Time for a Change

For some time we've been planning on making some updates to this site that would better accomodate our readers. So without any further ado, I'd like to share that today is the final post of www.timdeatrick.blogspot.com. A new site has been designed and is now up and running. All of the posts to this site have been relocated. And, for everyone's convenience, the domain name remains the same: www.timdeatrick.com.

If you were a subscriber to this site, you'll need to re-subscribe at our new site. And, you'll need to make sure you correct the site on your favorites. Other than that, I'd like to thank you for following along for nearly 300 posts. I've really enjoyed writing for it, and hope in some small way my writing will continue to encourage you along your journey as you follow Christ.

Blessings!

Practice What You Preach

As long as I can remember, I’ve heard the worn phrase, “practice what you preach.” Sometimes it’s in reference to the burden that pastors feel to perfectly implement into their lives the material they present to their congregations each Sunday. After all, who is inspired by, “You should obey God in this area of life, even though I don’t?” Sometimes it’s used colloquially as a challenge to those who hold opinions that may be inconsistent with their behavior.

In my ministry I’ve discovered that God’s sense of humor allows me to live out whatever I’m preaching, whether I think I need to experience it or not. Take for example a Bible study I’m presently leading for a small group in our church on The Fruit of the Spirit. I love teaching the Fruit of the Spirit. It’s always relevant and draws out tons of conversation. In the past month I’ve observed that each fruit that I teach has been a point of challenge in my personal life. The week I taught “love,” for example, I had the chance to unconditionally love and forgive a family member. The week I taught “joy,” our rescue dog, Jackson, ate, of all things a razor blade (he’s fine, thanks for asking). The week I taught “peace,” I was confronted with a circumstance that was literally imploding before my eyes.

This week I get “patience.” My biblical understanding of patience is that patience deals primarily with difficult people, whereas endurance deals primarily with difficult situations. Of course my patience is being tried big time as I prepare to teach tonight’s lesson!

When I was young I would hear saintly people say things like, “don’t pray for patience or God will give it to you!” I’ve learned through the years that if God determines I need patience, it doesn’t matter if I ask for it or not, He’s going to work on that area of my character. And when he does, he uses difficult people to do it.

The Power of a Whisper

Do you ever wonder if God still speaks to people today? Do you ever wonder if God might speak to you? Do you wonder if you would recognize God’s whisper if He did speak to you? I enjoy reading books that relate to the topic of spiritual formation. At any given time, I’m reading three or four books, one of which is usually related to spiritual formation. So when I saw The Power of a Whisper, I picked it up and read it.

The biggest take away from The Power of a Whisper is Hybels’ affirmation that God still speaks to his people today. When God speaks, He speaks in simple, yet profound ways. God’s whisper does not come in designated places like churches or during designated times like our daily devotionals. He speaks in all areas of life and at all times of life. While God’s voice doesn’t always change our circumstances, His voice will change us and our approach to our circumstances.

I found The Power of a Whisper to be practical, inspiring, and compelling. If you feel as though your time with God has become stale, or if it’s simply been a while since you have heard God’s whisper, I’d recommend this highly encouraging book.

Obey

I’ve logged a little windshield time lately passing the time thinking about obedience. Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like the word “obey” (as in obedience to God) is a word that is missing from our current Christian vocabulary. Do you feel this way? What emotions do you associate with the word obey? Is it a word that we need to recover? How do we recover obedience without reducing it to legalism?

I’d like to encourage you to weigh in. To comment, simply click on the title of this post and the comment box will appear at the bottom of the page. Comment moderation is on, so I’ll try to get to them as quick as they hit my phone.

Where Ideas Come From

I thought this was a cool presentation!

Is Your Church a Battleship or a Cruise Ship?

On the surface we would believe that the early church in Acts was blessed with outstanding growth due to the anointed preaching of the apostles; their balanced practices that would evolve into much of our church programming today; and a talented and committed membership base. Only when we gaze beneath the surface do we discover that the church was framed in the midst of adversity.

The early church had to deal with persecution enacted by religious leaders and later, the Roman government itself. The church had to confront hypocrisy within its own ranks as certain members chose to seek reputation enhancement over character development. But in Acts 6 we find the greatest challenge of all…the question concerning what kind of church they were going to be.

This weekend in worship I framed the conversation by describing the difference between a battle ship and a cruise ship. I’ve not been on a battle ship, but it appears that everything about a battle ship and everyone on a battle ship is there in support of the mission. From the crew to the bridge, every person has an assignment that relates to the mission. Every function is evaluated in light of the mission.

A cruise ship, on the other hand, is about the comfort of the passengers. Passengers pay the fare to receive first class service, food, and entertainment. The experience is wonderful, but it’s all about the passengers.

The difference between the battleship and the cruise ship is the nature of their mission. What if the early church would have assessed their needs and their size and determined to make their mission about their “passengers” instead of staying on point with regards to their mission? It could have been disastrous! Yet many churches face the temptation to focus inwardly on the care and comfort of their members versus reaching out to their communities and the world.

What did the apostles do when they faced the problem in Acts 6 regarding food distribution to the Greek speaking widows?

The first thing they did was to guard their unity. We find the apostle’s concern for the church’s unity implied in the text. In the New Testament, unity refers to “thinking in the same direction.” In other words, unity means that everyone is on the same page, thinking the same thoughts.

The second thing the apostles did was to retain their focus. Verse two made it clear that the primary focus of the church was and would continue to be the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Third, the apostles involved their membership. They didn’t assess the problem at hand and minimize it or act as though it didn’t exist. No, they developed a plan of action and sought the community’s participation in selecting people of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom to engage the need. Ministry has an important role in the church, but like football, the purpose of ministry within the body is to get the members back on the field of play where they can continue to participate in the broader mission of the church.

Next, they adjusted their organization. They made a systemic change that would serve the mission by serving the people on mission.

Finally, they increased their influence. This simple process enabled the church to continue its growth and extend its influence to the point that even Jewish priests were converting to faith in Christ.

As I prepared and delivered this message this weekend, I was amazed at the maturity and wisdom of the apostles who led the early church. I was even more impressed by their unwavering commitment to the mission of the church. When given the choice between remaining a battleship or becoming a cruise ship, they got it right. I hope we will too.

The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

Books written out of the experience and conversation of community are always a treat. When many voices speak to a given topic it provides a rich sense of balance and heightens credibility. The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation is such a book. Birthed out of a series of meetings of a group that became known as TACT (Theological and Cultural Thinkers), The Kingdom Life presents to readers and church leaders a way to think about spiritual formation that goes beyond how to practice the spiritual disciplines.

The fruit of TACT’s labor was to establish the elements of spiritual formation into two sections, process elements and theological elements. They are summarized below:

Element One: The gospel of the Kingdom is the realm of God’s active goodness in forming us in Christ as we follow Him. The way we understand the Kingdom of God is to participate as apprentices of Jesus.

Element Two: Spiritual formation is rooted in relationship with God and one another. It calls us to not only relate to God, but to one another in communities of grace, trust, love, humility, and justice.

Element Three: Spiritual formation into Christlikeness involves an intentional public, personal, and communal commitment to living as Jesus’ disciples who are being transformed into His image in all aspects of our lives as we learn to obey His commands.

Element Four: Spiritual formation is a lifelong pursuit of being conformed to the image of Christ from the inside out and not a matter of external activity alone.

