick-up truck or a grand and beautiful Sanctuary? It is really a question of desire and intentionality. Are we following a purposeful path each day to grow-up into full maturity in Christ or have we settled for church membership and worship on Sundays. The difference is considerable.
    
Joy,
Categories
Religious

We Require Spiritual Nourishment

     Take out orders have become a commonplace alternative to home cooked meals in our increasingly frantic and busy culture. Physical nourishment has never been an option for when time permits – our bodies are designed in a manner that it must have the fuel food provides to function. Eating is not a choice. The question for busy lifestyles is what we will eat and how that food will be provided. Though fast food is often the food of choice for people on the go, there continues to be an increasing number of alternatives. Nevertheless, the pressing issue before us today is less the quality of the food but more the convenience of its availability. We have become a “take out” culture.
     What we often overlook is that we also have been designed by our Creator to require spiritual nourishment. The soul hungers for God as the body hungers for food. When the soul is neglected, the hunger often results in unhealthy addictions – sex, drugs, alcohol and excessive eating. Yet, those caught in the grip of addictions will readily confess that they fail to satisfy beyond the short term. That is because nothing can satisfy our spiritual hunger but God.
 
     Naturally, the best meal for the soul is regular worship and participation in a small, intimate Christian community of care, such as a small group. But just as we rarely have the time for home cooked meals, we find that regular worship and small group participation is difficult. We are a frantic and busy people.
   
     Certainly the church must continue to offer meaningful and dynamic worship and opportunities for small groups, but more is demanded. Just as we increasingly rely on take out food for the body, the church needs to provide take out food for the soul. Without the proper nourishment, we spiral into destructive addictions.
    
     I have become committed to our church making available “take out” for the bread of life, Jesus Christ. One resource that is available is printed sermons available in the Narthex (lobby area of our church) or on the church website. Each month, a new sermon will be added to those currently available. Passing these messages along to a friend or work colleague expands the circle of persons who are nourished by the preaching ministry of this church. Another resource is the weekly devotional, Heart & Soul, that is printed in the worship bulletin. This resource is also available on our website and includes every devotional I have written in the past year. You are invited to expand the ministry of our church by being a point of distribution of these and other resources, as together we seek to bless our community.
Joy,
Categories
Religious

Good is the Enemy of Great

“Good is the enemy of great”
     We must set high standards for the Lord’s work. This has become an obsession of mine. We cannot settle for less than the best. We cannot settle for good when God asks for our best. The proclamation of the gospel demands excellence. Anything less demeans the church of Jesus Christ.

     This striving for excellence must be seen in everything from cared-for buildings and manicured lawns to well-written and produced brochures and other printed materials.

     The practice of ministry also requires excellence. Excellence in ministry and programs demand both paid staff and gifted volunteers. Neither can be neglected. Growing excellence in ministry will require that we continually add to our paid staff and equip volunteers. In fact, research by the Alban Institute, a non-profit that studies congregational vitality, indicates that a church is optimally staffed when it has one full-time paid professional staff person for every one hundred persons in worship. Naturally, whenever a church seeks to move toward this model, financial resources must be available. That requires that a church culture of generosity be continually cultivated.

     Why one professional staff for every one hundred in worship? Volunteers alone cannot sustain excellence over a period of time. It is in the very nature of the word volunteer. Volunteers provide ministry leadership after hours from their “real” jobs. Persons may be retired but have other responsibilities. Volunteers may be parents and have sports events, rehearsals and other activities that require their time. Volunteers alone simply cannot sustain consistent excellence in the long haul.

     The ability of volunteers may also be less than what is expected or required for excellence and the ministry suffers. Paid staff receives consistent and ongoing training, performance objectives and supervision. Accountability to the Personnel Committee and Session raises the bar of performance. 

