f you were in church on Sunday you will know that the trip to collect TYG from camp out did itself this year. We arrived to all the excitement of the final meeting and it is amazing to be packed in the same room as hundreds of young people a large number of whom you can feel have encountered Jesus in new ways during the week and will never be the same. To celebrate with them as they learned that they had given more than $6000 to missions and then the tradition is that they leave the chapel and go down to the side of the lake that is the center of the campground where there is a large bell. The whole camp celebrates once again as each person who has made a personal commitment to Christ during the week rings the bell to mark their decision……all that was amazing but this year was made extra special because, as we walked down towards the lake, two of our young people asked if Josh and I would baptize them there and then! What a privilege it was to baptize Lauren and Mikey with a large group of their fellow campers cheering them on!
The service I atented at New Spring was a baptim service and that was so cool to see 30+ people make that committment to christ. Mark Batterson and Steven Furtick have both featutred baptisms at their church inn recent blogs. Go and vist the blogs and get excited . I dream that God will be making baptims a frequent celebration inat NLCF will you pray with me and pray for your friends that this will beciome a reality………….and I promise we will post the footage of our lake baptisms as soon as possible
We often assume that our non-Christian friends don’t want to hear about our faith. Well I was reading Discipleship Journal yesterday when I came upon some interesting statistics that indicate that perhaps we are wrong in that thought! Lifeway have done some research amongst people who do not go to church aged 30 and above and they discovered:
75% would be willing to listen to someone talk about his or her Christian beliefs
78% would enjoy an honest conversation with a friend about religious and spiritual beliefs even if they disagreed with the friend
ONLY 28% think that the Christians they know talk to them too much about their beliefs
That means three out of four people we know who are not Christians would have no objection to talking to us about our faith. So here’s a challenge: pick a day and try to recall all the people you know with whom you have spent some time. How many of them have you at one time or another talked with about your faith? Of those with whom you have not yet shared, how many have you assumed were not interested? Perhaps we need to think again!
I can’t remember any time in my life when I have been conscious of dreaming I don’t mean I never had dreams but I have no memory of having them consistently ……..that is until very recently . Now I don’t mean genuflecting asteroids , wine cellars or donut shops with aviaries attached ( ok think about it)* Mine have been your average garden variety weird …..but it has got me thinking.
When the leadership took a half day to focus on God we heard a message from the One Prayer series entitled Make us Dreamers. So much of what God has been saying to us has encouraged us to dream of what God wants here is Pacifica, to be willing to be audacious dangerous etc. But here’s my question how do I know its God’s dream and not mine. How do I avoid coming up with my version of someone else’s great dream (especially one that God brought into reality).
I think the answer, or at least part of it, is contained in the following
• Pray a lot
• Watch what is happening a round you (Pay attention!)
• ……Pray a lot
• Read the bible carefully and regularly asking God to show you relevant things
• And……… pray a lot
• Share anything you observe, read or hear with others
and then I believe God will reveal patterns and similar ideas. People will confirm things that o others have thought or seen. Then, as the dream takes shape the conviction grows that it has been revealed to us by God and is not just someone’s good idea.
BUT this will not take place unless we join the prayer and conversation, unless God’s plan for our church is important enough for us to dream about ……..
So what sort of a church do you dream of and more importantly what do you think God dreams for our church?
* If you are still confused then Genesis 39-41 might help !
There are some words that just should not exist don’t you think? One of those that keeps appearing before me is the word “unlearning” The first time I was conscious of noticing it was when I read The Unlearning Church for a class at seminary. More recently it appeared in Mark Batterson’s book “In a pit with a lion on a snowy day” and then to cap it all Oswald Chambers devotional this morning……
It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials. Through every cloud He brings our way, He wants us to unlearn something. His purpose in using the cloud is to simplify our beliefs until our relationship with Him is exactly like that of a child— a relationship simply between God and our own souls, and where other people are but shadows. Until other people become shadows to us, clouds and darkness will be ours every once in a while. Is our relationship with God becoming more simple than it has ever been?
Learning, it seems, should be a positive thing. the way we become equipped to kayak down the complex waterways of life! Learning what to do and what not to do should both help us grow. Progress requires us to learn new things like how to use electronic media but does not require us to unlearn other forms of communication
However tragically this is often not so in our spiritual, moral and ethical lives.. Some learned there is no absolute truth, others that repetitive tragedies rule out the possibility of a loving God. Consequently it would seem are to be effective Christians we must become advocates of the unlearning we have done as well as the learning If we are to give a reason for the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15) we must share the importance of unlearning these things and their implications.
