Tag: church (Page 29 of 35)

Importance of Prayer

November 8, 2022 / / 0 Comments

In the last post, we discussed the idea of prayer. We looked at what it is and why some people who call themselves Jesus’ followers, don’t do the whole prayer thing. I’m not sure if any of the reasons I gave in that post resonate with you or if you have your own reason for not praying, but I think prayer is the most vital part of our lives as Christians that we can’t go without it.

So why is prayer so important? I mean I believe in Jesus and I read my Bible. Is prayer really necessary? Short answer is yes, without a doubt, for sure, unequivocally yes!

Prayer is the ongoing conversation we have with God. It happens at the dinner table or the bed side. It happens when we’re driving and when we’re struggling. We pray when we need something or when we have an unexpected celebration and don’t know where else to turn. Prayer is everywhere.

The wide receiver who scores the touchdown involuntarily points to the sky almost like he’s saying thank you. Sounds like a bit of a prayer to me. The young mom can’t get her child to stop crying so she just quietly whispers what am I supposed to do? Sure sounds like you’re talking to someone. Or the man who stumbles to the bathroom in the middle of the night only to have his little toe make contact with the bed post. His reply…well you know what that is and it sure sounds like he believes in a being that is able to send his bed post to hell. Like it or not that’s kind of a prayer.

Now I didn’t say that any of these are good, right or proper prayers – whatever that really means. I’m not saying that these prayers convey any level of saving faith. They’re just the basic format for communicating with someone outside yourself who you believe is able to address the situation you’re in at that very moment.

But if God already knows what’s on my heart and that I stubbed my toe or my child won’t stop crying, then why do I need to tell him? Am I going to change the outcome? Yes and no.

You’re not going to change God’s mind by wearing him down or anything. Prayer isn’t nagging God til he gives in. But it actually will change the scenario for you. Prayer will at a minimum change your perspective of the situation and allow you to see other options. Prayer is so very important. It’s found all over the place in the Bible. All of the key players in the Bible spend time in prayer, even Jesus does it! And if Jesus feels it important to pray, then it’s probably a good idea, right?

One of my favorite reasons to show why prayer is so important is to use the passage from Ephesians where Paul talks about the armor of God. You have the belt, breastplate, shield, sword, helmet and all the parts of the armor. Each of them correlate to an aspect of the life of the follower of Jesus from the Bible to faith to righteousness. But prayer is embedded in that almost as a throw away phrase that is easily missed. It’s right near the end of the section where Paul says to include prayer. I like to view prayer in this illustration like the chain mail that holds the whole armor set on the body. The breastplate has to have a place to hang as does the belt and sword. It’s like prayer is the webbing onto which all of our other spiritual practices have to fasten. If we don’t have prayer, then the rest of our spiritual lives are in danger of falling apart.

We don’t pray to change God’s mind but to shift our thinking. We don’t pray because God needs to know what’s going on, but because he wants us to know we can come to him. We don’t pray just for the big things or the key events that need special attention. We pray for the little things and for the seemingly insignificant moments in our lives because he’s in those as well.

Next week we’ll address the reasons we don’t pray and poke a few holes in them. Not in a mean or derogatory way but in a way that shows they don’t hold water. And hopefully get us to a place where we feel more comfortable praying and realize its necessity!

For now try seeing prayer as an ongoing conversation you have with God. Start before your feet hit the floor in the morning with something simple – Hey God, thanks for a good night sleep! Then go about your day popping little one liners back at God throughout your day. End with a quick Good night God. And you’ve done it. Pretty simple! Then watch how your perspective shifts throughout the day as you give little and big things back to God realizing how much he cares for you.

Talking To The Big Guy

November 7, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Ok so I get it. If you’re not a person who does the whole churchy thing, then you probably don’t know if this post is for you. And if you’re a churchy person who does the whole prayer thing, then you probably think you’ve got this nailed. But I’d challenge both groups to a different understanding. Perhaps there’s something we all can learn if we just dig in a little bit to understand this concept.

I’m working from the perspective that everyone prays. We all might not pray the same way or to the same being or for the same purpose, but everyone prays. It’s just a natural thing. When something goes wrong we turn to some other being for help. When you make the touchdown, the reaction is to point upward like you’re giving credit to some higher power for the ability. So I truly believe that everyone prays in some manner of speaking.

