The Motivation for Worship

On a facebook post today, pastor/teacher/student leader Alvin Reid quoted Jim Elliff’s call to worship leaders to “Raise the believers’ understanding of the beauty & power of God, & let emotions follow, not lead.”

In reply John Guetterman wrote:

Amen! singers singing the beauty and power of God from the place of divine revelation. This is the glory of corporate worship when we see Him as He is and we are invited into the realm if the spirit through the open door. We need singers who sing from encounter! We need preachers who preach from encounter! This is our hope for our nation to change… Read More… That God would raise up burning and shining lamps leading many to Jesus in this hour! People who have stood in the council of the Lord who speak from the place of knowledge that transcends understanding… We need the Spirit of Revelation. We need the Spirit of Prayer… We NEED GOD!!!

I remember attending a church that led our denomination in baptisms, a supposed indication of the power of their preacher as an evangelist.  However, when I got to know some of the members, I learned there was little followup, little understanding of what the Christian life was all about.  They were led by the emotion of the moment, and a number of those were rebaptisms (“The first 3 times weren’t real, but this time I know I’m saved!”)

You can’t sustain a church on emotion.  People wear out and quit if they live on the evangelism sugar high.  Teaching the congregation the truth of God, leading them to full understanding of their salvation, helping them see the beauty & power of God is what will set them afire and send them out as witnesses.  Their worship will remain beyond the benediction, their testimony will resonate at the restaurant, and their service will be sustainable, because it is all for the glory of God.

 

Be a Better Pastor

Thom Rainer, currently President of Lifeway, the Baptist resource publishing house, took time this week to reflect on how to be a better pastor.  He’s pastored 4 churches, and is a student of what makes a healthy church.

In the post titled If I Were a Pastor Again, Rainer lists five thing he would do differently:

1. Pray more
2. More time reading the Bible
3. More time loving the critics than worrrying about what they said
4. More time “hanging out” with church members
5. More time getting to know the unchurched

These look like no-brainers, but we need to remind ourselves of the basics our the job from time to time.  We forget that “prayer is the work” instead of a prelude to the job.  We get so pressured to prepare the sermons and do the rest of the job that we forget to take time to read the Bible for our own benefit.

The other 3 points deal with our relationships with others.  We are to be shepherd of the church, not just the hired help to speak and administrate.  We are to have our ears open to the hurt behind the accusations (think of the kids who “act out” jsut to get attention).  And we need to know people to witness to, and lead our people by example.

This is not an all-inclusive list, of course, but it’s a good start.  As I’ve said before, you start where you are and move forward, no matter where that starting place happens to be.

(See the article here.)

 

10 Stupid Things

I watched a great video on “10 stupid things that keep churches from growing” with Geoff Surratt.  It includes many of the same simple ideas I identified in Chapter 7 of Hope for Struggling Churches.  However, in our visual culture, it sometimes helps to hear someone talk about it.

Geoff Surratt on THE SHOW from Todd Rhoades on Vimeo.

Geoff Surratt on THE SHOW

What do you think?  Is he right?

 

Sorting Complainers

In an earlier post, called “Complainers Care“, I dealt with the issue of a pastor ousting a member who won’t “fall in line” with their “spiritual authority.” I suggested the church should have a method for hearing the input of the members.  Not that the church needs to follow everything suggested, but there needs to be a process that those with honest suggestions are listened to.

 

Simply Church

There is a movement called Simple Church, a neo-Reformationist removal of the structures of the modern Western church, in hopes of being relevant.  But others, such as Rick Warren, say you don’t have to toss aside the form of church to be effective.  Warren has said (here) that people always need to find meaning and purpose in life, to have the grand mysteries of the universe explained in terms they can understand, and to be part of something important.  Simply that.

Simple church is a movement of community.  Most are house churches.  There is  no altar, no baptistery, no pews.  The nursery is one of the bedrooms, the fellowship hall is the kitchen.   Services are usually conducted in the living room.

I call them “neo-Reformationist” based on practices in many Reformation churches, especially in Switzerland, where the statuary and stained glass were removed.  Originally installed as teaching aids to illiterate parishioners, the people had come to revere the icons instead of the principles they stood for.  The reformers chose plain white unornamented clapboard buildings with clear glass to keep the  focus on the scripture and not the facility.

Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger describe Simple Church as an organizing principle to move people toward spiritual growth, saying that anything that gets in the way of that organizing principle should be discarded.  Church becomes decluttered from the programs and ministries that take away from that core function.  As Collins (Good to Great) would say, the good things are removed so the right things can be done. (see their notes here.)

But what Rick Warren was saying in his 18-minute “Q-Talk” is that the only organizing principle, the only purpose of a church is to be effective at sharing the Gospel and leading people to maturity in their faith.  It doesn’t so much matter what strategy or program you use so long as it matches the people you are trying to reach and it gets results for the Kingdom of God.  What matters is if you can connect with people.

Warren quotes Einstein as saying, “You can be brilliant but if you can’t say it in simple ways, it doesn’t, its not worth anything.”  You have to speak the language of the people.  Not that you can’t describe theology.  Not that you have to use all their words.  But you do need to address their needs.

If you want a vibrant church, don’t worry about this program or that improvement.  Worry about what you say and how you’re involved in the lives of the people of the congregation.  Help them deal with the core issues of life. That’s enough.

 

Putting on the Ugly Face

A cartoon a couple of years ago showed two kids making faces at one another and giggling in the back seat and the dad getting more and more aggravated until he turns around and yells at them “What are you doing?” One kid meekly replies “We were having an ugly face contest, but it’s over.  You won.”

I misread an article once and then misquoted the author in my own article.  In reply, that author* sent me hate mail.  Rather than simply writing to have me correct the mistake, he started off my calling me names and finished by attacking my character.

I’m not sure who you are, or from what planet you descended, but that statement above is no closer to truth than the Loch Ness Monster lives in Lake Superior or Big Foot is actually a U.S. Congressman.

This man said his ministry was helping people and churches “cooperate around the gospel.”  He’s one of the country’s religious leaders.  His denomination has been having some problems.  Maybe that’s where he picked up his own “ugly face.”

Dear church leader, when you speak, folks listen.  And your attitude shouts louder than your message.  Are you running people away in the name of absolute accuracy?  Or do you mentor, correct gently and nurture your congregation and your community?

As the old preacher story says about the young girl’s prayer:

Dear God, please make all the bad people good
And make the good people nice.

—————————

(*name withheld – you can understand why)

 

How do we handle adversity?

Imagine a young couple in your congregation with an infant on the way – their first-born son.  Now imagine that child with a fatal birth defect that will likely keep him from being born, or at least will certainly mean an extraordinarily short life.

How you handle this impending tragedy shows much about your outlook on life and the sovereignty of God. How your church responds shows how well you have taught them about love and compassion and community.

99Balloons is a video and blog site about little Elliott, born with a hole in his lungs and damaged DNA. The video is a series of letters from his dad explaining what is going on day by day.

Some would say a child so imperfect has no value. His dad saw him as a person with infinite value, and used the experience to teach the rest of us the same lesson.

I commend to you the story of Elliot.

 

Will Buildings Reach the World?

Adequate, appropriate space is important. but ministry should be more about  relationships than having the right facility.

I saw a church fundraising brochure that just sounded strange. It asked “How will building help us reach our community for Christ?”

Good question.

Unfortunately, the answer didn’t make sense.

God has called [this church] to be a lighthouse on the East Coast. Our buildings are used by God to reach more people with the gospel and to train up followers to grow and to go out into the mission field. Our new facilities will provide more space for worship, preschool, children, student, and adult classrooms, fellowship, and choir activities. All of our ministries will benefit from having additional room for growth. In addition, the new Worship Center will allow us to attract and minister to more families from our community.

The goal of our stewardship campaign is to provide for the construction costs of a new 3000-seat Worship Center, a new student center, additional space for childcare, additional adult education space, and other support facilities. These new facilities are being uniquely designed to allow for future growth for many years to come. The buildings will be multigenerational-friendly and will provide a welcoming environment with state-of-the-art technology to help us connect with many different age groups throughout the week. We can successfully accomplish this goal and see lives changed forever through our GREATERTHINGS campaign.