Oswald Chambers however stretches us personally, (well me at least!) still further. He challenges us to take seriously the biblical mandate to come to Jesus as a a little child ( Mark 10:15) and seek to reduce the complexity of our relationship with Him.
So what has God prompted you to unlearn recently and what might He be asking you to unlearn right now?
As I was preparing for last Sunday’s sermon looking at Joseph’s encounter with Potiphar’s wife I came across this striking observation from one of the most creative blog writers I have yet to discover. I was unable to use it in the sermon but I did not want you to miss it.
He compares the explanation that Joseph gives for his refusal to accompany his boss’ wife to bed with the encounter between Adam and Eve and the serpent in the garden.
Here is an excerpt of what Joseph said to Potiphar’s wife when she came on to him. He essentially lays out a case based on how much trust Potiphar has put in him:
“everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”
I never realized that this, this is what Adam should have said to the serpent in the garden of Eden. This is the speech he should have given. These are almost the exact words, except perhaps we should switch out “house” for the word “garden” and “wife” for the word “fruit”:
“everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this garden than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except this fruit, because this is his fruit. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”
But Adam didn’t say that. Joseph did…………
Anyone ever seen that parallel before?
By the way if you are in the mood for a good laugh read this guy’s other blog entitled “Stuff Christians Like” it is painfully accuratley observed and hilarious!
Well as I said on Sunday morning as we prepared to make our offering for the One Prayer Church planting project, our children had led us . They set themselves an audacious goal and hit it by giving their very best to God. They lived dangerously and what an example they set us……….. and
PRAISE GOD !!!!!! WE FOLLOWED. the offering we received on Sunday for the planting of churches was $2450!!!!!!! When we put that with the tithe of the funds coming from GBF and VDM that means we will be able to plant one and a half close to two churches (I will give the exact figures on Sunday when we can praise God together).
I know that is what happens when we begin to see all that we have as His and our selves as simply His stewards…..
At the outset of this new church family we said we longed to be a place where Jesus truly got to do things HIS way and where He was able to smile as we followed Him, and I am in awe at the ways He has shown us His smile …..5 Baptisms, close to 50 membership covenants, and now an offering to plant churches across the world.
I don’t know about you but I can hardly wait to see His smile again I wonder what it will look like but I am holding on to my fork! ……
Thanks for listening to HIM ………….and by the way I just love our church!
Making people feel welcome and creating a sense of family…the answer has traditionally been found in the small group and whereas I am sure that small groups make a significant contribution I think there may be another very important element. In his book “Creating a Prodigal Friendly Church” Jeff Lucas calls it “ the creation of a culture of welcome……….Its about becoming people who decide that risky welcome is not someone else’s responsibility ….its mine!”
What is the key to creating such a culture? I wonder if it is not at the front door of many of our homes when the doorbell rings. When we open the door it is natural to invite the visitor in and extend ourselves to make them welcome (assuming of course the visitor is someone we are pleased to see!). We do not look to someone else to fulfill this responsibility who else can do it in our home? Indeed even if we are at someone elses home for a meeting and are given the role of opening the door our capacity to “welcome” is limited compared to those who call the house their home.
So here are a couple of questions that may give us some clues to the creation of a culture of welcome….
- Do we really see the church as our family “home” and so as imperative that visitors are welcomed with the same attention to detail
- Do each of us see this as our home so our responsibility or is it simply the job of the team appointed for the day so we can just.
- Do we see everyone who is a guest at our church as someone we are really pleased to see?
What do you think?
Wow that has to be a record for me 243 miles to church! Well being on vacation here in South Carolina we are in range (well sort of!) of three of the amazing churches whose teaching we have been blessed with during One Prayer. The chance to visit one of them seemed too good to miss. Since all of them are the other side of the state from our vacation spot and knowing that Perry Noble was going to be preaching live at NewSpring(thank you Andy!) made this the logical choice ……….