But what is prayer?

So many of us look at prayer as the thing we do before a meal or right before bedtime or even that action we perform when life is spiraling out of control. If this is our view of prayer, then I believe we might be missing something pretty important. There is far more to prayer than pulling the handle on some cosmic slot machine and hoping against hope to get triples of anything! Prayer is far more than asking for a goodnight sleep or that you don’t choke to death on your hamburger.

Prayer isn’t just a thing we do, it’s a life we live.

I think we miss a few things when it comes to prayer. This post comes from a conversation I had recently with the men who serve as the board of elders at church. We were evaluating some key things in the life of the church and wondered about the overall spiritual health of the congregation. This was an eye opening and pretty deep conversation! The bulk of our time revolved around prayer and its place in the life of the follower of Jesus.

If you’ve ever asked someone to pray in a group, you’ve likely been met with a blank stare or two. Some people are just unable to pray in a group and I’ve often wondered why that is. Here are a couple of thoughts that came from our discussion. We’ll talk more about some of these in future posts and these will shape a future series we lead in worship. Perhaps something along the lines of dispelling spiritual myths?

Many see prayer as an intensely personal thing. Now there’s absolutely nothing wrong with prayer being an intensely personal expression of faith because it really is! I value those who think of prayer in such personal ways! I wish more people took prayer this seriously to be honest. But does holding prayer this tightly actually rob us of some of the benefits of prayer?

I don’t even know what to ask for so why should I pray? This is one that I’ve heard before and honestly think it’s kind of scary. If I don’t know what to say to my wife, that doesn’t mean we don’t talk. It just means we talk about stuff we already know! Same is true for prayer. You might not have anything you need to ask God to do or ask for from Him, but you can still share what’s going on in your life. Which really feeds the next reason some don’t pray.

If God already knows, why do I have to tell him? Indeed you don’t have to tell him anything. He most certainly already knows what’s going on in your life and what you’re up to. But what kind of a relationship is built with no communication? I know we all have that friend we can not see or talk to for long periods of time and then get together and not miss a beat. But what is that relationship missing? How much better would that relationship be if they were able to connect in communication on a regular basis?

I’m not sure it even really works. This one is a bit more scary of an answer. It shows not only a question about prayer but also raises a question about faith in general. Prayer is the number one way we can talk to God, and if we doubt that it is at all effective or beneficial then we are really calling into question what we believe about God and his ability.

There are likely several other reasons why some people don’t value prayer, but these are the tops in my experience. In some future posts here we’ll navigate these reasons and try to rationally examine them in a way that hopefully will help us better understand what God is up to in our prayer life.

Moving The Sticks. What Really Matters?

November 1, 2022 / / 0 Comments

It’s super easy to measure the measurable. I mean seriously. Take a head count and you’re good to go right? Well, not so fast. There is likely a lot of information that you’re missing if you simply count butts in seats. Let me propose a better way.

Ok before we dive into this let me set the stage a little. Admittedly, this is written from the perspective of a pastor of a church. But I’ve lived in the real world as well so some of the principles here are transferrable to other trades. Actually, I believe most of this information is transferrable.

One of the easiest things to do to measure the growth of an organization is to ask for some statistical data. The simplest form of data is raw numbers about how many people show up to events, gatherings, come through the door, etc. This is what we’ll call attendance numbers. This is the primary lot of information that most church bodies like to gather for their churches. And as easy as it is to gather, the information is totally invalid. Actually, it’s often times misleading to be quite frank. Raw attendance shows one side of an equation that does not tell you about overall health. That’s where we’ll spend the rest of the time in this article – growth verses health. You can be big but weak and that’s no good!

There needs to be a metric that measures movement or progress from one area to the next. Something that drives to a deeper level of engagement or ownership in the life of the organization. Mere attendance shows a level of knowledge about the organization and that’s helpful to an extent but there’s no ownership involved at all.