Element Five: Spiritual formation is a continual process of transforming the whole person, including the healing of woundedness and rebellion, by the power of God, not to be confused with mere technique or program.

Element Six: Spiritual formation occurs when God, in his grace, invades the destructiveness of suffering that results from the fall and uses the pain of suffering for his redemptive purposes in His people. Suffering is an agent of God through which He forms us in Christ. (This chapter alone is worth the price of the book!)

Element Seven: Spiritual formation in Christ is a process of growing in Kingdom living and participating in God’s mission. Those who pursue spiritual formation will by necessity become people of mission.

Element Eight: The theology of spiritual transformation emerges from the Trinitarian nature of God—relational, loving, gracious, mutually submissive, and unified in will.

Element Nine: Spiritual formation takes place by the direct work of the Holy Spirit, regenerating and conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ as the Spirit indwells, fills, guides, gifts, and empowers people for life in the community of faith and in the world.

Element Ten: Spiritual formation is based upon the Bible as God’s reliable and authoritative revelation. The Bible guides and informs the use of spiritual disciplines and models of spirituality as they have emerged worldwide throughout time.

Each of the preceding elements becomes the topic sentence of a chapter written by a member of the TACT group. They are well researched, Biblically undergirded, clearly written, and amply illustrated. The book concludes with a helpful Epilogue devoted to describing ways that churches can foster spiritual formation among their congregations without becoming programmatic or legalistic. I would recommend this book to Christians who desire to pursue spiritual formation in a balanced way that goes beyond a contemplative life of devotion in isolation. The strength of the book is its explanation of how spiritual formation works in community and in mission. You can live a life committed to spiritual formation without a moving into a monestary!

Laughter

On Wednesday nights I'm leading a group in a study of the Fruit of the Spirit. Last night we spent some time talking about the second fruit mentioned in Paul's listing found in Galatians 5:22-23: the fruit of JOY! As a part of the study I produced a quiz on laughter, based largely on the findings of Professor and neuroscientist Robert Provine. Some of the surprising findings of Provine include...

> People are more likely to laugh in groups than when they are alone,

> The person talking laughs 46% more than the person listening (does this mean I'm not as funny as I think I am??),

> Four times more laughter is triggered by bland phrases than formal jokes,

> Women laugh more than men, and

> Only 1 in 5 espisodes of laughter results from direct or intentional attempts at humor.

Poking around the internet via Google I also saw an amazing report that stated that babies laugh as early as 17 days old. But the one that troubled me most was the statistic that claimed that the average child laughs 200 times per day, compared with the average adult who laughs 15 times a day. I'm not about to claim that the last stat is bolstered in some heavily endowed scientific research, but when I think about it, its probably spot on.

As we age, life does get a bit serious. I just had lunch with my wife who works as a Kindergarten teacher in a nearby public school. As I arrived at her room, the class was preparing for lunch and reccess. Somewhere after that will come a "nap." As I left I thought to myself that I wished someone would make me nap every afternoon for 30 minutes. But I digress.

The point is this. God has created us with the capacity to laugh. Though neuroscience cannot conclusively identify the location of laughter in our brains, it does exist from the get-go. We have been given this wonderful gift, but somehow our laughter has become rooted in circumstances and life events rather than from some contented place deep within our character. When we are not content within and are merely responding to external circumstances, the only place we'll find laughter is in our manufactured worlds of entertainment and comedy. God has created us to laugh and to experience joy, and joy is an inside job.

On Persecution and Plurality, Tolerance and Love

2010 has had some interesting religious story lines thus far. Heated debate has lit up the phone lines over controversial topics such as whether it’s appropriate and sensitive to build a mosque at “Ground Zero” in New York City or whether Florida pastor Terry Jones exercised proper judgment by promoting that he would burn copies of the Koran on September 11. Add to this the report by Mark Hanson last week in the Des Moines Register that the American Atheists organization has selected Des Moines as the site of their 2011 national convention, and you have the kindling to start a fiery conversation regarding the nature of religious liberty in America today. You can find the article by clicking here.

Last weekend in worship I shared a lengthy passage from Acts 5:12-42, and shared some thoughts regarding the ancient text vis a vis our contemporary cultural landscape. Here are six things I think that have helped me wrap my mind around some of the current issues:

1. The Christian community has got to do more than pay lip service to religious liberty in America. My pedestrian understanding of religious liberty is that Americans are afforded freedom of worship, freedom for worship, and freedom from worship. In other words, I can worship as I see fit, you can worship as you see fit, and if it’s your preference, you are free not to worship at all. When Westboro Baptist Church (Fred Phelps) picketed our church and four others in 2006, they were exercising their freedom of speech and worship. Were their methods tactful, tasteful, or sensitive? No. Did they have the right to do so? Yes. Let’s make sure that our conversation about the mosque at ground zero doesn’t confuse religious liberty in America with what is sensitive toward the victims and their families of 9/11. I believe its two conversations.

2. The Christian movement in history flourished most during times of persecution and religious plurality. Through my preparation of my present series from Acts, I have cited on two occasions the work of Rodney Stark, who, before taking his present post at Baylor University served as professor of sociology and comparative religions at the University of Washington for 32 years. In his book The Rise of Christianity, Stark writes that by the middle of the fourth century, Christians comprised some 56% of the entire population of the Roman Empire. Such impressive growth of the movement happened, in part, through at least five emperors who ruthlessly tortured and killed Christians. Had the first generation of believers following the resurrection of Christ been afforded the protections that we possess in postmodern America, where we spend more annually on pet food than missions, would we know the gospel today?

3. Fear is bad form for the Christian. I think the most disturbing aspect of the present conversation is that it is heavily peppered with fear. “If they let this happen, then what’s next?” seems to be the seasoning applied to every proposition. As I read the Bible, I am reminded that Christians serve a God who enables 80 year old men to conquer the army of Pharaoh with a stick and who empowers 17 year old boys to defeat giants with rocks and a slingshot. Paul told Timothy that “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). So if your heart is gripped with fear, it’s not from God.

4. Political triumphalism is not the answer. Christians must always remember that the cross flies higher than the flag. Our government will not “save us.” Why would we even expect it to? Our allegiance is first and foremost to the Kingdom of God, and our salvation lies therein.

5. Christians should seek ways to elevate the conversation. I recently did a streaming web talk show here in Des Moines. The host, J. Michael McKoy, is a committed Christian man. When he asked during the interview for my thoughts on tolerance, I responded by saying that Christianity has no word for tolerance in the Scripture. Tolerance is the attitude of the reductionist who seeks to meet minimal requirements. After all, Jesus didn’t teach “tolerate your enemies…and tolerate those who insult you or abuse you.” Rather than broker behavior in terms of tolerance, the Christian is called to love. Love trumps tolerance in that it is active in its behavior, not passive. Christians are called to love, and where there is love there is room for conversation and understanding, not judgment and ignorance.

6. Christians should interpret all that we see going on as an unprecedented opportunity to live the gospel and to share the gospel. It takes both. The gospel message is just another message unless it is complimented by behaving in ways that are consistent with the gospel message. The 30 gospel sermons found in Acts are inspiring and challenging. But the response to those sermons was based on more than listening to the mighty words of God’s anointed apostles. The listeners simultaneously observed the culture of the committed and discerned that life in Christ was more than words. In these unconventional days, my prayer is that we will see every challenge as a fresh opportunity for the gospel and that we will share boldly and live consistently.

