In the field or in the barn?

As I think about Luke 10:2 and the plentiful ripe harvest described, I am struck with a truth often overlooked in today’s church world. The truth is this…. The harvest is in the field not in the barn.

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send OUT workers into his harvest field. GO! I AM SENDING YOU OUT like lambs among wolves.” Luke 10:2-3

In Mark 4 “A farmer went OUT to sow his seed…”  I wonder, are we spending a little too much time trying to harvest the harvested?  Are we spending a little too much time in the barn and not enough time in the field.

I asked this question at a semenar I was doing recently and the response I receieved when I talked about spending time building relationships with those in the “world” around us, not as projects but in caring relationships, didn’t surprise me.  The response was from scripture and creates a tension in the church world.  Can you guess what the passage of scripture was?

1 Cor. 15:33 —- “Don’t be misled… Bad company corrupts good character.”

So now what do we?  There is no shortage of scriptures that call us “out” and no shortage of scriptures that call us “out”.  We are to come out and we are to go out at the same time… Feel the tension yet?

What are your thoughts on this?

Churching the unchurched??????

I have been wondering a lot about the mission of the church and how often I read about reaching the Unchurched.   Is it our mission to “church” the “unchurched”? somehow I think we have come to believe that we have reached our goal if the unchurched cross the thresholds and sit in our sanctuaries.  We are rewarded for butts in pews and bucks in plates.  We have not so subtly created a culture where if your butt is in a pew and your buck is in a plate on Sunday morning we are not to concerned with where you were Saturday night.  We wrongly assume that all is well because of where you sit on Sunday morning.  The more we reward butts in pews and bucks in plates the more we move away from our mission as the people of God the “Church”.

We have been called to go and make disciples not church the unchurched. Unless however we redefine what we mean by “unchurched”. When we use this word we tend to define it by those who “don’t attend a church on a regular basis”. This definition leads us to try and get them to our buildings. Another definition for us think about is the church as a people verses a place. Now when we think of the “unchurched” we are talking about reaching people for the Kingdom not a location.

In fact when the “unchurched” are interviewd the discoveries in these interviews reveal that the “unchurched” are not looking for another club to attend but to be connected to authentic genuine people in community.

Ed Stetzer comments in his blog, (http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2009/04/interview-with-trevin-wax.html)

“But much of what the younger unchurched are looking for is found in the character of God and what our churches are called to be. Note that I said what our churches are called to be, not necessarily what they are.”

Would it change how we did ministry if we saw people as people not as butts in pews and bucks in plates?  Would it change how we did ministry if the destination was changed from our facility to the Kingdom of God?  Are we successful if the unchurched enter the church or are we more successful when the “church enters the unchurched”?

What if you were to reach people for Jesus and disciple them in community relationships but they never cross the doorstep of your church?  Would you be ok with that?  How would you feel about them?  Would you consider them unchurched, unsaved, or even a lesser class of Christian?

Here comes the Bride – Big Fat and Wide

OK women try this – tell your husband that you only want to be married on Friday’s. The rest of the week is for you to do what you want, when you want, and with whomever you want. Oh and you want to be known as his bride whenever it is in your best interest. At times take off the ring so no one knows and at other times, when the right people are watching put it on and make it clear you are married to him.

How long do you think this relationship would last?

God uses a variety of images in Scripture for us to know and understand what a relationship with him looks like. One of those is the picture of the bride. The church is called the bride of Christ. From my perspective, much of the church only wants to be married on Sunday. They want to repeat the wedding every week but never really be married.

James 4:4 says, “You adulterous people…” Is the church of today married to Christ but sleeping with the world?

A bride is to be a bride 24/7 and she should live and act like a bride all week long.

When I do weddings I typically include a comparison between the wedding and a marriage.  It looks something like the following…

• The wedding is an event
• The marriage is a lifetime

• The wedding is where vows are made
• The marriage is where vows are lived

• The wedding is celebrating
• The marriage is serving

• The wedding promises are made
• The marriage promises are tested

When and how did we come to believe that the church is defined by the wedding not the marriage?

Jesus, I only want to be married to you on Sundays.  The rest of the week is for me to do what I want, when I want, and with whomever I want.  There will be times when I will want those who I am with to know that I am a Christian but at other times it would just be too uncomfortable and not in my social best interest if they know so I will at those times hide our relationship.  But I want you to know that i am committed to you and you alone every Sunday….

Who’s YOur Daddy?

Who’s Your Daddy? No I am not talking biologically but spiritually? Let’s start with the biological though and see what we learn about our spiritual family and God’s design for his church.

I don’t find too many parents who don’t expect their children to grow up and become parents. It is natural and normal for parent to raise their children with the expectation that one day they will have their own children and those children their own.

This is not any different than Father God’s expectations for his children.

Why is it ok to be a Christian for 30 years and never “Grow up” and leave home and give birth to a new generation of Christian children? who will grow up and leave home.

