Little Foxes

This week, I preached the second sermon of the Song of Solomon series. Part of that sermon was giving a list of the "little foxes" that couples should be looking out for. Here's the list:

• Insecurity
• Addictions
• Anger
• Inability to manage money
• Sexual past
• Sexual abuse
• Depression or other mental issues
• Communication
• Conflict (Cowboys or Eskimos)
• Conflict within families
• Faith

These are also issues to be aware of in general. Looking back at the sermon, I think I would have added this one caveat - whether you end up getting married or not you want to be cooperating with God's Spirit as He moves in you to transform these and other areas. All humans have little foxes that eat away at the root systems of our lives and need to be paid attention to. You don't want singleness or youthfulness to be an excuse to let things go until you get older and decide to deal later. The longer these issues are around, the more they sink their roots into our lives.

Not all Heroes Wear Capes - Bryan Hall

I was in the Apple Store this week with my 13 year old son having his Ipod serviced. We were being waited on by a very helpful technician at the Genius Bar when I notice a message on one of the genius's shirts. It said "not all heroes wear capes". It got me thinking - "You know what? They're right!"

I've had a lot of heroes in my life so I thought that periodically I'd share about some of them. The first one that came to mind for some reason was Bryan Hall. Bryan was the youth minister at Woodlawn Baptist Church in Austin, TX when I was just starting out on my own journey in the church world. He's still there after serving over 20 years. Bryan isn't your typical youth dude. I noticed that most of the guys doing youth ministry were trying to be really cool so they could impress the kids which they thought would then lead to the kids wanting to listen to what they had to say.

Not Bryan. He is just comfortable being himself. For example, his main source of humor is punnery. This guy can make a pun out of anything and once on a roll he just can't be stopped. While the jokes are corny beyond compare, they stand as a symbol of his unique personality that God has shaped and used to bless a whole lot people in his church and beyond.

He has much more to offer than puns. He also has a really unique gift of administration. He can juggle a million and one details and make it look like he is having fun - I'm fairly certain it is because he is. While served as a youth minister at a church in Austin, he directed our yearly summer camp of 500 kids/chaperones and our yearly Mania Marathon event which was a New Years Celebration for teens that was attended by 2000 plus people and a yearly retreat for youth workers. All of this on top of his other duties at his local church.

While all of this admin looks like leaping tall buildings in a single bound - the most impressive part of his ministry is his relationships with his youth. He and I were assigned a Jr. High Boys cabin one year at camp. It was late at night. I had about had it with my little band of testostrone driven teeny boppers. They had finally gotten showered and in bed and I was settling in to my squeeky bunk for a moment to myself. As I lie there, I catch Bryan out of the corner of my eye.

He's working his way around the room to have an end of the day chat with every one of his junior high boys. With some, he had a laugh. With others, he had a serious conversation. With others, he said a quick prayer for whatever it was that was a pressing need. This man who had somehow got his sizable youth group through a day at camp, directed the whole camp, was now tending to God's flock that was under his care.

I don't think I said anything to Bryan that week but that moment sticks in my mind as a model for what ministry looks like. It's one life at a time. It's personal. It's delivered according to the needs of the person with whom you are working. It's done with a sacrificial love that can only come from Jesus.

Thanks Bryan - You're my hero.

Watchful and Thankful - On a Monday?

Yesterday's sermon was on the nuts and bolts of prayer and came from Colossians chapter 4 verses 2-4. It was a reminder that we are called to devote ourselves to prayer (be consistent and intentional) and that we should be both "watchful" (looking forward for God's agenda instead of our own) and "thankful" (looking backward and remembering what He's done so far).

So here I am on a Monday morning. I'm not bantering from the basement because all three of my kids are down there and I'm in the living room trying to get some work done. My wife is out of town and so I'm on kid and pastor duty. I can hear the crying and fighting as I type knowing it's building up to a nuclear melt down that will need to be dealt with in the next few minutes.

Just a minute I hear them coming up the stairs now . . .

I suspect many of you are having a similar kind of Monday. Maybe it's kids that fight or finances that don't add up or morning sickness or who knows what. This is why we're told to "devote" ourselves to this prayer thing. It's when we feel the least like doing it that we need to do it. So from the bowels of a Monday morning, which is probably a better place to try this truth on for size than the Sunday morning hoopla, hear the sermon again. "Devote yourselves to prayer being watchful and thankful" and have a great Monday!