A better way to measure the overall health and vibrancy of an organization is to move from singular attendance data to a cyclical view of engagement. In the church I serve, we use four key concepts that show levels of engagement ranging from observation to participation to involvement to ownership. The key is to get someone to move through this cycle to exhibit ownership of what they believe in. The same is true for other areas of life, not just church life.

Take my time in car sales as an example. Someone knows the dealership exists and they even drive through the lot on a day when the place is closed. That doesn’t do you any good. They move to participation in what you offer, meaning they end up buying the car. That’s great and it helps your bottom line, but if they never return you’re missing out. When they become involved in what the dealership offers they’ll bring their car back for service. That’s when they are actually buying into the culture of the organization and not just getting a product from you. Finally, the ultimate is when they become repeat and referrals to your dealership. That’s when they own it as their preferred place of business.

This metric of moving people through a cycle of deeper engagement in the life of the organization is critical to long term viability and sustainability of the organization. If you’d like to see how this can apply to your particular are of work, I’d be glad to assist. Specifically if you’re a church or church planter, applying this to your context is the world in which I live currently! The end goal is to move us to a place of thriving instead of merely surviving in life, business and ministry.

Answering The Wrong Questions

October 20, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I’ve noticed a bit of a trend in many of the churches I’ve worked with over the past couple of years. It’s a trend that is likely much larger than just churches though. It seems to be a way of life for civic leaders, small business owners, and others who are in the community service world as well. The problem? We are answering the wrong questions.

Are we answering questions people are not asking?

It seems that leaders in varying parts of the world are answering some pretty good questions. The questions are really critical and important to address. The only problem is that these questions aren’t the most pressing ones to the people they serve. This is true in the public sector as well as in the church!

We have a tendency to find our pet projects and really focus on those. We see things that we think are the most important and run with all of our might into those scenarios. But what if we’re answering a question that isn’t the greatest need for our communities? Here’s a quick example of what I’m talking about from the life of Jesus.

There are several stories in the Bible about people who were gathering to hear Jesus teach. The message he was teaching is really important to be certain! The only problem was that they were hungry or hurting. Their hunger and their hurt prevented them from really being able to listen to what Jesus was teaching. Instead of focusing solely on his message, he would often stop what he was doing and meet their critical needs first. He healed people before he taught them. He fed them when they were hungry instead of expecting them to just push through and listen harder. He was answering the questions they were asking instead of the one that was on his agenda.

What about you? Do you answer the questions that are most meaningful to you? Or do you really take time to listen to what is important to the people around you?

Whether you’re a pastor serving a church or a small business owner trying to increase traffic in your shop or a politician trying to set policy for your community, it’s critical to find out what the people you’re serving need most. But you can’t assume you know the answer. You have to ask the people you’re serving.

In the church I serve, this is a regular part of our ministry life. Talking to community members. Asking neighbors. Polling the people we meet. What do you see as important for our community? What do we need in this area that the church can provide?

Perhaps it’s time to stop pushing our agenda and start actually listening to what the people around us are saying. Slow down. Have good conversations with people. Listen to what they’re saying. Take people out to lunch or sit with them over a coffee or a beer and just let them express their hurts, pains, concerns, celebrations. You’ll learn a great deal of you put your agenda aside and listen to what’s on someone else’s heart.

A New World Order

October 5, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Wow that sounds like a Star Wars image or something a bit sci-fi doesn’t it? The idea of a new world order is kind of strange to say the least. It’s scary to some and exciting to others. For most it’s future oriented although in some people’s minds it’s sooner than we might want. But rarely do we consider a new world order a present reality or even an old world reality, but that’s kind of my perspective.

Ok so let’s be a tad less cryptic here. I think the life of the follower of Jesus should be, although often isn’t, an example of a new world order. Jesus peppers the New Testament with references to this new world order. They’re everywhere in the gospel accounts. Admittedly, Jesus doesn’t call it the new world order but that’s what it is. Jesus uses the phrase Kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven. This in many people’s minds is a new world order that one day will be a reality.

Unfortunately this is a short sighted view of what Jesus is actually talking about when he references the Kingdom of God. Jesus doesn’t use the phrase Kingdom of God in the future tense. He doesn’t say that it one day will be here. Instead when Jesus refers to the Kingdom of God, he does so in the present tense, as if it’s already here? How can this be? How can this Kingdom of God thing be here when life looks the way it does? Can this new world order be a present day reality?