So 6:30am we set out for the 11:00am service. We made it and as we arrive those who have been to the first service are leaving, necessitating a representative of the sheriff’s department positioned at the gate complete with flashing light! As we enter the parking lot, visitors are invited to put on their flashers and a small army of radio controlled attendants spring into action. We are directed to a spot and a smiling attendant is standing outside of the car to greet us. He hands us two vouchers for the full service coffee shop as a welcome gift. He made it clear firstly they were very pleased to see us, enquiring where we came from and listening to the answer with interest. Then he pointed us to the doors explaining that should we need to use the rest room during the service we would need to return to a designated sitting area as to return to our seats would be too much of a disruption! As we entered the amazing building we were once again engaged by a smiling greeter who pointed out important locations, including “Awake,” (the coffee shop!) and of course….the bathrooms. Having made the necessary visits (to avoid future embarrassment!!) we joined one of the lines waiting to enter the auditorium. As we waited we observed the people around us, a good range of ages but predominantly young adults, smiling faces, with a sense of anticipation for what was to come. The doors opened to allow us in to a spectacular theatre style multi media auditorium and we soon sank into two richly upholstered theater style seats…….
Ok that’s enough for today………. There’s much more to share including 32 baptisms and a great message from Perry Noble. But more about that later ….it’s time for today’s challenging question. Maggie and I missed the sense of family and community that is so important to us at New Life. Indeed at the end of the service the parking lot was empty within 20-30 minutes and we were one of very few standing talking with a staff member in the formerly packed foyer. So how do you maintain a strong sense of family and community as numbers grow?… (By the way I am not criticizing NewSpring or saying this dynamic was not part of their church life, I am simply posing a question that occurred to me during my short exposure to this amazing church where God is so clearly at work)
I am still amazed at all God did at New Life on Sunday! I feel so privileged to have covenanted with so many people to serve Him in Pacifica. The message from Jentezen Franklin we heard as part of One Prayer has left so many thoughts replaying in my mind. Here are a couple of quotes:
“When we meet Jesus we want Him to say Well done good and faithful servant …..not medium rare!!! We must make sure the fire is burning strong if we are to be well done”
“In the Old Testament God had a tabernacle for His people now he has a people for His tabernacle”
…….but One Prayer also has me thinking in a number of ways that relate to my day to day priorites and this morning I was wondering… since the Bible tells me that The Spirit is interceding for me (Romans 8 26-27) I wonder what God’s one prayer for me might be today. No not a vague one, someting more specific… ‘ Jonathan if you only remember one thing I ask you to do today please……..
…….remember to say something encouraging to _______
……. make some time to spend with _______ and remind them how much I love them
…….. please make a start on _______ I said I would help but you have to start!
How about you………
I probably won’t be blogging for a few days ( Maggie and I are taking a few days vacation) but I look forward to continuing the conversation when I get back
There are some things you think you just won’t do and yes, you’ve guessed it, for me blogging was one of those! I mean let’s face it my typing is beyond bad. I have two entirely illiterate fingers and six more very unhelpful contributors ….. (if your counting and confused the other two are thumbs, even I know that, and they currently do not know the alphabet!). I can of course use spell check but my problem is that often it does not recognize the words that come out enough to give me reasonable alternatives. If it could speak, perish the thought, I think it would repeat ,”you have to be joking,” with monotonous regularity. I had read the occasional erudite offering of well-constructed theological thought from one person or another and drawn the conclusion that it was just not for me. You see, I have a confession to make I do not like to do things, at least in public, that I can’t convince myself I can be good at . Yes I know that’s pride, why do you think I began the sentence with confess!
So what changed my mind ……… well maybe God suggested that a good dose of humiliation would be good (you know you really did not have to agree that fast!). … Actually I began to read a number of blogs more regularly from people who seem to me to be really good at it Tony Morgan, Perry Noble Craig Groeschel, Mark Batterson to name a few. I noticed that I was drawn in as I started to experience an entirely new form (for me) of thought provoking conversation. The sharing of quotes from books, questions one is asking or meditations on scripture. Casting these things before a wider audience seems to have great value. In 1998 a movie was made called ” Living out Loud’ a title stolen I believe from Emile Zola. I have no idea of the plot but “living out loud” was the description that came to my mind as I contemplated beginning to blog. Mark Battersonshared some amazingly helpful thoughts in a recent blog entitled Ten Blog Tips……… he encourages us to know the audience of our blogs asks the question if we would blog if nobody read it! My hope its to be able to answer that question in the affirmative and to write as a vehicle to clarify and articulate the my own thinking, such as it is!!. However, I suspect my primary audience will be the New Life Church Family, I want to know what you think. So I invite you to join the conversation, come back regularly respond often
From the Zebra Bag 