Fakers: 3

Before I wrap up this conversation on hypocrisy, I want to make one more observation. Astute Bible readers have learned that first occurrences in any story line are important. That’s what makes Genesis, for example, an important book in the Old Testament. In the story of the emerging church in Acts, this passage about the first instance of God’s discipline should get our attention. What is God trying to say to the congregation then? What is God trying to say to us today?

As for then, I think God was making a statement to the people about character and integrity. Were Ananias and Sapphira the only sinners there? Were they the first to commit a sin? My answer would be no and again, no. So what’s the deal? God was teaching them that the goal of faith is character development that reflects the image of God. This is more important than their (or our, for that matter) attempts to attain some form of sinless perfection. Life is to be lived from the inside out. Hypocrisy attempts to live from the outside in, which is an approach to faith that must be soundly rejected.

The passage concludes in verse 5:11 with the first use of the word ekklesia, which is rendered “church” in our English translations. So what does it mean when we see the first instance of church discipline and the first use of the word church in this narrative account? I recall reading a book on small group ministry where Bill Hybels wrote, “The value of community lies in the possibility of exclusion.” God was trying to take this crowd of passionate believers and shape them into a new society, an alternative community of faith that would pursue the Kingdom of God with every fiber of its being. Authenticity is one of God’s values and should be one of ours as well. Don’t get me wrong, sin is not good and God is holy. But you can’t genuinely possess clean hands without a pure heart, unless you have a thing for legalism.

Participation in God’s new community comes with some stiff demands, and he sets the standard high. Jesus said we must love one another as we love ourselves. Paul’s epistles flesh that principle out even further. We should be discerning about this in our churches today. Not in ways that prescribe litmus tests to our morality and ethics. But in ways that insist on authenticity, character, and integrity that reach beyond whether our baptism is in order and we adhere to doctrinal statements and confessions.

A Heart for the Community

Serving in urban St. Louis during the late 1980's and early 1990's presented a pretty steep learning curve. I grew up in rural northeast Missouri and attended college in a county seat town that boasted a population of around 10,000. Don't get me wrong, I loved the city of St. Louis. Still do. Two of my children were born there. And I learned a lot about people and ministry during that first decade of full time service. If the streets were tough, you just had to be tougher. If money was tight, you had to be more creative. If the work load grew heavy, you had to work longer. All in all it was a good ministry, but I honestly shudder to think of what could have been.

Since those days I realize how little I knew about urban ministry and the impact I could have had if I had only known the kind of information available in the latest book I've read titled A Heart for the Community by John Fuder and Noel Castellanos. This book was birthed out of the urban ministry of various leaders and organizations in urban Chicago. Some 35 contributors wrote extremely helpful sections resulting in this reference guide for those who lead ministry in urban locations and suburban areas that are beginning to undergo transition.

The book is divided into four sections, each complete with multiple chapters by multiple voices. Section one details some of the critical issues facing urban areas including a helpful chapter that explains neighborhood gentrification and how to identify it. Section two describes and evaluates several church planting models that have found success in urban areas (e.g. the "Hip Hop Church," "House Church," and "Replants," et al). Section three provides an unexpected series of conversations regarding challenges surrounding the transitioning of suburban neighborhoods where poverty is meeting luxury, chiefly due to the gentrification of the inner city. The final section details several parachurch organizations that are committed to serving the needs of the urban culture and how churches and parachurch organizations can work together to accomplish kingdom causes.

If you've served, are serving, or are called to serve the city, pick this resource up and keep it near you. It will inform you and inspire you as you serve among the "least of these."

Fakers: 2

Hypocrisy is dangerous. Anytime a person pays more attention to building their reputation, image, or brand than they do developing their character, the results can be devastating. So what can work a day world Christians do to prevent pretense in our lives? Here’s a little list of things for you to consider:

1. Don’t judge others actions or their motives. Jesus said it best, “Do not judge others and you will not be judged. For you will be treated (judged) as you treat (judge) others” (Matthew 7:1-2, NLT). If you will commit to totally avoid the trap of comparing yourself to others, which is the basis of judging, you’ll have a nice head start on preventing pretense.

2. Acknowledge the possibility of hypocrisy in your own life. In other words, walk in genuine humility. 1 Corinthians 10:12 states, “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.”

3. Be open to someone who truly loves you (no agendas, no strings attached) speaking truth into your life. A mirror can help us correct physical imperfections, such as uncombed hair or lettuce in the teeth. But a true friend serves as a mirror into your soul and helps you see the nicks and dings in your character that need work. One of the reasons King David got off to a spectacular start in life was that he had Jonathan at his side to tell him the truth when he needed to hear it. As long as Jonathan was alive, David was unbeatable. But when David lost his “mirror,” he went downhill. Fast.

4. Ruthlessly eradicate pretense at first sight. While Acts 5 doesn’t give us the extended version of Ananias and Sapphira’s story, experience would tell us that they didn’t just wake up one morning a decide to pull the biggest ruse in church history up to that point in time. We never just wake up and sin grossly. There’s an erosion that takes place in character, followed by the determination to take a short cut. My point is that all sin comes to us gradually. When we sense the drift, we need to take pre-emptive action.

5. Choose your audience daily. Joshua gives us a great example of this. In chapter 24 of the book that bears his name, Joshua challenged the people with this: “Choose this day who you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Every day we must renew our commitment to live our lives for an audience of One.

6. Finally, always remember that you can fool all of the people all of the time, but you can never fool God. This is a simple yet profound reality that we need to be reminded of regularly. God sees you, inside and out, all the time. Others may not be able to tell whether or not you’re a faker, but God knows.

I hope these suggestions will be helpful to you in the ongoing battle against pretense and hypocrisy. You may not become sinlessly perfect in life. But you can become an authentic person of character and integrity. When you do, your reputation will take care of itself.

Fakers: 1

Last weekend in worship I dealt with arguably the most difficult passage in the book of Acts...the story of Ananias and Sapphira. God is understandably serious about sin, but in this text he puts to death this couple for their hypocrisy and pretense. A pedestrian view of the story leaves the reader with a lot of questions, most of which are unanswered. The reader is simply left to look at the "big picture" and draw some practical applications for life.

If we are to believe that biblical names are a reflection of the people we study, it may be helpful to know that Ananias means "blessed by the Lord" and Sapphira means "beautiful." This couple was "blessed and beautiful." It kind of gives you the impression that they were a young, upwardly mobile couple who were looking to make their mark on the world. They were ambitious networkers who were striving for attention.

That is a sharp contrast to the context of the story. Acts 4 concludes with the report of a man named Joseph who had sold a field and given the money to the apostles for distribution to the poor. His act made such an impression on the apostles that they gave Joseph a nickname. They called him Barnabas, or for the English speaking world, "Mr. Encouragement." Barnabas' selfless and humble act of generosity earned him a favorable reputation in the church. I don't think its too big of a stretch to imagine that all of this attention on Barnabas did not go unnoticed by the "blessed and beautiful" couple. There are two ways you can gain a reputation. You can do it though character development or you can manufacture it. Barnabas' reputation came by the former. Ananias and Sapphira through the latter.