It seems that’s the way Jesus was teaching. He was trying to get the people of his day to see the potential to have a different kind of life than they were living. The Jewish nation knew hardship, but Jesus wanted them to see beyond the hardship to the life God desired for them. From captivity to exile to enslavement to living under the thumb of oppressive rulers these people knew what it meant to have a bad day! They wanted out of this way of life pretty much at all costs.

Enter Jesus saying The kingdom of God is at hand. That didn’t mean it was around the corner or coming tomorrow. It meant that it was within reach. And to be honest it still is within reach. The Kingdom of God is ours today just as much as it was theirs when Jesus first uttered the words. But they, and we, have a problem. We don’t believe it, or at best don’t live like it.

The people of Jesus’ day complained more about the bad than they claimed the kingdom realities in their lives. Jesus was telling the Jews of his day that a new kingdom, new world order, had made its way into their lives already. That new world order was far more than a religious approach to life. As a matter of fact, and we’ll address this in a future post, Jesus didn’t enter the scene as a religious leader necessarily. He was addressing far more than mere church membership and attendance. He was driving at the heart of humanity from a political, economic, health care, environmental, friendship, family, society level.

The new world order is here. The kingdom is here. The kingdom was just as present in World War II Germany as it was Jesus’ day. This kingdom was there when the towers fell and when covid rampaged the world. It was there when your political party won or lost. It was there when the hurricane flooded much of Florida. It was there when your loved one fought through their final moments with cancer. It was there when your spouse chose someone/something else over you. It was there when your child rebelled. It was there when your church had to close. It was there when you lost your job.

The kingdom of God, aka new world order, isn’t about getting the good things right now. It’s about living a different way regardless of how things go right now. Jesus was far more concerned about how we treat the poor and disenfranchise than how much is in our bank accounts. He cared more about the orphan and the widow than preserving the freedoms of the Israelites. The kingdom of God is less about you and me and more about the people with whom we interact daily.

You see the long and short is the Kingdom of God is already here. It is a new world order. Not one built with power and prestige and centralized rulers, but with service, love and humility. It’s time that we start living the realities of this New World Order, and there’s no better time to start than today.

Like Talking To A Brick Wall!

September 16, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Parenting is often like herding cats or trying to wrestle a greased pig. NO I’m not calling your child a household, wild or farm animal! But as a parent it’s easy to find yourself beating your head against a wall at times because you’re just not understanding your child’s needs, desires and heart.

I subscribe to several email newsletters and admittedly most of them are junk. But from time to time, I’ll come across a nugget that is worth sharing. Sometimes that nugget is simply forwarded to a friend or colleague, but today that nugget is the foundation of this brick wall message. Your child can be a brick wall at times. But what if I told you that there was a way to understand the way your child hears allowing you to better communicate with him or her?

The newsletter is from a group called Parent Cue. Some of there stuff is really helpful. As a matter of fact, we have a set of books from them on the shelves at the church I serve as pastor. They operate under the assumption that there are stages in a child’s life that they call phases. These phases are based on age and do make some assumptions but largely these hold true across the board.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the phases and a very brief summary on how to communicate in each phase. The goal is to help you stop hitting your head against the wall!

Preschool Phase

This phase is exactly what you’d expect – the time when your child is before or in preschool. The markers of this phase are all things learning. A child in this phase is learning what he or she can do. They’re testing the boundaries of who loves them, what love is and trying to figure out what happiness and sadness mean. Everything is new to them so be a place where they can come for safety. Help them feel loved and let them feel free to show who they are and be emotional. My favorite phrase suck it up buttercup won’t work well in this phase!

Look I get it. In this phase your child will make mountains out of every obstacle. They’ll cry when something doesn’t go their way. But be patient and understanding. Help them see that tears are ok, sadness has its place and frustration is at times appropriate. But help them navigate these feelings with words. Show them how to feel sad, happy, angry, worried with words instead of explosions of emotional hurricanes.