As our family of faith seeks the Lord for His provision in this effort, may we remember the testimony of those members who have gone before us… “What God asks us to do, He will certainly enable us to do!”

Buildings don’t save people. Buildings, at most, provide space where the Bible can be taught, where believers can fellowship together, where people can meet for corporate worship, and where members can be trained in missions and Christian disciplines.  However, this particular church has bought into the concept that buildings are what matter, and virtual connections are good enough.  (“a welcoming environment with state-of-the-art technology to help us connect”)

It is clear the brochure is about money

Q – How will we pay for this?

A – We believe wholeheartedly that God has given us a vision to reach this community for Christ. We have faith that [this church] will rise to the challenge He has set for us. With God’s help and our sacrificial giving, we will reach our goals and build a facility that will help us reach GREATERTHINGS.

In your drive to reach your community, be sure you are people-focused.  Everything this church does for the next 3-5 years will be centered around the $20M building campaign.  Already, facility issues are getting in the way of ministry.  (One ministry was told they could only use the church facilities once a month.)  Either the current building isn’t adequate (it services 2700 attenders now), or the church is facility focused in its orientation.

Adequate, appropriate space is important.  But if your ministry is all about having the right facility to attract people, then your interpersonal witnessing needs a tune-up.

 

What You Can Do About Disaster

You read the news.  People dead.  Houses damaged.  Police or military respond.  It’s horrible.  But what can you do?

First, you can pray.  Prayer is not the preparation for the work, or the thing you do because the agenda to the meeting says this is when you pray.  Prayer is the work of the faithful invoking the King of the Universe to act against the forces of darkeness.

Next, you can make known the spiritual implications of the event.  During this week’s terrorist massacre in Mumbai, the Israel Project took steps to post accurate information about the events and the stories of the Jewish people involved in the events.

You can also use your own congregation’s website as a call to prayer and action.  B’nai Avraham Messianic Fellowship put the notice at the top of their site.

We at B’nai Avraham Messianic Fellowship express our sincere condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives during the recent terrorist attacks in India. Especially on our hearts are the families and friends of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, his wife Rivka, Rabbi Leibish Teitlebaum, Bentzion Chroman, as well as Alan Scherr and daughter Naomi. May the peace of G-d be with them.

BAMF then followed with a call for contributions, not to themselves, but to a recognized aid agency.  There is often a desire by people to “do something” tangible, and that includes giving a monetary contribution. 

If your congregation already has an established path to aggregate small contributions into a shared donation, you can mention it.  Be careful, however, that your appeal doesn’t look like an attempt to enrich your own coffers at the expense of the disaster. 

The better way is what BAMF did, in directing aid to an honorable charity.  It will help your people do good and build your congregation’s standing as a spiritual leader by helping them know how to contribute intelligently.

 

Fear not!

Angels must be awesome creatures, because every time one apears in the Bible, he has to start the conversation by calming the person’s fears.  Or maybe that’s their job.  To be the messengers of the king of peace.

I’ve been reading a lot lately about the end of fear, in a variety of contexts.

First, there’s Rich Dad Poor Dad, a great little book about taking control of your money.  Toward the back (where I read today) is a description of why some people choose to stay poor.  It is their fear of failure.  They are so afraid to fail they never get started.  The runner runs toward the finish line even if there’s a world champion in the next lane.  He didn’t show up to admire the starting blocks – he came to run.  And even if he finishes fifth, he finishes well, and far ahead of the one who never started the race.

In church today we talked about the need for failure to grow us.  The lesson said it is unlikely you will ever love deeply if you never risk being hurt.  The sermon said that in your failures you learn the life lessons that refine you.  Psalm 23 doesn’t say God will rescue us from troubles, but that He gives peace as we walk through the trouble toward an uncertain future.  Going all the way through the troubles makes you stronger on the other side.

Tonite I let wordpress do it’s thing by suggesting random blogs, and I came upon Alli Macisaac’s posting about the end of fear.

I believe that God has a plan for all of us and these trials and tribulations are what are there to make things interesting.

Alli’s solution is to “Do one thing every day that scares you.”  She goes on to say “Even if these things don’t work out they are definitely worth it – it is only then you can say you have truly lived.”