Building a Church That Doesn't Suck (update)

Building a Church That Doesn't Suck...the life out of you. About two years ago I posted a blog with that title and shared what was in my heart at the start of this Turnaround Church effort at West Shore. That blog title and entry has brought the more traffic to my blog than any other through people googling phrases such as "church doesn't suck" and "church sucks" etc. I wanted to briefly give an update to that post...

I have now been blessed to be at West Shore Church (A/G) for 2 1/2 years. As we enter this third year of ministry together, I look around and I am blessed. The Lord has been speaking to me from Hosea 6:1-3 regarding year one, year two and now as we enter year three. I don't want this to sound like a commercial, but rather a praise report.

Year one was extremely difficult as much change was needed to turn the ship around. Year two we laid down biblical foundations as we met and loved on new people that came. As we enter year three, I look around and see a diverse church. People from all types of backgrounds and ethnicity. We have placed the focus upon the person of Jesus and His ministry. We have thrown our focus outward by starting ministries like Angelfood Ministries through which we are feeding people all over the region. Missions giving is up. And there is a wonderful lack of politics and all the nastiness that can sometimes creep into church life. As momentum picks up we are looking to sell our building and move somewhere we can flourish and continue with what Jesus is doing. We are still at the front end of this thing that God is doing and there is a lot more that must happen, but...

Can a church that has had a steady 10 year pattern of decline, embrace change and turn around? Yes it can.
Can Jesus heal a church from deep wounds and also empower them to reach out and minister?
Oh yes He can!
Are people still turning to Christ for healing and salvation as the nation's culture grows increasingly hostile toward the things of God?
Yup!
Is the divide between the Church and the world too wide for the unchurched to cross?
Nope!

When the stuff of "religion" is kicked to the curb and people in the church embrace Jesus, then He is lifted up and draws all men to Himself.

Pray for us as we continue this journey. We are by no means in a place where we can afford to be comfortable (and God forbid we should ever be!), there is a fragility when things are new. But we are confident! (Phil. 1:6)

This is the Church...the Body of Christ...the Bride, meant to be clothed with the glory of His Presence! Turn Around Church...He is faithful!!

I love our country! #Haiti

I love our country! With the recent tragedy in Haiti due to the earthquake, the people of America have once again stepped up to the plate to give, serve and sacrifice for others. Though many people are hurting from loss of employment and a very difficult year, people are still giving. America continues to lead the way in compassion and love toward the world. But why? It goes to our roots. We were founded upon Christian principles. What that means at least in part is that we have learned to give. We have learned to treat others as we would like to be treated. The mature Christian grounded in Scripture also understands that when we give to those in need, it is as if we were giving aid to Jesus Himself. (Mt. 35:37-40) Though many have forgotten these roots, they are still a part of the fabric of our culture and I am grateful that in the midst of one of the greatest trials our country has ever know, that we do not turn a blind eye to the needs of others.

If you are looking for a safe way to contribute to the needs in Haiti, you can give at the following link. A/G has people and supplies on site right now through Convoy of Hope.

http://ag.org/top/haiti.cfm

Are New Year's Resolutions a thing of the past?

Are New Year's Resolutions a thing of the past? There are so many jokes about failed resolutions that they aren't even funny anymore. But is the answer to just forget about it? The idea of setting goals is actually essential to living a full and successful life. I think the New Year presents a great opportunity to engage in goal setting. The secret is to make attainable goals that will help propel you toward a better life.

Let me give you an idea for a start. This is something that is very doable and will enrich your life in ways that if you haven't done it before you cannot imagine. It will be fuel for every other area of your life. It will impact your joy level. It will enable you to have healthier relationships. It will help you to navigate life in a way that will not only be successful, but more importantly a success that is personally keyed to your life. Ready?

Commit to a Bible reading plan for this year!

Let me give you a few tools. Here is the one that I use:
http://www.youversion.com/reading-plans/all

There are several different plans for you from just reading through the Gospels to reading the entire Bible in a year.
You can go online each day and read from many different versions (I prefer the TNIV or NLT).
There is also a very handy iPhone app (youversion) check it out! I believe they have other options as well for phones with internet access.

Don't stop committing yourself to a better way of life just because you didn't hit the goals in the past. Reading God's Word everyday is like food for your entire being. It's like seed (Mt. 13) that bears fruit in your life over time...but without seed there can never be fruit.

When God Blows up in da house!