     I count it a great privilege to be the pastor of this congregation. As we move toward greater and greater excellence in ministry together, I continue to share here, and in other places, what moving from good to great will require.
Joy,
Categories
Religious

Five Faith Practices of Discipleship

“We can’t entertain people into discipleship. We (each individually) must develop practices that counteract culture and conform us to Christ.”
Roger Helland & Leonard Hjalmarson
     It is now widely acknowledged that people are continually being shaped by their culture and environment. Pop culture has formed us – discipled us – through the medium of advertising and peer pressure. We feel that we must dress like everyone else, live like everyone else, spend our resources and behave like everyone else. Certainly we work hard to have nice things but, perhaps, that is part of the problem…some are working to hard and missing what really matters, significant relationship time with those we love and with Jesus Christ. We have “conformed” to the world.
     The consequence has been disastrous for the church. Congregations are filled with people who say they are Christians, perhaps even sincerely wishing to be Christians, but who look less like followers of Jesus and more like the rest of the world. It all has to do with what forces we have allowed to “shape” us.  Some years ago I identified what I believed are the irreducible faith practices of those who follow Jesus; The Five Faith Practices of Discipleship. The hope, of course, is that if every member were to identify a few manageable and intentional changes in priorities, they would be less conformed to the world and more conformed to Jesus.
Here are the Five Faith Practices of Discipleship:
*    Worship Regularly
*    Pray Daily
*    Learn & Apply God’s Word
*    Participate in a Ministry
*    Give Financially to the Work of the Church
     Naturally, these are not the only practices that mark followers of Jesus. But they are the “irreducible minimum” of intentional discipleship. This is where someone begins who desires to honor the call of Romans 12: 2 – “Don’t continue to be like the rest of the world. Start taking on the image of Jesus Christ. (My paraphrase).
     It has been argued that the health of a local congregation never rises above the spiritual health of the individual members. First Presbyterian Church is a good church, no question. Here we see incredible people doing incredible things. Here we see incredible forgiveness being demonstrated and compassion and care given abundantly. But this church can be so much more and can impact the local community far more significantly. One thing is required, one thing…that more and more people reading these words begin to take seriously the five faith practices and allowing God’s power to shape them into something so much more than they are now.
Joy,
Categories
Religious

Do You Want to be Transformed?

 “Some years ago, social critic Neil Postman wrote an engaging book, Amusing Ourselves to Death. Postman’s thesis was, in short, that we Americans are no longer interested in information, truth, or transformation. All we want is to be entertained.”
 From Preaching Master Class, William H. Willimon
     There is a fascinating story about Jesus healing a paralytic in John 5:1-9.  Jesus saw this man lying by a pool and learned that he had suffered as an invalid for thirty-eight years, so Jesus asked him, “Do you want to get well?” (verse 6).  At first glance, it’s one of the few occasions where Jesus seemed to ask a dumb question; anyone with an affliction spanning nearly four decades would want relief, wouldn’t they?
     This passage is a defining passage for many churches today – the question, “Do you want to be healed?” has become another, “Do you want to be transformed?”  Naturally, ask most church members this question they will respond, “Yes.”  Yet, if that question is followed by, “Then, what are you doing about it?” their eyes go blank.  Wishful thinking rarely translates into intentional behaviors or action.
     Each of you has heard, as I have, that our nation is literally dying from our “fast food diet.”  The popularly of fast food, of course, is not only that it tastes great but that it is cheap and … well, fast.  Our bodies – our health – would significantly be better served by intentional preparation of healthy meals at home.  With thoughtful shopping and the right recipes, we do not have to sacrifice either taste or inexpensive with such preparation.  But it does take time.  Preparing thoughtful, healthy meals that tastes great is not fast. And Americans seem unwilling to give-up “fast.”  Truth be known, they are not will to give-up “little effort” as well.
     The same is true for our growth in Jesus Christ. We want growth, certainly.  But we want it “fast food” style and “to go, please.”  We see this in worship by comments such as, “I go to church to be entertained” rather than “I go to church to express my gratitude for God’s love.”  As Tom Long once observed, when we realize that worship isn’t about us then we sing that hymn that we don’t like very much and speak the liturgy that – at that particular moment – leaves us cold.
     This is also true about efforts in spiritual formation.  I have heard from some of you, “Pastor, don’t give me homework to do, simply give me a video to watch.”  Translation: “I prefer to get there – spiritual growth in Jesus Christ – with little effort on my part.”  This is a “fast food” mentality.  Friends, we can change and become more like Christ but it will require intentional effort on our part.  The question remains, “Do you want to be transformed?”
Joy,
Categories
Religious