Jesus had a lot to say about hypocrisy. In fact, the word hypocrite comes from Greek theater and means "one who plays a part." As I thought about hypocrisy I wrote my own definition. See what you think of this: "Hypocrisy is the result of manipulating your reputation in a favorable way without paying the price of character development." When a person pays more attention to developing their reputation and their image than on developing their character, the results can be devistating.

Mac's World Live

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Uncommon: 4

The early church was uncommon. It possessed attributes unlike any other community or organization known in their time. Their unity and value system was uncommon and they shared an uncommon story. As a result, they enjoyed the uncommon grace of God. As the text continues, we find another marker of this emerging movement: they had an uncommon sense of generosity.

“There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means ‘Son of Encouragement’). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles” (Acts 4:34-37, NLT).

We are somewhat caught off guard to read the claim that the church was so generous that it had eliminated all economic need within their group. Because they valued one another over their material possessions, they gave generously, even if it meant parting with a house or a field. I think it’s important to note that they gave with no strings attached. They sold stuff and gave the proceeds to the apostles and allowed them to distribute the funds according to their own discretion. Amazing!

When you think about it, the people of God throughout history have been known for their generosity. Think about your community. What are the names of the hospitals? Here in the 515 we have four hospital systems, three of which are named after the religious affiliations that started them. Think about the colleges and universities in America. Many of those private schools were started by the people of God who held a conviction that education was a priority. Think about the orphanages or the agencies that work tirelessly to serve those in need. Again, the people of God were on the cutting edge of meeting human needs and solving real problems in society. Uncommon!

Generosity not only meets physical needs. It also meets a spiritual need: encouragement. Barnabas is strategically introduced to the reader in this context, and his personal generosity is associated with encouragement. In other words, your generosity serves to encourage others and validates the claims of our faith and the calling of our Lord.

Uncommon: 3

This week I’ve been posting some reflections from last weekend’s message concerning the organic nature of the early church. This counter-culture movement can be evaluated by its external behaviors or by its internal character. I submit that we’ll get farther down the road if we focus on the internal character more than simply mimicking their acts. So far this week I’ve suggested that the early community possessed an uncommon unity and an uncommon value system. You can read the previous two posts to catch up if you need to. Today I want to talk about their uncommon story and their uncommon grace.

As the summary continues, Acts 4:33 states, “The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.”

I’ve been required to do a few sworn depositions in my life, but I’ve only been called as a witness once in a trial. Either way, I was sworn under oath and asked to state the facts. Interestingly enough, the attorney’s concerned with each case really didn’t care about my opinion. The apostles testified (think taking the stand) to what they knew was true concerning Jesus’ death and resurrection. It was an uncommon story in that it was not fabricated or embellished. It was the truth. The amazing thing about this uncommon story is that the person behind the story had and still had the power to transform lives. If you want to know why the apostles lived the way they did, their story is rooted in the larger story of Jesus. Their preaching was an invitation for others to root their lives in the story of Jesus.

Because of their uncommon character, the verse goes on to report that God’s grace was upon them. They were blessed by God. Those who know me are probably tired of me soap boxing on this, but it seems to be everywhere in Scripture: God’s blessings are not for us to enjoy; they are for us to share. The nation Israel in the Old Testament rose and fell according to their attitude toward their blessings. When we make God’s blessing about us, we begin to think we’re God’s favorite people, not his favored people. God’s favor is not about us. God’s blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others. What Israel missed the early church discovered. Two thousand years later, the principle remains the same.

Uncommon: 2

The emergent band of disciples was attractive to those in their community because they possessed an uncommon unity. Not only did they demonstrate Christian community, they also displayed an uncommon value system. Check out Acts 4:32, “And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.”

Imagine what it would be like to participate in a community where people were more prized than possessions. Their fidelity toward one another was so deep and authentic that they valued one another more than the stuff they owned. They gave one another their full and unconditional support.

While we are prone to help those in our communities of faith, often that help is measured. My dad helped me understand the difference between measured giving and giving with an open hand. Measured giving opens the wallet and shares what the giver wants to give. Giving with the open hand passes over the wallet and says, “take what you need.”

There’s a lot of stuff being written about the power of materialism and the bondage of material things in today’s society. How do we break the bondage of materialism? Maybe the bond is truly broken once and for all when we value one another more than we value our stuff. Maybe the bond is truly broken when we learn to find our identity in Christ instead of in what we have accumulated.

Uncommon

For the past several decades, churches have believed that if they could simply emulate the activities of the early church they could somehow produce the same results. For example, in the early 1970's, a Californian named John Wimber believed that if the modern church could replicate the same miracles that were reported in Acts, evangelism would naturally result. His conviction led to the establishment of the Vineyard Church movement.

Others have looked to the 30 sermons of Acts and believed that if modern pulpits could recapture the persuasive power of oration that people would come to hear the gospel. We have witnessed all kinds of attempts, from the homogenous models of the church growth movement to the purpose driven model to emphasis on church health. But are we foolish to attempt these things? Could it be something deeper?

There are seven summary statements in Acts, the second of which concludes Acts 4. By this time in their early history, the number of disciples is clealy in the thousands. There was something magnetic about this emerging assembly. But was it really due to their actions? I think it was a matter of the heart.

Whether they knew it or not, they were forming a new society that was counter-culture to the status quo of everything else that was occuring in time. The early church was different than anything people had witnessed in government, culture, society, and even religion. These believers were uncommon...not like anything else in their very vanilla existence.

For example, these believers shared an uncommon unity. Acts 4:32 says that the believers were all "of one heart and one mind." In their fragmented world, unity would have been an uncommon dimension of life, as is ours. In fact, I think the only place we seen unity and belonging today is in the world of athletics.

College football season began this past weekend. People love sports, partly because of the sense it gives people of belonging to something greater than themselves. If you talk to a football fan on Sunday and asked them how "their team" did the day before, it is not uncommon for them to reply "we won" or "we lost." Really? Did they play? Probably not, but you get what I'm talking about.

These early believers were part of a magnetic movement that provided opportunity for new additions to belong to a common cause and to others with similar commitments and interests.

This week I want to break down some of the attitudes and values that marked the early church. I think its a grave mistake to assume that if we do what they did in Acts that we'll get what they had. Our focus and study has to be on internal stuff, not the externals.

Generous Churches

Excellent 90 second video on generosity and giving in the church.

Lessons Learned from the 90 Day New Testament Challenge

On Sunday our church completed a summer activity called The 90 Day New Testament Challenge. It was actually pretty simple. I asked our congregation to read through the entire New Testament over the course of 90 days beginning June 1. I believed that this would be an important piece of our summer strategy, given that we committed our Wednesday nights to serving our community though an initiative called "The Summer of Love." To encourage our people to stay with the task, we developed a blogsite, www.nt90.com, to give people a chance to read entries, find a reading plan, sign up for daily text message reminders, and to post comments. So what was the take away from this promotion? What did we learn from our shared experience? Here are a few things that I learned and hope that others learned as well.

First, the New Testament is a primarily missional document and should be read with that in mind. For example, the Book of Acts has no ending. The story just stops, as if to assume that the second and third generations of believers would continue to walk in the same path. As we read the New Testament, we were able to understand the mission of the Kingdom past and make associations with the mission of Kingdom present. Like those whose “sentness” has been documented in the grand story of the New Testament, we too have been “sent” into the world to be the presence of Christ.