Do you see a problem with a 30 year old still drinking from a bottle?

Do you see a problem with a 30 year old complaining about not being fed and unable to feed him/herself?

Do you see a problem with a bunch of “grown ups” sitting in their “house” acting like selfish children complaining about the “radio station” dad has playing for the family, or crying and complaining about the way their “house is decorated”, or about not being “fed”.

One of the roles of a parent is to equip a child to become a parent. Isn’t that the role of a disciple. One who can “go and make disciples” who can “go and make disciples”?

One of the roles of a child is to be teachable and learn from the parent and Grow up and apply and implement the lessons taught by the parent and then become a parent and pass on that DNA and those lessons to their children who will hopefully go and do likewise.  Isn’t that the role of a disciple.  To be teachable with the purpose of application not knowledge.

So… Who’s your daddy? and Whose daddy are you?

So… Who’s your mommy? and Whose mommy are you?

Is it time you grow up… get off the bottle… move out… and pass on all that training you have been soaking in for the last ??????? years?

Oh yea “I don’t feel ready or prepared” to be a Spiritual parent… How many parents felt prepared when they went to the hospital to have that first baby? suck it up, walk out the door into that wonderful, uncomfortable, messy, rewarding world of spiritual parenthood.

I can hear some of you saying now, “not everyone becomes a parent”.  “That is not my spiritual gift”.  True, not everyone becomes a parent and maybe that is not your gift.  However, let’s be honest we are way out of balance in the church world and if the biological world operated the way the church world does we would be doomed.

Let’s be honest, that is most often said out of fear and as an excuse!

By the way, who was Jesus talking to when he said, “go and make disciples”?

Why Change?

Keep your coins I want change!

Why Change?  Why not just keep doing things like we have always done them?

Some thoughts on change…

Change:   “When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles.” ~ poster at www.despair.com

Change:  “The key to change is to let go of fear” ~ Rosanne Cash

Change:  “Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.” ~ Anonymous

Change: “What do you fear, my lady?” … “A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them. and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire.” ~Aragorn and Eowyn in “The Two Towers” Lord of the Rings.

“Our fear, like hers, should be that we would go through life and not make a difference, that we would be stuck, a captive for life in a safe but meaningless existence.  There are many in the kingdom of God who feel like warriors trapped behind normalcy and the expectations of what has always been.” ~ Niel Cole, Organic Leadership

I love this last line – I believe there are warriors who have allowed their fears of the unknown to trap them in the comforts of the known and their warrior skills and abilities go wasted.  And then there are many warriors who, because of their fear of going through life and not making a difference are stepping out and taking a risk for God.  Stepping into the unknown and leaving a life of normalcy and what has always been and are using their God given skills to change the culture and world around them.

Which one are you?  When the battle is over will you have hidden in the fox hole of meaningless existence or will you have been a warrior who’s life made a difference?  When it is all said and done I want to have lived my life to the fullest and have made a difference.

Things that make me go WOW!

I have been thinking about how much we take for granted in our world today. After watching a video clip from Conan I thought I would make a list of some of the things that make me go WOW! There are so many things in our world today that should amaze us but instead we simply take them for granted or worse yet find ourselves ungrateful for them. So here is my list…

1) Laptops with wireless internet and the ability to communicate instantly (and yes I said instantly) with people around the world. When I stop and really think about this it makes me go Wow! When you find yourself frustrated with your internet connection and its speed, go back to the old way and get out an envelope, write the letter, put a stamp on it and give it to a guy on a horse who will put it on a slow boat to China and then pray that it even arrives.

2) a cell phone where I can be driving down the road with a little thingy jig hanging on my ear and push a button and say, “call Rob’s cell” and bada bing boda bang I am talking to my wife. When I think about this it makes me go WOW! When you start to get frustrated with dropped calls go to the nearest dumpster and drop in your phone and go back and do it the old way. Go home and plug in your rotary dial phone and wait for the party line and stop complaining.

3) Air travel – When I think of the amazing reality that I can sit in a seat 35 thousand feet in the air and get from point a to point b in an incredibly short period of time it makes me go WOW! Next time things are delayed or you are a little uncomfortable – go back to the good old days and get in the wagon and hope you make it to your destination this year and alive.

4) I pod and mp3 players and the new way we do music and the ability we have to download a song or a sermon or a podcast or a book or a video and plug it into a jack in my car or put on my headphones and listen to what I want when I want makes me go WOW! We could go back in time and only be able to listen on phonographs, 8 tracks, or other “ancient” forms.

5) Electricity - flip a switch – lights come on. Wow! could be candles.

6) sunsets and the expanse of the universe - WOW! God is amazing. Could be all one color.

7) Clothes - WOW! we can walk into a store and find the style we like and buy a different outfit for each day. – Could be a scratchy fig leaf that is the same style for everyone and the same color. Not to mention finding ones that fit.