A Successful Plan

 “Any successful plan for spiritual formation, whether for the individual or group, 
will in fact be significantly similar to the Alcoholics Anonymous program.
-Dallas Willard
     Nearly ten months ago I preached a sermon about the need for Christian formation for strong faith communities. In that message I shared that such formation required the Vision,the Intentionand the Means for personal spiritual transformation. Simply, there isn’t the possibility for developing strong faith communities unless there is individual transformation into Christlikeness. The general pattern for such individual transformation is described by Dallas Willard as the little acronym “VIM,” as in the phrase “vim and vigor.” Richard Schaublin actually remembers that sermon ten months later. Many Sundays he will tell me before worship that he has “VIM!”
     Willard argues that if we are to be spiritually formed in Christ, we must have and must implement the appropriate vision, intention, and means. Willard continues that not just any path we take will do. If this VIM pattern is not put in place properly and held there, Christ simply will not be formed in us.
     
      Let’s look closely at this pattern Willard calls VIM. Vision is something that is cast by leaders of an organization. Simply, the leaders of an organization have a view for what makes for success and attempt to convey that view to individuals within the organization through vision-casting. For the church, the primary leader is Jesus Christ and the teachings of Jesus make it clear that the primary vision for the church is one of a disciple making community. (See Mark 1:37, 38 among multiple other sources in the Bible)

      Intention involves decision – a decision by each member of the organization to participate in the vision. Not all will, of course. There will always be a few who will respond that they “don’t like homework.” But for the majority that catch the vision, understand the vision and recognize its value, they will be the ones who decide to advance the vision forward along with the leaders. When a church member agrees to participate in the vision of disciple making, they demonstrate that they have been captivated by Christ’s vision for something greater than their personal lives.
      Means is what follows the vision and the intention to obey Christ and is the specific thing or steps one will follow to realize the vision. Bottom line, it is what we do. It is “homework” or what I prefer, “soul work.” Since Jesus’ vision of the church is to be primarily a disciple making community, the means that is identified must be useful in developing disciples. Discipleship Essentials by Greg Ogden is perhaps the best resource available today for this. Dr. Ogden will be with our congregation this November. This will be an opportunity to interact personally with one of the best thinkers today in Christian formation. I hope you will participate in this weekend experience and become personally engaged in VIM for the future Vigor of this great church. Your “Yes” to intentional Christian formation will result in a greater impact for God’s kingdom here in Delray Beach.      

 Joy,

Categories
Religious

The Meaning of Membership

 “The more we thought about making disciples,
 the more we had to rethink the meaning of membership.” 
Glenn McDonald
\”Pastors must turn over much of the ministry to the laity. 
Pastors of healthy, growing congregations have a whole new set of tasks. 
If these pastors are still expected to visit all who are sick, meet all who are hurting and needy, 
and go to every meeting, they will have no time to do what they should be doing.” 
Paul D. Borden
     My single greatest desire is to see First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach become the church the Apostle Paul envisions in his letter to the church in Ephesus, the Book of Ephesians. Clearly, simply and succinctly, that vision is like a ball team; the game is played by the players, not the coaches. For the church, every member is a player; the hired staff is the coaches. That means that “ministry”, including the ministry of care to the sick and needy, is primarily done by church members. The staff stands on the sidelines and “coach”, in church language, recruit players, discover where their talent is, develop that talent and then send them onto the playing field.
     “Listen in” on the coaching that Greg Ogden once gave to the Elders of my former church, the Lenape Valley Presbyterian Church, New Britain, Pennsylvania in 2006, and then answer, “How are we doing?” Ogden tells the Elders that seven things must happen if we are to be like the church Paul speaks of in Ephesians.
  1. Set the expectation for the congregation that your pastor(s) is (are) primarily equippers for ministry, not just caretakers or administrators.
  2. Change the paradigm of how you make disciples from a programmatic to a relational approach.
  3. Refuse to make an unbiblical distinction between being a Christian and being a disciple.
  4. Be willing to call people to the high bar of discipleship.
  5. View the church as the central context in which disciples is made. A Christian is one who has God as their Father, and the Church as their Mother.
  6. Develop a public pathway of discipleship. Have an answer to the question: “If I wanted to become a mature disciple of Jesus Christ here, how would I propose that happens?” (Note: that is what my book, Faith Journey was written to do.)
  7. Model discipleship by being in a small, reproducing disciple-making community (small group).
      I once had someone share with me that they were in a very unhealthy place, physically, emotionally and spiritually. They sought advice from a doctor. After a few questions to the patient, the doctor responded, “It seems that you have neglected the basics of good health: a regular bed time and getting up at the same time each morning, exercise and a proper, healthy diet. Correct these things and then we will determine “what’s next.” Ogdenprovided the Elders of that church the basics of good health. How do you think we are doing here at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach?
Joy,
Categories
Religious