Second, there is a unique power that comes when the people of God are immersed in Scripture together. I enjoyed every conversation that I had with others who were taking the journey. Bible reading is intensified when it is a shared experience.

Third, the people of God are informed and encouraged by the ancient story. We were able to identify with many of the experiences we discovered in our reading. We felt things, saw things, and shared in things that Jesus and the apostles felt, saw, and shared.

Finally, the mission of Jesus is sustained and energized by the written word. Scripture reading provided spiritual sustenance for the unique mission we undertook this summer with The Summer of Love. To intentionally engage our community this summer apart from the steady ready of Scripture would be the equivalent of an athlete going to the game with an empty stomach. In John 4, Jesus told his disciples, “I have a kind of food that you know nothing about.”

At the beginning of our challenge, I pointed out that it takes 28 days to create a habit, whether good or bad. My prayer is that the completion of the challenge will not be an end to an accomplishment, but rather serve as the initial steps of a lifelong discipline of daily Bible reading.

11 Ways to Help Prepare Your Child for Worship

One thing I appreciate about churches is their commitment to children. Churches in general offer nurseries for babies and childcare for preschoolers during the worship hour. Churches with high commitment to children’s ministry will even provide a full hour worship experience designed specifically for elementary age children while the parents worship in “big church.” As a pastor, I’ve always appreciated every expression of a church to meet the spiritual needs of kids.

Some churches do not have a full program for children during worship, leaving mom and dad wondering how to best prepare their kids to sit through an hour of worship that is designed for and aimed toward adults. How can parents best prepare their child for worship? I don’t confess to having all of the answers, but here are 11 things that you may want to consider.

1. Before you do anything, determine the expectations you will have for your child. Are your expectations age appropriate for your child? Are they reasonable? Are you and your spouse in agreement on the expectations? Do you have goals? Will there be rewards or consequences? Thinking through your expectations in advance will prevent you from flying by the seat of your pants when it’s time to walk into the worship center.

2. Talk with your child in advance. Kids function best when parents take the time to explain what worship is and what they can expect when they arrive. Talking kids through the routine of worship will help them to understand the rhythm of the service. (Even the most contemporary churches have a worship template they follow!) It is especially important to help the child understand unique situations in worship such as baptism or communion. Certainly we would want the child to know that the offering plate is for putting money in, not helping one’s self!

3. Teach your child correctly from the beginning. Sometimes parents will take short cuts in explaining spiritual things to their children because frankly, it’s easier. For example, every now and then I hear a parent refer to the church facility as “God’s House.” While this is not intended to be a negative thing, it communicates some really poor theology. It communicates that God is restricted to a given location; that we can go see God like we go see Grandma; that when we leave the building, God stays put, and so forth. Some of you are thinking that I’m a little harsh on this, but from my perspective there are more adults than not who practically live out those same concepts that I’ve listed above on a daily basis. When you teach your kids about God, be simple without being simplistic. You don’t help your child grow up to think right by teaching them wrong in their most formative years.

4. Arrange for your child to meet the pastor. My wife is a school teacher. Occasionally we’ll be shopping or eating out and we’ll have a chance encounter with one of her school kids who is out with his or her family. I’m always amazed at the kid’s reaction to seeing their teacher out in public, as if it hadn’t occurred to them that their teacher actually bought groceries or had a life outside of the classroom. Children are helped when they can meet the pastor and see that the pastor is a real person apart from the pulpit.

5. Take your child on a tour of the platform. Before or after the service, escort your child to the front of the room and let them see what it’s like to stand on the platform and look out. Let them see the platform furniture and tell them about what each represents and how it functions. This will help them to become more familiar with the environment of worship and create a sense of comfort.

6. Decide beforehand what you’re plan of action will be for using the restroom. Many parents opt to explain to their children before the service that they will not be allowed to leave during the service to use the restroom. Parents who choose to take this position need to make sure that the child uses the restroom prior to the beginning of the service. If you decide you’ll allow your child to go to the restroom, it’s recommended that you escort the child to and from the restroom for their safety and security.

7. Encourage the child to participate as much as possible. While the sermon may be a little out of reach for the school age child, many elements of the service provide reasonable opportunities for the child to participate, such as praying, singing, and giving.

8. Consider taking a “church bag.” When our kids were small, my wife prepared a church bag for our kids to take to worship. She encouraged our kids to sing, pray, and give, and then when I got up to speak she would pull out the “church bag.” The church bag contained a small etch-a-sketch, a magna-doodle, crayons, paper, scissors, and a simple snack such as teddy grahams. (As a pastor I’ve never objected to kids eating during church. Frankly, I’d like to eat during church but my mother taught me that it’s impolite to speak with your mouth full!) This allowed our kids to do something constructive during the sermon. The church bag was only used for church, so the special items in it stayed special week in and week out. If you utilize an idea such as this, make sure to clean up after yourself at the conclusion of the service. In addition to this, I’d also recommend that you include an age appropriate Bible or Bible story books. I’d further recommend that you leave the Disney and Loony-Tunes books at home. Christian childhood education specialists recommend that parents and Sunday School teachers not use secular children’s literature at church because children will make the association that Jesus is a story like Cinderella is a story. (see #3!)

9. Talk with your child on the drive home about the service. This gives you an opportunity to reinforce the good things about your family’s worship experience and answer any questions the child may have.

10. Model worship to your child during the service. Your child will not progress beyond where you are as a worshipper. If you don’t pray, sing, give, or open a Bible, chances are your child will not see the value of the experience. As a parent you set the benchmark for your child’s spiritual development. When you engage in worship you teach your child the difference between worshipping God and merely going to church.

11. Above all, don’t stress! Many times parents feel embarrassed about their child’s behavior during the worship service. My standard and unoriginal response to that apology is “I’d rather hear a baby cry than an old man snore.” What parents need to realize, perhaps more than anything else, is that the goal is to teach the child how to worship God. When we teach our children how to worship God we make the experience about worship and God. On the other hand, if the goal is to teach the child how to behave in church we make the experience about ourselves as parents and how we wish to be perceived by those around us. In church, teaching “behavior” is about ourselves and how we can impress others around us.

Creating Movement

The disciple’s first response to persecution was to pray. When they prayed about their problem, they acknowledged the sovereignty of God then gave God the problem. They concluded by committing themselves to live according to the promises of God rather than by conventional wisdom. As a result of this prayer, “the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31, NLT).

It takes prayer to create the movement of God.

Maybe you’re like me in that you’ve tried to create the movement of God on your own, apart from prayer. Doing things like bargaining with God or trying to earn favor by your good works are just a couple of ways we try to create movement. But the bottom line is that God moves in response to prayer.

When he does move, he moves within his people to fulfill his plan and purpose. The disciples were filled with the Spirit, and when they were filled with the Spirit the gospel spilled from their lips. Remember that whenever you’re shaken, whatever fills you will spill out. In Acts 4, when the place was shaken the gospel spilled out of the disciples because the Spirit was what they were full of.

Praying About Problems

Do you ever wonder how you should pray when you face a problem? Life is certainly filled with adversity, and as people of faith we are compelled to take those problems to God by way of prayer. Acts 4:24-30 contains the content of the prayer that Peter and his cohort prayed in response to the persecution that broke out following the healing of the lame man. While their problem specifically involved religious persecution, I think the prayer itself offers a very helpful blueprint on how to address God with our challenges.