Elementary School Phase

Yep another easy one. Actually, these phases aren’t really rocket science in their naming. And most of us who’ve been parents for a while will see the communication strategies for each phase and think this is silly talk. But when you’re in the midst of a crying tantrum or exploding teenage emotion box you might not have access to reasonable communication. It’s best to have these on standby at all times.

The elementary school phase deals with our children as they navigate the challenges of growing up. They’ve learned a lot already and like little sponges will continue to develop and soak up everything around them for these years. But for these years you’ll need to know that approval and attention mean the world! Now the challenge is who will give them the attention they need.

At first you will be their hero, but quickly in this phase you’ll see that their peers and even their bullies will holder a louder voice in their lives than you do. Your child in this phase will start to compare herself to her friends. He’ll want everything his buddies have. When talking to your child in this phase, use a calm and quieter voice. Be on their level…literally. Don’t stand over them and talk down to them. Instead crouch down to talk to them at their eye level. Another really important part of this phase, that I am not great at by the way, is positive reinforcement. Praise them for getting things right. Remember a lot of what they’re doing is somewhat new to them. The world is a hard place so be the safe haven they need! Be your child’s biggest cheerleader and let them know it!

Middle School Phase

In middle school your child will become a bit of a stranger to you. A friend once said that it’s in the teenage years that it appears as of aliens have taken over our children’s bodies. If you’ve never had a middle schooler, you’re in for a treat! And I don’t mean that as bad as it probably sounds either. Parenting a middle schooler is going to be a challenge but not impossible by any means. It’s a largely rewarding experience actually.

A middle schooler is all about testing boundaries and bucking authority, and since you’ve been the number one authority in their lives until now you’re the one they’re disagreeing with the most. But it’s not just you they are questioning. As a matter of fact they are second guessing everything in their lives, including where and with whom they fit in.

In this phase your child will likely not be as talkative as she once was. He won’t tell you everything that’s going on in life. You might have to coax some thoughts and conversations out of your child in this phase. This is a great phase for mentors to be introduced into your child’s life. Surround them with people who will bring a good, and if you’re a follower of Jesus, godly voice. You want to give them space but also be the safe place for them as well.

High School Phase

By the time your child hits this phase you’re either ready to throw in the towel or throw a party for yourself that you made it, or maybe both depending on the day. Your high schooler will be exerting a ton of independence, and if not they need to be. You don’t want your child to grow into an adult who can’t adult without you around. Cherish all of the moments you have with your child because this phase quickly transitions to the most emotional phase of parenting.

Your child here is looking for purpose, direction and trying to answer the age old question what am I going to do with the rest of my life. Don’t add pressure in this one. Don’t make your child be the high school star you weren’t or follow in your all American jock footsteps. Your child is not a younger version of you. They are their own person. A young man or woman who will become something potentially far different than you. And that’s perfectly fine!

A huge shift has happened in your parenting from the preschool days to now. They once needed someone to trust, and while that’s still true, the most important thing for them at this phase is that you trust them. Show them that you trust them. They need to know that you’re listening and that in spite of their dumb choices and at times inappropriate actions you still love them.

You will want to remind your child in this phase that while they are soon to transition away from home living they always have a place to call home. This is hugely important. When my wife and I moved to a our new to us home, we decided on a home that had enough space that our children could come back anytime they wanted/needed.

Ok so these are four of the key phases that cover much of the life you’ll experience as a parent. As your child is now back in school and navigating the struggles of friends, teachers, classes, homework, college prep, potty training, throwing sand in the sandbox or being bullied in the halls – your child needs your unconditional love, endless support, and verbal accolades. You only get one shot at this. Don’t miss even one opportunity to love on your child. They fly the nest before you even realize it.

Wrong way

September 15, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I can be a bit of a critic from time to time when it comes to the church. It’s not that I like to point out the wrong things or that I think the church is doing everything wrong. It’s kind of like working out. If we’re going to do it, we better do it right or else we’ll either hurt ourselves or someone else in the process. I think a lot of what happens in the church at its worst is hurting the view of the church in the world, it’s neglecting the community into which the church has been placed or at best it’s just a colossal waste of time.

