Church

The Power of Belief

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Belief

When I was a kid I gave my mom a lot of grief. I was angry, argumentative, and full of energy. Every parent’s dream.

I remember one particularly difficult day. I was acting out. My mom was exasperated. But it was all about to change. Peace was right around the corner.

My mom grabbed the phone off the wall. (Back then it was attached to the wall with a long, curly cord.) She shook the receiver at me and angrily asked me point-blank: “Do you want me to call Santa Claus and tell him how you’re acting?”

Let’s all settle down for a minute. Let’s not do anything rash. Let’s not do anything we’ll regret or that can’t be undone.

No. Clearly I do not want you to call Santa Claus.

I’ll be good. I swear. Put. The. Phone. Down.

I believed she had the ability to fulfill her threat in that moment. I didn’t even think to call her bluff. I never asked if she really had his number. It seemed to me at the time like the kind of thing adults could do. I believed. And I changed. At least, temporarily.

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Christianity Isn’t Moralism

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Rules rubber stamp

Do this. Don’t do that.

Shop here. Don’t shop there.

This is acceptable. That is an abomination.

Is this really what following Jesus is all about?

Don’t get me wrong. Christianity does have a moral code. That’s undeniable.

And that moral code is not popular. Not by a long shot. The Bible is clear that the moral code is contrary to the flesh. By definition it goes against the grain of fallen human nature.

But Christianity isn’t moralism. Continue reading →

Partnering With God’s Mission

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Live on Mission

Mission. Vision. Direction. Purpose.

These are powerful concepts. Organizations that want to be successful need to skillfully employ them to get people to participate.

This same strategy is often used in local churches.

Many pastoral job descriptions include casting vision. Successful churches often have mission statements as a focal point of all their church ministries and literature.

Do you have a mission statement? Does your church?

Do you know God’s mission statement? Continue reading →

Offense Vs. Defense

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Crash the gates

Stop playing defense.

If we’re going to let Jesus have His way in His church then we need to stop playing defense. We need to focus on playing offense.

Look carefully at what Jesus said about the nature of His church: “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18).

Gates are defensive structures. They are built to protect their own territory. Jesus plainly said that He would build His church. This building would happen on the rock of people confessing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

As Jesus builds His church people will come out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light (1 Pet 2:9-10). The gates of Hades will not be able to stop the advance of Christ’s kingdom expansion. Continue reading →

American Christian or Christian American?

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Long shadow USA flag icon with a cross

The question is about priorities.

Which takes precedence for you: your faith or your patriotism?

I’m not asking you to abandon one or the other. I am asking you to be honest with yourself and answer this question: Is your life more defined by your Christianity and the Lord you claim to serve, or by the American dream, and your right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

How would your family answer this question about you? What about your coworkers? Your neighbors?

How would those who read your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and any and every other aspect of your public life answer that question about you? Continue reading →

Wanted: The Ideal Church Model

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Church Growth

(This post originally appeared on Fourth Year Ministries blog)

I’ve been exposed to a lot of church growth books and materials over the years. I’ve seen programs, systems, agendas, theories, and campaigns.

A question we must wrestle with is how do we measure success?

Perhaps you’re expecting me to diminish a focus on numbers and reaching the multitudes and emphasize spiritual factors that are harder to quantify. Things like spiritual maturity and growth in Christ’s likeness.

Actually, I’m not suggesting that we focus on or emphasize either to the neglect of the other.

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Learning To Walk

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Father helping his son for the first steps

One of my priorities as a Dad is to help my children learn to walk. I take this seriously. Our sixth child walked the earliest so far. She was walking one day before she was 9 months old.

We’ll see if I can have our seventh walking before that.

My wife doesn’t always share my enthusiasm. With so many young children in the house it can be nice to have a few that are limited in their mobility.

However, I figure they’ll never move out if they can’t walk on their own. Might as well get started as soon as we can. (I’m mostly kidding.)

I want my children to grow to maturity. I enjoy helping them take their first steps. I also enjoy watching the momentum build as they grow more and more into who God designed them to be.

This is true in my household. Also in the household of faith.

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You’re Invited To…

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You're Invited!

I don’t invite people to attend our church.

Does that seem strange to you?

It’s not because I don’t want people to come. I do. We don’t turn people away. We feel incredibly blessed whenever someone chooses to gather with us.

It’s also not because we want to keep our congregation as small as possible. I look forward to the day when people from every tribe, tongue, nation, and people gather to worship our God together in unity. Worshiping among the multitude that no one can number is going to be awesome. Truly.

But inviting people to church is putting the cart before the horse. It has deep implications on our gatherings. I believe it’s harmful.

So, I don’t invite people to come to our church. I invite people to come to Christ.

Continue reading →

The Greatest Value

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value

One of my favorite holidays is approaching followed immediately by one of my least favorite days of the year: Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

I like to eat. I hate to shop. I love jellied cranberry sauce. I strongly dislike waiting in lines. I desire to cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude in my heart and home. I want to put to death the covetousness that dwells in my flesh in obedience to God’s Word.

Immediately following a day that is supposed to be dedicated to giving thanks for what we have is a day that offers deals on everything we don’t. People will wait in lines, sleep outside, and fight with each other to get the best value on stuff that no one really needs but seemingly everyone wants.

As we get closer to Black Friday I am thankful that the greatest value is something that I don’t need to wait in line for or wrestle out of someone else’s hands. Neither do you. Continue reading →

Dedication to Glory

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Set of three medals with numbers and ribbon

I watched some clips of the Olympics this week. It is amazing to see what these athletes are capable of. They have spent years fine-tuning their skills and their bodies to perform.

I marvel at their physical abilities. I also marvel at their dedication.

No one rolls out of bed covered in potato chip crumbs and decides to set a world record that day. Winning a gold medal isn’t based on a whim. It takes effort, commitment, focus, and dedication.

These talented men and women are certainly gifted physically. Their dedication to perfecting their craft is even more amazing to me.

I sadly saw a clip of a French gymnast breaking his leg during a vault this week, too. If you haven’t seen it I can’t recommend watching it. It looked terribly painful. Emotionally and physically.

In a moment his hopes for gold were finished. Years of preparation and work were nullified. The injury was catastrophic to his performance.

As I was praying today and spending some time with another believer we were discussing the church. The Bible uses the metaphor of a body to describe the church often. The church is the body of Christ. Like a physical body the church is able to be injured. Injury makes it harder to succeed at our goal. Continue reading →