The first thing the disciples did in prayer was acknowledge the sovereignty of God. “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them—you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, you servant, saying, ‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’ In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will” (Acts 4:24-28, NLT). Notice in those verses that they confessed their belief that God was in control and on his throne. God had foreknown this event and was not caught by surprise.

The second thing they did in prayer was to hand the problem over to God. Acts 4:29 continues, “And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word.” The disciples realized that the opposition they were facing was nothing personal. The opposition was to the gospel. Therefore, the problem was God’s, not theirs. Their job was to be faithful, and God’s job was to handle the challenges that accompanied the task at hand.

Finally, they claimed the promises of God. In verse 30 they conclude their prayer by asking God to “stretch our your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” Every time we face a problem we face a choice between conventional wisdom and faith. Faith is simply behaving in ways that are consistent with what God has said. The disciples prayed that God would do what he promised to do in order to advance the gospel. What God had said was more important than what the officials had said.

Next time you take time to pray about a problem, remember the template of Acts 4. Begin by acknowledging the sovereignty of God. Then give the problem to God, and make the choice to live by faith and not by sight.

Emerging Adults

There was an interesting article posted by Southern Seminary President Albert Mohler on the "20 somethings" in America today. Great food for thought, especially for those who minister and serve this generation. Click here for the article.

Prayer as the First Response

When Peter and John were released from custody, they returned to their group and shared all that had taken place. Upon hearing the news that persecution was breaking out against the gospel, their first response was to pray.

“When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God” (Acts 4:24, NLT).

More than 20 years ago I participated in a study on prayer that was written by Peter Lord. His “2959 Prayer Plan” provided Christians with a comprehensive method to systematically pray for personal needs and to intercede on behalf of others. One of the first principles that Peter Lord taught was that believers should make prayer “their first response, not their last resort.”

That principle made a lasting impression on me. Reading this verse reminded me of how critical it is for each of us to pray first when our world gets topsy-turvy. It was convicting to reflect on my life and to see how often I try to fix things myself or depend on my own resources and resourcefulness as my first response. Too many times our attitude toward prayer is that of the final, last ditch effort when all else has failed. Not the apostles. They were so dependent and desperate for God to work in their lives as they spread the gospel that it was natural for them to pray. It was quite childlike. May we never mature beyond the point of childlike faith and desperate dependence.

The Strategically Small Church

It’s about time! That was my first reaction to picking up The Strategically Small Church. Written by small church pastor and Leadership Journal editor Brandon O’Brien, this book was a breath of fresh air in an era that is replete with “how to” books written by big guys about their big places. O’Brien vicariously pushes back against the conventional wisdom of the church growth movement and shares a very encouraging word to those who faithfully plod along.

O’Brien introduces his monograph with some helpful explanation behind the book’s title. A strategically small church isn’t necessarily an intentionally small church, but rather a church that is comfortable in its smallness because it has recognized some of the unique advantages that smallness offers to both congregation and community. Utilizing the strengths of its size, the small church can leverage what it brings to the table and make a significant impact. O’Brien quotes Chuck Warnock, who has said that “small churches are in desperate need of brand revival.” This was an important insight, because the number one problem of the small church is not its size but its perception. Being small is not the problem, according to the author. The problem lies in the insecurity and defensiveness that rises out of the failure to meet the expectations of their selves and others.

According to research in the book, 94% of churches in America are less than 500 in attendance, 177,000 of which are less than 100 in weekly attendance. Just over 5% of churches statistically average between 500 and 2,000, with one half of one percent exceeding 2,000 in weekly attendance. O’Brien suggests that there is a real problem if the 94% of small churches try to mimic the one half of one percent who are over 2,000 each week instead of working within their strengths and giftedness to meet the needs of their communities. The author suggests that small churches should recalibrate the metrics of success. He believes that bigger churches appear more successful because the possess statistics in areas that we already know how to measure. It is easy to put a statistic on church growth, but how does one measure kingdom growth?

The core of the book describes four strengths that small churches need to assess as such and build upon. The first strength that the small church inherently possesses is authenticity. Due to their size, small churches more naturally offer possibilities for personalized and intimate relationships. Small churches are somewhat more transparent, making hypocrisy more difficult to mask. O’Brien encourages the small church to simply stay authentic and to resist the temptation to be something they are not. By avoiding trendiness and business models the small church can maintain a high level of authenticity.

The second strength the writer points out is that small churches are lean. Instead of trying to “become all things to all people,” the small church should seek to do the things that no one else is doing and find a particular niche that the entire church can rally around. Programs should be developed solely on community need and giftedness within the body to exercise those programs. If a small church has members that have a particular interest that the church is incapable of developing, the author recommends that those particular members adopt a kingdom mindset and go serve that particular need through the auspices of a neighboring church.

Strength number three is for the small church to equip its members to serve as the missional presence of Christ through their jobs and neighborhoods. He cites statistics that reveal that people have significantly less discretionary time and income than their grandparents who devoted endless hours and dollars to their churches. Because of this socio-economic trend, O’Brien believes churches can be more effective by training their memberships to serve as they are and where they are rather than developing programs that depend on the church building to serve as the epicenter of ministry. Small churches need to shift their value system from attracting to sending and recognize the importance of making Kingdom contributions.

Finally, small churches should recognize the intergenerational advantages it possesses and use the older generations to mentor the young. This chapter offers the suggestion that small churches not feel pressured to age grade every ministry, but to let the natural blending of both young and old foster a family environment.

In conclusion, O’Brien confesses that the problem of the small church is that the very thing it’s attempting to achieve is the very thing that is undermining the very opportunity it’s been afforded. By exercising the natural strengths due to its size, the small church can, as it always has, continue to make an impact people’s lives and communities.

The Strategically Small Church is an excellent read for anyone in a church under 300. If you are a member of such a church, you’ll benefit deeply by this thoughtful and well written book. I would recommend that you purchase a copy, and after you’ve read it, share it with a friend or your pastor who is a part of a small church. It may be the most encouraging gift you give this year.

Marks of a World Changer: #4 Confidence in the Face of Opposition

So far this week we’ve looked at three marks of a world changer. World changers are people of unwavering conviction; committed to practicing spiritual disciplines; and consistently put compassion into action. The fourth mark is that world changers are confident in the face of persecution. Reading on in the fourth chapter of Acts, the Bible says, “So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, ‘Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.’ The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than 40 years” (Acts 4:18-22, NLT).

When the gospel advances someone is going to become upset. Notice this conflict was not over something insignificant like the color of the carpet or anyone’s musical preference. It was over the core conviction that Jesus had been raised from the dead. The apostle’s affirmed it, but the religious leaders denied it. When they were commanded to “shut up,” the apostles confidently stood their ground and recited their preference to live under the pleasure of God’s affirmation than to comply and conform to the pressure of public opinion.
I think this begs a very provocative question: What would it take to shut you up? What would it take to silence your witness or to stifle your conviction? Those who aspire to change the world in Jesus name cannot be silenced.