The Missional Church Movement

“Congregations are increasingly composed of people with little sense of the Christian story.” 
Alan J. Roxburgh
     Increasingly I hear members ask, “Where are our children?” “Where are our grandchildren?” Naturally, the question is asked about senior highs and older children. A lot of them are not in church. They were in Sunday school growing up. They participated in Vacation Bible School most years. Yet, it must not have been enough because today they’re not interested. What went wrong?
    
     These questions are being asked throughout North American churches of many denominations. Such questions are a central concern for a new movement that is growing with considerable force throughout the larger church – The Missional Church Movement.
      
     One answer that is emerging from this movement is that, for most families involved in church, church is either a place to be busy doing “church stuff” or a place where we, and our needs, are taken care of. The conclusion of our nearly grown and grown children is that their lives are busy enough without the church adding to their complicated lives. As for us, their needs are a concern, they can be meet in other ways – unfortunately sometimes in ways that are not always healthy. The one thing that would keep our children connected to the church, and with considerable vitality, is a compelling sense that they are a part of the Christian story.
      
     What gets in the way of this happening is complex – there are many obstacles, many layered upon one another. The largest among them is little evidence that parents are truly discipled – living lives that are ordered around the teachings of Jesus. More of the family financial resources are spent on comforts than used to advance the ministry of the church. Prayers are not a regular part of family life and little care is given to how we speak of others or behave toward them. Simply, our children don’t see transformed lives in their parents.
      
     Another obstacle is parents who see the church primarily for meeting personal needs. Rather than seeing a passion to reach people who don’t know Christ, our children see parents demanding more for themselves from the church. This reinforces in our children the message from the unchristian culture which is “it is about me!”
     
     Throughout this year, I will share reflections here in this blog and in our church’s newsmagazine what it means to be a missional church – a church that cares more about being a force for Christ in the community than “taking care of our own.” This doesn’t mean that the needs of the members are not important, only that they are placed in a larger context of lives continually be transformed to be like Christ and moving each member out to be witnesses for Jesus in the world.
Joy,
Categories
Religious

The Pastor\’s Primary Role

“The pastor’s primary role is to keep the evangelistic temperature red-hot inside the church.” 
Nelson Searcy
     Nelson Searcy states that organizations of any kind, churches included, tend to become inwardly focused if no one has committed to keeping them outwardly focused. For churches in particular, an inward turning is natural and inevitable as a church’s self-interest work themselves to the forefront. Churches become busy taking care of the staff, ministering to those in the congregation with various needs, meeting the budget, preparing for the weekend and on and on with the consequence that they forget all about “the salvation of John and Joan in the coffee shop down the street.”
    
     The only hope for the world, writes Bill Hybels, is the local church and the only hope for the local church, states Searcy, is for the pastor to take on their proper leadership role and keep the church focused on reaching others for Jesus. The Bible is very clear: the primary purpose of the faith community, the church, is to reach the world for Jesus Christ.
      
