Lead Well

Recently I've been reading The Life of Christ by Ralph Riggs.  It's an old textbook from Global university and has a pretty good survey of Jesus' life and ministry. Riggs made an observation in Jesus early ministry that I think we can all be reminded. But first a little background.  During the time of Christ, the Sabbath had become much more than just a day of rest.  The rabbinical law and traditions had so construed the meaning of rest that most of the Jewish population of the day spent the Sabbath either in guilt for breaking a law or in paranoia of breaking one.  Jesus realized this and decided to set the record straight.  You can read the story in Matthew 5:1-14 .  He went down to the pool of Bethesda and healed a man.  Not a bad thing; actually a very good thing.  However Jesus decided to do this on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees, the ruling religious leaders of the time were appalled.  How dare Jesus do work on the Sabbath it is a day of rest.  Most likely the

Recently, I was listening to an interview with Francis Chan, author of Crazy Love and Forgotten God .  In the interview there was one line that stuck out and made me think.  He was telling a story of a couple in their sixties that have 6 foster children.  Now the world would say that's nuts!  Why wouldn't they just enjoy retirement and keep the money, energy, and time for themselves.  Here's the line:  It's crazy unless there is a resurrection. Because Jesus came and lived on this earth, died for our sins, and then was raised from the dead as the savior of the world, what may seem crazy makes perfect sense when we are trying to be more like Jesus.  Think about it.  Jesus said that the kingdom of God belongs to children.  James 1:27 says "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Another point.  Look at the lives of the apostl

Many believe that we must get bigger in order to compete with the world, but is bigger going to serve our people effectively?  Maybe instead we should focus on getting better and then become bigger out of necessity.  Let's put the systems and people in place first.  Let's build a foundation, a good solid foundation on which we can build.  We may have limited resources, but are we doing the best we can with what God has given us?

Not the television show with Joel McHale, real community.  A place for all of us to belong.  What keeps a person from church hopping?  Community. Being a part of something bigger than themselves.  We need to create a community of believers that works, plays, and serves together.  The most successful sitcoms are based on families or a community of friends. We desire community.  The actual church building does not offer solutions to the hurt, sick, or guilty.  It is the body of believers. In other words, the community of believers.  Ask yourself, what is my community?  Can I create or be a part of community that not only plays together, but serves God and his people as well?  Can I?

In my last post, I talked about the loss of connection to my friend.  I started thinking about this connection and its spiritual application and this is what I came up with.  It is said that when people go to hell they experience the absence of God.  Because of their sin God can not bear to be near them.  They have lost connection.  At the final judgement, the unrighteous will be thrown into the fiery pit known as the second death.  Maybe this is a total loss of connection with God. My point is, if it hurts so much to lose someone you love how much more must it hurt to lose connection with an all powerful, all knowing, all present God.  How much does it hurt Him?

Yesterday while on Facebook, I discovered horrible news.  One of my friends from church and high school was murdered in his own home.  I am struggling to determine my feelings about this event.  Heath was not a close friend, but a friend nonetheless.  I rooted for him, when I heard that he was a DJ on a local radio station, and was even more pleased when I heard he moved to the local Christian station. One of my fondest memories of Heath is we were in the youth room after a young adults meeting, and he was writing a song.  I gave him some advice on the concept of the song and he appreciated the help.  I don't know if he used the advice, and to be honest, I'm pretty sure I never heard the song.  I just remember the connection. Connection.  Maybe that's what hurts so much.  Even though I have not seen or spoke to him in 5 years, the possibility of connection was always there.  Now the connection is lost until I go to heaven.  Comforting and yet frustrating at the same tim

Thinking outside the box.  Just because of who I am, I frequently don't think outside the box, and when new things are mentioned I have to make them fit into my box.  If you are like me thinking creatively does not come naturally.  It is a daily practice.  One thing I have learned through this process is to bring people into your organization and life that can think outside the box for you.  Someone with fresh eyes and fresh ideas.  They may be able to suggest things that you never considered.  This VBS go around try to do something outside of the norm.  Something that will wow your participants and your volunteers.  It is sure to go a long way towards bringing them back.