The obvious response to this line of thought could be something to the effect of, “This is America…who do I know that suffers persecution?” Good question. Let me encourage you to become acquainted with www.voiceofthemartyrs.com. This website is devoted to telling the story of the persecution of Christians around the world. We presently live in a world with some 171 nations. Of the 171 nations, 54 of them have made it illegal to adhere to Jesus Christ as Lord. The persecution and martyrdom of Christians in the 21st century is at an all time high. But don’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourself.

Some Love for Summer of Love!

Ashworth Road Baptist Church was featured in last week's West Des Moines Living Magazine for Summer of Love. Click here for the article. For more information about Summer of Love, visit our website at http://www.arbcsummeroflove.com!

Marks of a World Changer: #3 Compassion for People

The third mark of a world changer is that they show compassion for people. In the conversation recorded in Acts 4, several points stand out. In verse 9, Peter responds to the interrogation by saying, “Are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man?” Then in verses 14-16 the religious leaders remark to themselves that indeed the man with the congenital disability had been healed.

I think it’s become popular to talk about compassion. But talk is cheap. The thing that separates the catalyst from the rabble is action. Agents of change “do” compassion for those in need.

For 2,000 years the New Testament has nudged the Christian community toward compassionate action. This morning I read the book of James. With the weekend message still on my mind, I smiled at how frequently James pointed out to his audience that faith without demonstration is worthless. “Be warm and be filled” is lip service that is still alive and well today. I believe it’s time for the people of God to put up when it comes to justice issues and dealing with real problems in our communities. Shutting up is not a viable option.

Marks of a World Changer: #2 Spiritual Formation

The second mark of a world changer is that world changers are people who find inner strength through practicing the principles of spiritual formation. Notice Acts 4:13, which states, “The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus” (NLT).

The verse points out three things about Peter and John. First, they were ordinary guys. Fishermen by vocation, in fact. There was nothing extraordinary about them, whether it be physical features, intelligence, eloquence, or charisma. Average Joes, so to speak.
The second thing it points out is that they had bypassed conventional wisdom, which said that you had to have completed Rabbinical school in order to articulate religious concepts. No sheepskin on the wall for Peter and John.

The third thing is that the only distinguishing feature about them is that they had spent time with Jesus. For three years, Peter and John had sat at the feet of the master teacher. They had been with Jesus on good days and bad. They had witnessed miraculous acts performed by Jesus that words could scarcely portray. They had listened intently as he taught with imagery and metaphor. Time with Jesus was the distinguishing mark.

Have you been spending time with Jesus? Spiritual formation is the process that transforms our selfish souls into the Savior’s likeness. Some will speak of spiritual formation as the practice of spiritual disciplines, such as Bible reading, prayer, fasting and the like.

The point is this: many Christ followers expect a 60 minute weekly worship experience to meet their basic spiritual needs. That’s like saying that brushing your teeth or showering once a week is good enough. Or maybe more appropriately, eating food once a week will physically sustain your body’s needs.

World changers are people who make a difference in their environments. They do so because they are spiritually nourished and motivated from a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ.

Making Ideas Happen

One of the things that I appreciate most about my career peers is the level of creativity they possess. Think about what the average pastor has to produce over the course of a year. There are sermons to be researched, written and then orally communicated to attendees that possess on average a seven minute attention span. There are services for special occasions ranging from holidays to weddings and funerals. There is program administration, which requires a pastor to take a concept and lead volunteers to action. And in addition to all of this is the routine writing of letters, articles, and in my instance, a blog where I make about four posts per week. All of that to say that over a lifetime, a pastor creates volumes and volumes of material, beginning often with nothing more than a Bible, a pen, and a legal pad. Many ideas get implemented. But I suspect many are left to wither and die on the corner of a napkin that is tucked in a desk drawer.

Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky is one of the best reads I’ve picked up in 2010. While it is clearly written for a business audience, I think it is very applicable to the pastors and clergy of our communities of faith. The title was compelling because I’m one who typically spends most of his time with the right half of the brain. Getting the plethora of ideas turned into reality has always been a sticking point for me. Thankfully, I’ve been blessed in my ministry career to be partnered with people who are excellent at gaming out those annoying nuts and bolts. Belsky’s book is helpful because through it I have discovered that I need to assume the responsibility for turning those wonderful ideas into action plans.

I think it’s important to note that Making Ideas Happen is not a book about how to become creative or how to increase creativity. By and large, the author assumes that the reader’s primary challenge is not the absence of creativity. The book is about how to take your ideas and turn them into something tangible. Any idea, regardless of good it may be, is nothing more than an idea unless it is executed. In fact, according to Belsky, an average idea with a plan of implementation is always better than a great idea with no plan of implementation.

The book is written in three broad sections. The first section deals with how to organize and execute ideas. Beginning with a bias toward action, the author walks the reader through basic steps of how to organize and structure an idea so that the idea can transition from concept into something that is concrete. The best basic advice he provides is that once the idea is conceived it must immediately be viewed as a project. Treating the idea as a project aids the creative mind in the actual implementation of the idea as well as fending off any distractions that might rear their heads.

Section two deals with “othering.” Ideas need members of the community to speak to them in order to help shape and refine them. I found this section intriguing because Belsky advocates vulnerability and transparency over and against vanity and narcissism. Anyone who has had an idea faces the temptation to become protective and possessive. Vanity can prevent the honest evaluation from others that is often necessary to put the concept in motion. As I read this I thought of artists, musicians and entertainers who have split up or sued over “creative control.” Belsky goes 180 degrees against that line of thought and encourages creative people to expose their ideas to feedback and evaluation. He makes it simple, asking the reader to consider whether creative control is the goal versus implementation. Great question!

In the concluding section, Belsky discusses the implications of creativity upon leadership styles. This section is helpful because Belsky addresses issues such as how creative people express leadership and how creative people prefer to be led. This section may have been worth the price of the book.

For too long people have polarized themselves around labels such as abstract and analytical. The author demonstrates that through discipline the creative person can have the best of both worlds. Making Ideas Happen was helpful on many levels, and I whole heartedly commend it to you for your reading pleasure. I believe you will find it beneficial.

Marks of a World Changer: #1 Conviction

In Acts 17:6, those first generation Christ followers had developed quite the reputation. They were known as those who were “turning the world upside down.” One may be surprised at the rapid growth of the Christian movement following the Day of Pentecost, but we should not be surprised at how quickly and fiercely opposition to the gospel of Jesus sprung up. When the gospel advances and good things begin to happen, somebody is going to become upset.

Acts 4 reports the initial development of persecution and opposition the gospelers. Undeterred, the apostles continued to advance the gospel with boldness and courage. They were out to change the world, and change the world they did.

What characterizes a world changer? What marks can we detect from Peter and John that will encourage us today?

First, world changers are people of unwavering conviction. In Acts 4:1-12, opposition arose over the apostle’s assertion that Jesus had risen from the dead. The religious leaders dutifully denied such things as possible. Yet Peter and John were unshakable on this significant theological point.

I think it’s important to note that the opposition to the gospel that I’m speaking of is over a significant point of doctrine. It wasn’t over carpet color or song selection or dress code for church. It was an attack directed at the very heart of the gospel. For them the resurrection of Jesus was not a negotiable point. They believed without reservation or hesitation.
Every person in world history who has made a significant impact for good or bad was a person of unwavering conviction. If you desire to be a world changer, you’re going to need to determine what your non-negotiable convictions are and stick to them like glue.