There’s a word that is used in church settings a lot that is so misunderstood and misapplied. It’s the word discipleship or disciple. It is so aggravating when we, as church people, spin that word as if it’s something the pastor alone does or something that happens in a corporate worship service. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Now before you get all freaked out, listen to what I’m actually saying. Discipleship is NOT about going to worship, but a disciple should desire to be part of a worshiping community and participate in the worship life of a local group, often called a church or congregation. And here’s where some of you are going to disagree with me, but I don’t even think discipleship can happen in the context of a large group gathering like a worship service. It has to be in smaller settings, after all this is even how Jesus himself did it. He constantly went away with the 12 or sat with his inner 3. He didn’t spend significant time in the thousands or even hundreds, but he got down into the dark corners of the individual lives. This is discipleship at its core.

I guess it really depends on what your view of discipleship is but from my perspective discipleship is about being transformed into the image of Christ for the sake of others. And if I’m being totally honest, I don’t see a ton of life transformation happening in the lives of those are involved sitting in the pews in public worship service on Sunday mornings. It happens as they engage in bible study, small groups, service to the community, fellowship activities, and faith sharing. The key to discipleship from a biblical perspective is to prepare one another for works of service in the kingdom of God.

Think about it for a minute. How do you disciple someone? Better yet who is the last person you discipled who started discipling someone else? I think for so many in the church today we’ve painted the picture of just bring them to church and pastor will disciple them. This goes directly against what Paul teaches. We’re to equip the saints for works of service not make them rely on the pastor to get the job done.

In my own ministry I’ve fallen into the trap of letting people rely on me to do all the work. It’s exhausting to say the very least. But when we put in the extra effort of making disciples and raising up leaders today, it will free us for a more powerful and effective ministry down the road. I guess what I’m trying to say in a shorter version is that it’s time to stop enabling church people to think the pastor is the one responsible for their faith.

Instead we need to encourage, equip, empower and release people to grow in faith within the community of believers. Encourage them to gather as pairs, triads, small groups, cell groups, home groups, community groups – whatever you call them! The follower of God cannot do the work of God in isolation from the people of God. That’s just not how it works.

So whether you’re a pastor or a church member or a person who’s just trying to find their way in what it means to believe in Jesus. Don’t go it alone. Don’t rely on a pastor to have all the answers. Gather with a few other people who can challenge you. From whom you can learn and grow. Who will help you see where you’re living in congruity with your words and where you’re living in a way inconsistent with what you say. Find people who’s opinions encourage you and at the same time people who are willing to challenge you. This, at its heart, is what the process of discipleship looks like as long as all of it is done with growing in Christ at its core.

There’s no silver bullet. No perfect way prescribed by the bible for how to do much of this. Just best practices of those who’ve gone before us who’ve done it far better than we are today in times that were far more challenging than we’re facing right now. So maybe it’s not that we’re doing it the wrong way but that there might be a better way after all.

I Love Good Jazz

September 5, 2022 / / 0 Comments

If you’ve never listened to jazz music then you’re really missing out. Jazz music isn’t like other forms of music. It’s almost like Jazz music is alive. It’s not bound to a piece of paper. Jazz just has a life of its own.

I remember going to my first jazz club. I was in college, so trying new things was the norm. We left well after dinner time and took the drive into downtown Detroit. It was a neighborhood I probably wouldn’t have normally entered, primarily because it had a bad reputation and I had no real need to go that far into Detroit. But one of my friends was going to play that night so a few of us agreed and off we went. And am I ever glad I went!

Part of my excitement for going was because I’m a trumpet player. Not a great one but I still dabble around with it from time to time. I play music, like the stuff on a piece of paper, with notes that go up and down. It makes sense. There’s a rhythm that’s been predetermined for you. There are a series of notes that rise and fall. There are volume markers to show you when to get louder and when to get softer. These things are there to make sure everyone plays the exact same thing. But that’s not how jazz works. Jazz musicians don’t need this kind of sheet music.

That night that’s exactly what struck me. There wasn’t a sheet of music anywhere in the club. The drummer set a simple rhythmic beat. Discussed a pattern for how they’d approach the piece. Determined the key. Had a few comments about style and flow of the song they were about to play. Then they took off! And man was it the coolest sound I’ve ever heard! It was such a cool jazz sound that it made the room feel like I was floating down a crystal blue river. The whole room was blue like jazz.