2020 vision (and the McCullahs) hits the ground

Today, the 2020 vision of our church hits the ground in a major way. Ryan and Christie McCullah have arrived from Richmond, VA to join us in our efforts to plant more churches in our happy valley. Ryan is going to be our first "emerging planter" meaning he will be working alongside myself and other staff for the next year as well as be laying groundwork for a church plant in South Hadley, MA. They are in the middle of moving and raising financial support and trying to get their feet on the ground in a new culture. On top of that we are two weeks from lift off for the fall semester. I really appreciate their willingness to faith with us in this adventure and pray that God exceeds what they are currently imagining will be His work in them and through them.

Scoop the Poop

When looking for qualified leaders in the church, I always watch to see whether they are willing to "scoop the poop". In our house, one of the most exciting chores is mowing the lawn. I have a riding lawn mower which for my two boys might as well be a Lamborghini. Every time they hear that engine roar, they come running to the garage to see if they can get a turn on 18 horses of pure adrenaline.

What they don't come running for is what precedes the YTD joy ride. In order to prepare the yard for mowing, one must first scoop the poop. We have an 80 pound golden retriever named Buddy that lives in our backyard and whatever he eats seems to always come out the other end. These deposits are made daily and rarely if ever removed until it's mowing time. When it comes time to do the deed, I often find myself combing the house looking for potential helpers.

When looking for church leadership, this scenario can play itself out in a very similar way. People are sometimes eager to serve in ways that bless them or give them recognition, but are not willing to be inconvenienced much less seek out menial jobs. Jesus did much to combat this consumerist way of thinking right up until and including his death.

In John 13, we see Jesus noticing that none of his disciples were interested in poop scooping. Everyone is sitting around the Passover table discussing who is going to get the top cabinet posts in the new kingdom. They were also probably wondering why one of the underlings wasn't hopping to it and getting their feet cleaned up before dinner. Then the embarrassingly unthinkable happens. Jesus scoops the poop.

Jesus, the one with the most credentials and the highest position in the company gets down on his hands and knees in order to wash off the dirt, poop, who knows what else from the disciple's feet. He then gives them a follow-up lecture on leadership which I'm sure He had given before but this time seemed more poignant.

"'Do you understand what I have done for you?' he asked them. 13'You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.'" John 13:12b-17

He revealed to them that night (and the next day) what is at the heart of a leader - service. A Christian leader must have (and be constantly seeking) to serve others. We have hopefully found ourselves in the place of leadership in the church because the church has seen us giving ourselves away for others in response to the Gospel which is another scoop the poop story. Jesus describes His sacrificial death in this way

" just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28

In other words, on a cosmic scale, he scooped the poop. The one who is highest doing that which is considered lowest. It is a special connection with Christ, when leaders embrace this calling in our lives to put the needs of others in front of our own as He did for us and for all of humanity.

My Big Fat Failure

Every church planter has failures. One of mine was the way I communicated about money in the first few years of our church plant. I knew that people didn't like it when preacher types talked a lot about money so I wanted to stay as far away from it as I could. In our first 12 months, we didn't even put out an offering basket. The problem with this - giving is one of the most faith-building disciplines of the Christian life.

The Bible is clear that giving is something that every Christian should do. Generosity is to be one of the distinctives of the culture of church. We, who have received the most generous gift imaginable (the grace of the cross), are to mirror that same generosity toward others. The Apostle Paul communicates this to the church at Corinth in this way:

"Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." (2 Corinthians 9:7,8)

New Testament giving is not something pressed on the Christian by some sort of compulsory law. It's a natural response to the generosity of God. This was my understanding of giving - and still is. My reasoning went something like this - If under the law, God's people gave 10 percent of their income back to Him, then Christians, who are under grace, should adopt at least 10 percent as their minimum standard for their giving.