Seizing Opportunities (part 4)

Peter’s gospel message came as a response to the attention that was stirred by the healing of the lame man. As I posted earlier this week, in Acts, events lead to explanations. With that being said, let me share a couple of points of application as I wrap up this series from Acts chapter 4.

First, God sightings begin by discerning God’s work in your own life. Unfortunately we miss a lot of the “events” because at our very core we are pretty self absorbed. We esteem ourselves as intelligent and hardworking, therefore the blessings that come in our lives we take credit for. Until you begin to intentionally and diligently give God glory for the good things in your life, you may continue your journey and miss the very God who is at work in your life on a daily basis.

Second, let the good things in your life become your platform to share the good news. You’re not lucky. You’re not fortunate. You’re not deserving. You are very blessed. As you discern God’s blessing and give him the glory for those blessings, you’ll find that your opportunities to share the gospel will dramatically increase. And so will your effectiveness.

Summer of Love

Last night's Summer of Love project took some from our church to work with Rebuilding Together, a Des Moines organization helping those in the city do some basic remodelling and rennovation jobs around their homes. Pictured with me above is Matthew Pierce who I worked with finishing the last portion of the house. Did I mention the heat index last night was 110 degrees?! For more information and photos from Summer of Love, check out http://www.arbcsummeroflove.com/.

Seizing Opportunities (part 3)

There’s a guy at the end of the street I’ve noticed recently. He wears a black trenchcoat, a black hat and sunglasses. Standing there at the corner, he holds a sign that reads, “The end is near.” I think that’s the perspective that some people may share regarding the gospel…that it’s nothing more than a message designed to induce blame and shame.

But the gospel isn’t really the gospel until grace is introduced. Grace is the resolution to the dissonant that sin creates in our lives. And while some are unbalanced on guilt, in fairness I think some are unbalanced on grace. But we cannot treat guilt and grace as either/or propositions. The message of the gospel is both/and.

Having dealt with glory and guilt, Peter then moves to the climax of his message: God’s grace. The Bible states, “Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets” (Acts 3:19-21, NLT).

In those three verses, Peter informed his audience of three things that grace would bring to them. First, grace provides forgiveness of sin that eliminates the guilt of the past. Writers point out that in the first century ink contained no acid content. The ink would dry on top of the parchment, but would not become imbedded in the fibers like our permanent ink does today. Ink in the first century was not unlike our modern dry erase markers where if you make a mistake, you just wipe it away. That’s a good word picture of forgiveness…the slate is wiped clean.

Grace also provides refreshment for today. That word is lost on our younger generation today, but those who are my age and older know what refreshments are. Refreshments are served at the end of a meeting or in the middle of a difficult task and offer rest and renewal. Grace recognizes that even though we have been “wiped clean,” life here on earth is still filled with difficult challenges. Grace provides refreshment so that we can continue our Christian journey through life.

Finally, grace promises a future deliverance from the cares and troubles of this world. When Christ returns, he will make all things new. The brokenness we experience in our lives and our creation which has resulted from the fall will be eliminated. We will be delivered and all things will be restored.

Past, present, and future. God’s grace deals with our yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Jesus is glorious, we are guilty, but God’s grace is sufficient to meet every need of our lives. That’s the good news of the gospel.

Seizing Opportunities (part 2)

Peter’s explanation of the gospel in Acts chapter 3 began with him declaring the wonderful glory of Jesus Christ. He then took an interesting twist, moving from the glory of Christ to the guilt that each person carries because of their sin. In Acts 3:14-18, Peter shared a list of accusations. They had handed Christ over for crucifixion, denied and disowned him as Messiah, demanded the release of Barabbas, and ultimately “killed the author of life.” Why does gospel preaching seem to gravitate toward sin and guilt? Why so confrontational?

First, as my father used to say, you cannot be saved until you know you’re lost. Gospel preaching informs the listeners of their grave situation of danger. Sin and guilt have separated all of us from God. Furthermore, we must assume personal responsibility for who we are and what we have done. And in case we ever wonder, ignorance is not an excuse (cf. 3:17). That’s why the preaching of Acts falls on our ears as strong and at times even harsh. Our self righteousness is no righteousness at all.

Second, gospel preaching helps us to understand that we are not like God. We are not even remotely close. Once again as we read Acts 3, Peter begins with the glory of Jesus, and contrasts that glory with our own guilt. This is not wordsmithing, but basic theology. Jesus is glorious and we are guilty, and there’s really nothing we can do about it. It’s the distance between Jesus’ glory and our guilt that makes grace so compelling.

Seizing Opportunities

The Book of Acts contains around 30 gospel sermons that were preached by the apostles. The pattern that we begin to see unfold thus far in Acts concerning the gospel is that events lead to explanations. In other words, a miraculous event is followed by an explanation of the event. These explanations are not explanations of how the event occurred, but rather explanations of who caused the event to happen.

For example, following the healing of the lame man at the onset of Acts 3 the people who witnessed the miracle are astounded and amazed at what they had just seen. Instead of letting people take the miracle and interpret it however they chose to interpret it, Peter saw an opportunity (3:12) and called for everyone’s attention for the purpose of explaining what had just taken place. His explanation became the platform for his second gospel sermon in as many chapters.

Peter began by ascribing glory to Jesus Christ. Here’s what he said: “People of Israel, what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this” (Acts 3:12-13, NLT) Giving glory to God is a two step process. It involves refusing to accept any credit and at the same time giving full credit to Jesus.

The apostles expected God to be at work in and around their lives. When they saw God at work, they seized the opportunity and used it as a platform to share good news. Where do you see God at work? Are you taking advantage of those opportunities to share good news?

Pastors are Fatter, Sicker, & more Depressed | Out of Ur | Conversations for Ministry Leaders

Pastors are Fatter, Sicker, & more Depressed Out of Ur Conversations for Ministry Leaders

Dangerous Assumptions

I've been thinking lately, which could be considered a dangerous thing in and of itself. Nonetheless, I've been contemplating assumptions that people like you and me make. We make assumptions all the time, and I suppose some of those assumptions are harmless enough. But sometimes our assumptions can become dangerous, leading us down paths that we would otherwise avoid. For example, many people and orgnanizations assume tomorrow will be like today.

A friend of mine once told me the story of a competition designed for meteorologists that was held at Purdue University. The plan was to crown the most accurate weather prognosticator in the nation. Over a long period of time, weather guys and gals were to submit their forecasts and at the end a winner would be crowned. As the story goes, the first winner was not a weather person, but an engineering student who used a simple formula: tomorrow's weather will be the same as today's.

This assumption deals with time and our expectations of time. Unfortunately, we live in a culture that is based on hours and days. If you don't believe me, look at your Daytimer or whatever time management tool you maintain. Those neat little lines on the page don't reveal the amount of change that is really taking place. Think of a person who loses a bunch of weight. If that person lives in your house, you may not notice the change. It's gradual, almost undetectable. Now think about that class reunion or the company picnic. You see those people once a year. If over the course of the year a person has lost a bunch of weight, you immediately notice.

We are often blind to the gradual changes that are under our noses. Some of those may be changes for the better, while others present threats and challenges that will catch us off guard if we are not anticipating them. Before you know it, those days pile up and we wake up one day and wipe the sleep from our eyes and wonder, "What just happened?"