Ok so I know this is a weird transition but there’s also a book with the same title as the feeling in that room. Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. And I totally get it, if you haven’t read the book, you’ll think this is a weird name for a book. But the story behind the title is pretty amazing. I’ll do my best to summarize the title and its meaning here along with a quote or two from it that struck me as really good.

The title of the book really reflects what I was experiencing in the club that night. The air was a little foggy with cigarette smoke. I could taste the air. The lights were so dim it was almost dark. The atmosphere, while dark just felt wide open. You could see everyone in the room because there were no walls or dividers to separate you from the other patrons. We were there from all walks of life. Race didn’t matter. Gender didn’t matter. Economic status didn’t matter. Everything just fit in that one context on that one night.

It’s kind of like the way faith is supposed to be. No sheet music to tell you exactly what note to play. There’s a key in which we operate. There’s a rhythm that we match, a rhythm that’s not our own. There’s a smooth, almost silky feel to the way this life is supposed to be lived. Blue Like Jazz captures the openness of that club where we can see one another from all angles. That’s the way life in the kingdom is supposed to be. No hiding behind our embarrassment. No fear of judgement. No manmade divisions meant to break one another down.

One of the things Miller says in the book really caught my attention. If you try hard enough, you can get the things you want most in life. But you better be careful because the things you want most in life just might kill you in the end.

There’s immense freedom in the movement of jazz music. Without sheet music you can go where the beat takes you. You just have to listen to the right beat. In this quote, the author is reminding us that just because we have the freedom to play the notes we desire, it doesn’t mean it’s right or beneficial to play them. Some notes don’t match the song at all.

Faith is so often like this. We embed our ideology into the text of the Bible. We make it say something it never was intended to say. We infuse our wishes and personal lives into the words on the page that was never there to start with. But this is not the way it’s supposed to be. This is not how it’s supposed to be done.

We too can experience a faith that’s Blue Like Jazz if we take our beat from the rhythm of God’s Word. Then all we have to do is play the song using the notes he’s given us, following the patterns and flow embedded in our soul by the Spirit.

Kick back. Take it all in for a minute. I hope you can see and experience a faith that’s a little bit blue like jazz.

Is it time for a facelift?

August 5, 2022 / / 0 Comments

There are things in our lives that we do over and over without much thought. They become so routine that they end up losing meaning over time. This happens in just about every area of life and every industry. The benefit of larger industries is that they typically will staff people to keep them forward thinking, but not always.

One of my many jobs was in the car sales world. That is an industry that has needed a facelift for along time in how business was done. When I entered the sales floor area, the strategy was sell a car. The approach was by any means necessary – ok within some realm of reason. Through my years in that world, we underwent an intention facelift to how we did what we did. Our what and why did not change, but our how needed to change with the times because we quickly realized the methods no longer were effective nor efficient to accomplish our purpose.

Another area that contains practices that need a bit of a facelift are found in the church. Now I’m not getting into a war on worship or bible version or preaching style but something hopefully a lot less controversial. I’m talking about small groups. I have a love-hate relationship with these little monsters.

Small groups are wonderful additions to the life of a church to be certain! But there is always a danger that they become stagnant, slow the mission, and even cause division.

A typical small group

The most typical way a small group happens in most churches today is that a group of people who believe the same thing gather together to have a bible study. They’ll ask some opening questions about life. But essentially it’s time to dive into the bible. They’ll close with a prayer and head home. Most of the small group is generally lead by one person, who normally is the who plays the role of host. But when the group heads home, there isn’t much left to do until they gather again in a week or potentially two.

An alternative to the normal

I’ve been told that I do things a little different and to me that’s just fine. The how isn’t (nor has it ever been) set in stone to my knowledge. The what and the why are significantly more rigid but the how in my understanding should be more flexible.

I have taken the approach with small groups that they can’t be just a small version of what we do on Sunday morning. I mean one person talks. The group listens. We sing. Pray. Then everyone goes home to consider what this means. Then come back next week. It can’t be a wash, rinse, and repeat scenario!