     Though careful studies now indicate that only about 5% – 10% of church members in any local church have the spiritual gift of evangelism (presenting Jesus to an unbeliever in such a manner that their hearts are open to receiving Jesus as personal savior) all church members have some responsibility for evangelism. Remember, the Bible makes it clear that evangelism that results in disciples for Jesus is the single primary work of the church. Therefore, no one is excused from participating.
     
     So what are the other 90% – 95% who don’t have the spiritual gift of evangelism to do? As your pastor, I believe there are three things anyone of us can do that will impact our church’s efforts in evangelism. First, look for natural opportunities to talk about your faith with others. Use this template if it will help: My life before becoming a Christian, How I became a Christian and My life after becoming a Christian.
    
     Second, invite people to church with you. Research now shows that somewhere between 80% and 87% of new believers in Jesus Christ came to faith simply because someone they knew invited them to church. In fact, two people who joined our church this past Sunday specifically told me that they came at the invitation of another member.
       
     Invite someone to join you on a particular Sunday that you will be present and be clear that they are invited to sit with you. It doesn’t advance the cause of Christ to simply say, “I hope you will come to my church one Sunday.” Nor does it help for you to invite and not be present the Sunday they attend.
    
     Third, pray for specific people, by name, who you believe does not either believe in Jesus or have a church home. Ask God to work in their heart and through your relationship with them to create a longing for Jesus Christ and desire to learn more of Him through your church.
      
     I agree with Nelson Searcy, my primary work as your pastor is to keep the evangelistic and discipleship ministry of the church red-hot. Only then will First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach be found faithful to the command of Christ to make disciples of all nations.
Joy,
Categories
Religious

A New Way of Being the Church

“The financial world will continue to change. If you’re staying the course in this new landscape, 
you may be missing out on opportunities and jeopardizing your future. 
Because following the same old path can lead you in the wrong direction.”
Advertisement by BNY MELLON: Wealth Management in 
The New Yorker magazine, March 18th, 2013 issue.
“Nor is it enough to do the work of ministry if what you do is headed in the wrong direction.” 
IVP Praxis Publishing – excerpt from statement of purpose.
     In my early twenties my parents gave me the perfect birthday gift at the time, a state-of-the-art Panasonic Record Player. It was a slim, compact marvel packed with all the latest technology available. My favorite feature was the “electronic eye” that would scan the record, identify the position of each music selection, and then permit the programming of the selections to be played in any order. The feature also permitted the elimination of any selection that I didn’t like!  
     Today, records are difficult to find. The gift is obsolete technology.
     Similarly today, my son has seen the continued technological improvement of his favorite pastime, Nintendo. His first system was many years ago and provided one-dimensional graphics.  Then the N-64 System with three-dimensional graphics and a ton of new features became available. Today, I have simply given up on the name of the new systems he enjoys. I thought Nintendo had reached its apex. I should have known better than to underestimate a profit-driven, ever market-expanding corporation. Now my son wants the latest in video game technology. He can hardly bring himself to play the relic of former days that sits in his bedroom. Nor is there a market for him to sell his old equipment. No one wants it.
     State-of-the-art of yesterday is not state-of-the-art today. The same is true for ministry. What worked yesterday rarely works with the same results today. As popular author and Presbyterian Church leader, Ben Johnson, observes, “No longer can the church bury its head in the sand, pretending that the ‘old ways’ can reach a contemporary generation that does not understand the language of faith.”
     In his brilliant and absorbing book, New Day, New Church, Johnson examines the issues facing today’s church, proposes a new model for a New Day, and offers practical, how-to suggestions and patterns for a church in transition.
     My vision is that we will increasingly grow dissatisfied with yesterday’s technology and build together a new way of being the church for a New Day. The motivation for this is clear: to effectively reach hurting people and connect them with Christ. Old ways of being the church are failing to do this effectively.
     The question before us then is: Will we resist change because we are more committed to tradition and familiarity or are we committed to do what it takes to introduce increasingly more people to Christ? I hope we make the right answer.
Joy,