These are just a few things as I sit here on my laptop that make me go WOW! What causes our dissatisfaction with what we have? Where does our entitlement attitude come from? Why do we have so much and have such a hard time appreciating life and the things we have filled our life with?

• We live in a world where many will go to bed hungry again. (I have eaten all day)
• We live in a world where 27 million are enslaved to the demands of another, for their pleasures and greed (I am free to come and go as I please)
• We live in a world where many would give all treasures for clean water (I get it cold and fresh from my refrigerator with crushed ice)
• We live in a world where kids are raising kids because of the death of parents (I enjoyed every year of my life taking on responsibilities at appropriate ages)
  We live in a world where…

You get the point! I would love to know what makes you go WOW! Add to the list and lets be grateful people.

A Chip And A Sip

What did you eat yesterday? I had a scone and coffee for breakfast, 2 enchiladas, rice and beans for lunch, and hamburger helper and corn for dinner. I tend to eat well every day. I didn’t say healthy but enough to sustain life. I couldn’t survive on a “chip and a sip”.

I have been thinking a lot lately about my spiritual nourishment.  In our Organic Church we share a meal together each week much like they did in the New Testament times. This meal time is when we share communion. Communion to me has become far more than a “chip and a sip”.  Communion is a meal.  It is when we are reminded again of our dependence upon God for life.  It is when we share that life together with great friends.  It is when we realize that we are “His body” together and His body needs spiritual nourishment.  I have come to the conclusion that I no longer want a “chip and a sip” for communion, not that it is wrong, but because the meal has challenged me at a deeper level in my relationship with God and friends.

Next time you share communion, whether it be with a chip and a sip or a meal with friends be reminded that our spiritual lives are dependent upon a regular intake of Him the “bread of life”.

Just like I can’t live physically on a “chip and a sip”, I can’t live spiritually on a “chip and a sip”.

How is your spiritual health – Are you getting enough to eat?

Organic Essence of the Church

Well I am back. Not sure how often I will post but wanted to share what has been on my mind. I have been thinking a lot lately about Luke 10:2 and Mark 4.

Luke 10:2 says,

“Pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send out workers into the Harvest”

Over and over Jesus used parables to teach about his Kingdom. These parables often had an “Organic nature” to them. The parable that best defines the Organic Essence of the church for me is the Parable of the Sower in Mark chapter 4. This parable is in fact a foundational parable in understanding Jesus parable teaching on the Kingdom. Through this parable I have come to believe that the organic essence of the church is its reproductive nature.

Mark 4:1-12 describes the farmer scattering his seed and it landing on four different types of soils.

* The path
* Rocky places
* Among thorns
* Good Soil

In verses 13-20 he explains this parable. It reads as follows:

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Don’t you understand this parable? how then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the Word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sow on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop – thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”

The organic essence of the church is its reproductive nature. From the beginning of time God created a reproductive process by which seed would reproduce according to their kind.

In this parable it is interesting to note the third soil. I believe that this is where much of the church world lives today. They fill the sanctuaries and homes across our nation but have been sterilized by the things of this world rendering them “unfruitful” or non reproductive. They look like plants, they smell like plants, they have all of the markings of a fruit bearing plant minus the fruit.

The organic essence of the church, whether it meets in a conventional manner or in a home, is reproduction. The fourth soil, the “good soil”, is the church at its purest. It is producing a crop – in exponential amounts. It is when the church gets back to its organic essence that it will change the world. Satan is not threatened by three of the soils. It is the fourth soil that scares him and causes him to fight so hard to deceive the church into believing that they can continue to live in one of the other three and be fine. Many today are deceived, believing that more people sitting in a building is reproduction.

The heart of the Organic Church movement is to rethink what it means to be and “do” church and to rework the soil of our lives allowing the seed of God’s word to penetrate and naturally reproduce a crop – thirty, sixty or even a hundred times. “For the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”

“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.”

Let’s go be the organic church everyday, everywhere

Shaping children?

The following is a poem I saw posted on a classroom wall the other day.

Children Live What They Learn 

By Dorothy Law Nolte

If a child lives with Criticism – He learns to condemn           

If a child lives with hostility – He learns violence

If a child lives with ridicule – He learns to be shy

If a child lives with shame – He learns to feel guilty

If a child lives with encoragement – He learns confidence

If a child lives with praise – He learns to appreciate

If a child lives with fairness – He learns justice

If a child lives with security – He learns faith

If a child lives with approval – He learns to like himself

If a child lives with acceptance and friendship – He learns to love the world.

What do you think about this poem?

With this in mind how concerned should we be about outside influences (friends, social structures, music, media)  – Does the home invironment automatically overpower these other influences in shaping our children?

What about kids from broken homes…. How can we be influences in their lives helping to reshape them?

“Is Truth Relative?”

Opinion poll —————  

Is Truth Relative?

Many say truth is relative.  What do you think?