I believe there’s a new direction small groups need to take in our shifting cultural landscape. The approach is to give these groups a purpose beyond themselves. I challenge small groups to have four key components: Community, Prayer, Biblical Equipping, Mission. Each of these four keys is critical to keep the group from being a Jesus social club. And if you’ve never been in a small group that has these four elements, I’m just going to say you’re missing out.

Community isn’t really all that earth shattering. We were created to be in community. God was first disappointed that Adam was alone so he created a community for him. We are designed to live in community with one another. The way we express community in our small group is to eat a meal together. Each meal is designed to let all participants bring something to share. The point isn’t the food really. It’s the community that is established over the meal. We let our defenses down when we eat together. We ask questions and catch up on life. It’s a wonderful way to love our neighbors as ourselves as well, because as we share life together we learn how we can serve one another.

Prayer isn’t really just the whole before a meal and for the sick people kind of prayer. It’s a shared experience of worship. We share the praying responsibility. Each person adding to the prayer as they see fit. Prayer is a form of worship. This is the focus of this time of prayer to focus our lives around the provision and providence of God.

Biblical Equipping is like Bible study on steroids. It’s not just a quick this is what the Bible says kind of thing. It’s looking at a section of the bible and inviting everyone to be part of the discussion. What did you hear? What stands out at you? Where else have you heard this same things in the Bible? If we applied this what would be different? There are a ton of questions we can ask of any Bible section to let the text equip us for works of service and ministry. Which if you’re keeping score here is the task of the church! There is always an application, rubber meets the road kind of approach in the Biblical equipping portion.

Mission is where we rarely get in our typical small groups, but it is absolutely essential! Serve somewhere together. It’s super easy. We’ve cleaned up a neighborhood, prayer walked, folded bulletins at church, set up for an event, provided food to police and fire, adopted a family at Christmas time. The sky is the limit here. The idea is simple. Do something with the faith you claim to have in your Biblical Equipping portion.

The key to all of this is just because it worked 40 years ago doesn’t mean it will work today. Churches talk about reaching new people, well what a better way than through an intentional time of equipping one another for works of service using the Bible!

Just like the car dealership didn’t change its focus when we changed our sale process, so also the church doesn’t change its focus when we shift our how to a new approach. Still selling cars just in a different way. Still growing in Christ together just using a different approach.

Compounding Effort?

August 4, 2022 / / 0 Comments

We’ve all at least heard of compounding interest. Maybe you don’t know what it means or how it works, but I’m sure you’ve heard of the concept. I’m not going to get into all the details on how compounding interest affects you, but the idea is that the interest on one day compounds or adds to the interest the next and so on. You financial people give me a little break here. That’s the best one liner description I could come up with!

So what about effort and what does compounding interest have to do with anything other than money?

Great! I’m so glad you asked! If you take the basics of compounding interest and apply that to other areas of life you’ll see that we can do a lot of great things if we just let all of the effort and ability we have work together. Let me explain using a little churchy terminology.

In the church world we have three T’s we talk about from time to time. They are time, talents, and treasures. Normally we will make it a point to talk about our time and how we use it. Then our talents or abilities and how we use those. And finally our treasures and how we spend, invest and give those away. But how often do we look at them on a compounding scale?

Think about it for a second. When we take our time and use it for one purpose. Then our talents for a different purpose. And finally our treasure to fund or support a similar yet different purpose, how much good can we actually do? It’s like helping 3 different groups a little when we could make a bigger impact if we compounded our effort.

Imagine instead seeing a specific ministry of the local church and diving into that ministry fully. I mean using your time, talent and treasures all in the same place. Not only do you give of your dollars to support that ministry, but you also volunteer serving others through that very same ministry. And to add to it, you have a unique (or not so unique but still needed) skill that you use in your volunteering to accomplish something in that very same ministry.

Essentially you just more than tripled your gift to that ministry! It’s like the difference between giving $50 to 3 organizations or giving $150 to one. Your gift makes a much larger impact when you compound it.

So whether you’re a church kind of person or not, consider how you can compound your effect. Think where you’re spending your time, ability and money. Are they all lined up in the same direction? How can you have a bigger impact by realigning your priorities?

In short layering our giving with our volunteering and the use of our skills can have an exponentially larger impact!

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