When God Blows up in da house! I was reading in Acts 2 today as part of my Bible reading plan. I was struck by the flow of events. There was the group of Christians praying, waiting for the Promised Holy Spirit and power. When that moment came there was great happiness and rejoicing. They were enjoying the gift they had been given...so much so that people thought they were drunk! Awesome!! :)

But there is an almost immediate and I believer very important transition. All of a sudden the Christians that are enjoying God's Presence are aware of those who are not. Peter stands and begins to preach. He begins to preach the good news. He begins to direct people to God's Word. He directs people to Jesus. He tells people that their sin has crucified Jesus, but that He is now risen from the dead. He tells them that they can experience forgiveness through repenting of their sins. That day 3000 people became Christians...an instant mega-church. Awesome!! :)

While it is certainly true that a person can live an Acts 2 life everyday, there are also special moments in history where God who is already extravagant in His grace and love towards us, enjoys pouring out even more of Himself. I think it is SO important that moves of God have these two elements. We should enjoy God's Spirit. We should drink deeply and lose ourselves in worship and proclamation of Him. But as Peter and the others remembered...there was a purpose for the power. They had been waiting for this at the command of Jesus before setting off to fulfill the Great Commission. In other words..the people in the street who didn't know what was happening; they were the purpose of God's richness that day. When people caught up in a move of God forget the people on the street...the move moves on.

Testimony

Read this testimony from someone who just graduated from our Basic Training discipleship class.

"I came to West Shore with a broken spirit and totally FAITHLESS. Then came Basic Training Discipleship Class; through this I developed knowledge of what God did for me, has for me and where to go to find it. During these lessons I developed faith, hope and a sense of determination of discovering my PURPOSE IN LIFE." - Denise Knight

That my friends is what it is all about...

Need and Power

Need and Power. I was spending some time in Luke chapter nine this morning. As I was reading about how Jesus gave the disciples authority for deliverance, power for healing and command for preaching, the command for taking nothing with them stood out to me. They were told to take nothing with them for comfort or their own provision.

Think about that. How often do we wait to act until we feel we've prepared enough, trained enough, saved enough? They were sent out in such a way that they were completely at the mercy of the provision of the Lord directly and through other people. I have never been an advocate of asceticism (the belief that you need to be completely poor to follow Jesus), but it makes me wonder if there is a connection between need and power. God is always leading us to a place of trusting Him more. He wants us to trust Him with our emotions, trust Him with our future, trust Him with our children, trust Him with our careers.

If the disciples had been sent out with the normal travel provisions, they would have been looking for the normal things to happen. Instead they walked expecting the supernatural...looking for it to happen. And if it didn't happen, they would be hungry, cold and hurting.

Perhaps with our finances being blown up the last few years, God is again trying to get us to trust Him with more. So I guess the end result will be based on: are we simply looking to get our old broken ways back, or are we looking for the supernatural breakthrough of the Kingdom of God in our lives? What is your "more" that you need to trust Him with? Do you believe that God can meet you there? Is it ok to let go of the old to make room for the new?

What was the result of the disciples obedience and trust?
Luke 9:6 (TNIV) So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.

and

Luke 10:17 (TNIV) The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

Those things that you think you have no power over, those things that you say "oh that's just how I am" or "I can't help how I feel" all of a sudden the power of those things is broken off of you as the Kingdom of God comes in power through His Spirit.

Trust Him with more today.

Does the Lord hate?

Does the Lord hate? Surely not, right? After all, "God is love" is one of our favorite verses. Plus, the idea of God hating anything or anyone would totally go against our picture of a kind grandpa in the sky... Well I was curious, so I did a quick study to see what the answer was...

Let me say briefly that I am not trying to be negative or say that God hates a bunch of people. This was just sparked by the trend to create a made up God based on our cultural values of tolerance, being "nice", never saying anything is wrong, etc. Certainly God is love, and He showed that He loves all of us by dying for us while we still were doing the things that He hates (Ro. 5.8) And you must ask the question of "Why?" while going over these things. Why does God hate them? Perhaps His hatred of these things is rooted in love?

Idolatry/False Gods (well known ones today - Allah, Greek/Roman Pantheon, Gaia (aka "Mother Nature"), Variety of religions that present Jesus as anything other than fully God AND fully man, ancestor worship, various spiritual philosophies) - Deut. 1.27; 7.25; 9.18; 12.31; I Ki. 11

Giving God your scraps and leftovers as offerings - Deut 17.1

Sorcery/Witchcraft/Divination/Tarot/Spiritual Mediums - Deut 18.9

Churches who just play church and go through the motions - Is. 1.14

Divorce - Malachi 2.16

Prostitution - Deut 23.18

Dishonest/Shady Business Practices - Deut 25.14; Prov. 11.1

Injustice in the Courts - Prov. 17.15

Sexual immorality/the practice of homosexuality - Rev. 2.14-15; Lev. 18 ("detests")

When people are arrogant
when people lie
hands that shed innocent blood
When people come up with wicked/perverse plans
When a person is quick to run to evil
liars
people who stir up trouble in church/community/families

Proverbs 6:16-19 (TNIV) There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up dissension in the community.


This is in no way exhaustive, but just a quick look at some of the things the Lord has strong feelings against.