I had adopted that minimum standard as my own when I was a college student. I was a 2 year old Christian. I had worked all summer painting and roofing houses. When I came back to school in the fall, I put in a tithe check for a few hundred dollars in the offering plate. From that point on, I have given at least ten percent to the church no matter what. Rarely has this worked out on paper. The writing of that check has always been an act of trust in God who is my provider and is intimately acquainted with my needs. Jesus says it this way:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" (Matthew 6:25,26)

Is God central to the reality that we live or not? This is rarely more real than when we are putting ourselves at financial risk in obedience to Him. When people ask me about trying to decide whether or not to give some money away to a friend in need or to a missionary or our church, I tell them that you can't go wrong giving resources away in the name of Christ. Can we really imagine the God Jesus is describing in Matthew 6 scolding us for being too generous and letting us starve? I think not. In fact, the opposite is true. When we're generous, God gives us an abundant harvest of new intimacy with Him, changed lives of those who receive the gift, and yes, more resources to take care of our needs and give away to others.

I was sitting in a conference a few months ago listening to the presenter talk about his own experience with giving. He and his wife had greatly sacrificed in order to bless their church and others. Then he started telling stories of how God had come through for them in concrete ways in order to meet the financial needs of their family. My mind immediately started to mull over my own list of stories. Cars given to us as gifts. Financial gifts of people I don't even know that enabled us to by our first house. A cabin in Maine that we're given the keys to every summer for a vacation at one of the most beautiful beaches in the country. Tens of thousands of dollars that have been given by individuals and one church that have paid our entire full-time salary for 8 years.

I started choking up thinking of all the ways God has blessed us even though our finances never work out on paper which is due in part because we give away over 10 percent of our salary each month. Then God spoke to me in my mind and He asked me a question, "Why are you hoarding this very meaningful spiritual discipline for yourself?" He was right. I had passed on the need for praying, for studying scripture, spending time with other Christians, sharing one's faith, but have rarely spoken to growing Christians about the importance of giving.

So I'm turning over a new leaf. I'm going to talk about money as part of the disciplemaking process. If you are reading this, I encourage you to do the same. To give extravagantly and teach others to do the same. It is one of the ways we can exhibit the grace we've been given to the glory of our exceedingly abundant God.

Welcoming Aliens

My last blog post explored one of the major ways that we devote ourselves to "the fellowship" - that of discovering and employing our spiritual gifts. Another way is through hospitality. While some may have a special gift for hospitality, all Christians are exhorted throughout the New Testament to exercise this very important activity. Here are a couple of examples:

"Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality" (Romans 12:13)

"Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling." (1 Peter 4:9)

This word, hospitality, is a translation of the greek word "Philoxenos" which means to be friendly (Philo) to the alien, stranger, or outsider (xenos). This hospitality is certainly to be extended to our close friends who are in the church but it is to be especially offered to those who are on the margins. Those who are new. Those who are nervous about stepping foot in a church. Those who are new to discussing the Bible and are unfamiliar with Christian terms. Those who have things in their lives about which they are feeling shame. These are the kinds of people that the church is making special effort to welcome into the family.

So how do you carry this out? The first is to adopt the mindset of "host" instead of "guest". Whenever we are in our home and people are coming over, we shift into the host mode. The doorbell rings and we answer it. We immediately greet whomever is at the door instead of waiting to be spoken to. We ask if there is anything that our guests would like to eat or drink. If someone spills, we hurry to get a napkin and clean things up so our guest doesn't feel any embarrassment.

This is how we want people to be thinking in regard to their interactions in the church. Our tendency is to meet enough people to feel socially comfortable and then ignore those that are new to the scene. If the new people want to break in, they have to initiate conversation themselves or have a friend on the inside that can help bridge the gap. This may work for some, but many will walk away, especially if engaging the church is scary to begin with.

Once you're looking outside yourself at those around who may be new, it's time to make the next step. Invite the person into your life. It's a great start to greet new people that you meet on a Sunday morning or at house church, but it's not enough to really welcome the alien. It will take an invite to grab a coffee or play softball or volunteer at a MH event. Those of us that are connected to the church, most likely had a person invite us into their lives in a significant way and that is why we stuck around.

The ultimate way of inviting someone into your life is to invite them into your home. In the early church, we see the first Christians meeting from house to house. There is something special that happens when a person gets to experience you where you live. So much is revealed about a person when you get to see them at home. The home itself. The other people that live there with you. Pets, hobbies, pictures, music . . . If you are a fully devoted follower of Christ, so much of Christ will be communicated through the experience of your home without you even knowing it.

This post is part of a series on the basics of being a disciple