Church Planting with Bob Ross?

Recently, I was trying to help out my daughter Olathe with some math homework. I was taught a certain method of reaching the answer. She, on the other hand, is learning several methods of reaching the same answer. So naturally when she asked me for help it became frustrating for both of us. Let me explain…

For me it was frustrating because I knew what the answer should be and the method I was taught to get to that answer, but that wasn’t what the teacher wanted. If I persisted to teach her my way, she would not actually get a good grade because she needed to show her work through a different method.

On the other hand, it was frustrating for her because she needed help. Since I wasn’t there in class to hear the method she was supposed to use, I had to try to draw it out of her and then work with what she was telling me, which I was more than happy to try.

As a church planter I often find I don’t know how to accomplish everything the Lord requires of me. Many times I want to ask Bob Ross how to paint a “white, puffy cloud” when God really wants me to learn how to paint a storm in abstract. If all I ever do is paint by numbers, will I ever really learn how to paint? In the end, I might have a decent painting, but never a skill to paint an original masterpiece.

Maybe God is more interested in me learning to hear His voice rather than some easy answer to church growth.

When it comes to church planting, there is no shortage of advice, but there just might be a shortage of church planters that rely on the Spirit to show them the next step.

Glean all you can from other church planters, books and blogs but ultimately take “good notes” in the class of the Holy Spirit and learn how to get the methods and answers needed directly from Him. Then as you receive or hear advice from others, you will be able to sort out the methods that God might be calling you to attempt in your context. The rest... respectfully decline.

Discovery Changes Everything

I have been thinking a lot lately about the art of discovering. Discovery is when you realize the existence or potential of something that already existed. It might be that old song a person recently heard for the first time and now plays over and over again on their iPod. It might be that book that was pulled out from the shelf that just can’t be put down. It could simply be discovering the joy in the loving arms of your child, parent or spouse.

On a greater scale, when we discover the divine in the natural we can rest in the bigger picture that God is in control. Take for example the inspiration of Scriptures. The inspired Word of God wasn’t declared inspired by man or a committee… it just is what it is - INSPIRED. We can only discover or recognize that fact. When we do, the inspired Word of God comes alive to us because our perspective has changed. We now realize it is more than just a book of stories - it is God’s communication with man. This changes everything. God is in the details.

As a Christian, I am learning to discover that God has created, ordained and purposed things around and in me long before I choose to recognize them.

This happens all the time in our relationships. Sometimes, as Christians, in the midst of disagreement with a spouse or when the kids act up, it is easy to forget that they are a gift from God. When we do this, we sew strife. We take the gifts that God has given us for granted as they get lost under busy schedules or selfish ambitions. However, as we begin to rediscover God at work in our relationships, our perspective changes and we find joy and wonder in those we are close to. This changes everything. God is in the details.

Lastly, we can discover God in the midst of confusion, pain, or frustrating circumstances. He has been there all along, but maybe we haven't taken the time to notice because it seems so crazy.

Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD. The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. -Genesis 25:21-24

Rebekah’s pregnancy was a result of Isaac’s fervent prayer. God answered this prayer, and I am sure this fact was greatly rejoiced over at first. After a season, though, Rebekah felt the strain and the stress of something that wasn’t quite right. I wonder if she was thinking to herself, “If this is an answer from God… what the heck is going on?”

During the strain of a situation it can become easy to forget all that God has done. For Rebekah that moment was pivotal to her endurance in faith. She could have chosen to become bitter at God, forgetting that her situation was an answer to prayer. But, in grand style, the scripture says she went to inquire of the Lord. She knew God was in it and if she could only discover what was going on she could rest in the Lord. God did in fact answer her and she endured this stressful pregnancy until the 9-month season was over.

God is in the details. The art of discovering God and His will can be likened to that book that has been sitting on your shelf for ages. Often you’ve looked past it, sometimes even despised that it takes up so much space. Then, one day you decide to open it and discover a story that invites you on an incredible journey. You grab a latte and sink into that big, comfy chair by the fire. No matter where this story takes you, you are captured. Though conflict arises, you read on knowing that the author is taking you somewhere and this changes everything.

All the while you wonder, “Why didn’t I discover this book a long time ago?”

A Strange Sight

A few years ago I saw something uncanny. I was at a local warehouse store when I saw an elderly man running across the parking lot. It struck me as strange and to this day it begs an answer,

“What would make an old man run?”

It isn’t that common to see someone of years trucking full speed. It could almost make a bystander winch as brittle bones hit the pavement. Yet something DROVE this man to defy the norm and risk injury to RUN?

I am not sure in this specific case, but one answer to the question "what would make an old man run" is love. Love causes people to run at airports for homecomings, after cars during an outgoing, to catch a falling child, or even risk life in a war zone to save a friend. Love is truly a powerful force.

There is a beautiful story in the Bible of an old man that ran to his son who had just come home from a deeply shameful and humiliating situation. His father was old. His father was dignified. His father RAN! Too many times we can skip over that powerful imagery. Picture it…

"When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: 'Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.' But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, 'Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time.” Luke 15:20-24 (MSG)

If the power of love could make an old man run to embrace his wayward son, I wonder what it could do for us today… in our relationships. There are many emotions that cover and cloud the object of our love on any given day. Maybe it is an argument with a spouse, the disobedience of a child, or the pain of the past. Maybe you just can’t forgive that one thing they did.

If you allow these things to outweigh your love, then as you age you will find yourself becoming less able to show it.

Take a moment today to look past the present circumstances in your relationships and show love to someone who needs you most. Maybe they need to see you run to know it's true.

Follow Me: Part 1 "Wanna Die?"

John 21:17-19, “He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. 18Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." 19(This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, "Follow me." (ESV)

Jesus basically tells Peter, who just for the record loves Jesus, that he was going to die a vicious death, but it would glorify God. Next words out of His mouth are “Follow me.”

Following Jesus is difficult. Anyone that tells you differently is lying or they are trying to sell you something. Now I am not talking about the way McChristians (consumer Christians) follow Jesus, but rather the ones that want to follow Jesus with everything, not just when it is convenient.

You see, Jesus never said easy things to attract people to follow Him. You hear things like “die daily” “pick up your cross” “sell all and follow me” “narrow is the road to righteousness, few find it” …

In no measure would I consider myself a “hell, fire and brimstone” prea-cha, but reality is that we sometimes luke out the message of the Gospel. Yes, God loves everyone and will accept the vilest person who honestly confesses and turns from their wicked ways by putting faith in Christ, but to say the Christian life with Christ is easy and just about living a life filled with blessings is a lie. Sorry.

It’s a hard call, but by far the most fulfilling. A person that follows in the way of Jesus will have a life filled with purpose. A life filled with meaning. You just can’t get that from one hour a week sitting passively in a service that doesn’t even convict you. It’s time to speak the truth. Jesus wants us to die… so we might really live.

It’s not a broad road.
It is a narrow path.
Few find it.

Keith Green rang true with the words to “To Obey is Better than Sacrifice”

To obey is better than sacrifice
I don't need your money, I want your life
And I hear you say that I'm coming back soon
But you act like I'll never return

Well you speak of grace and my love so sweet
How you thrive on milk, but reject My meat
And I can't help weeping of how it will be
If you keep on ignoring My words
Well you pray to prosper and succeed
But your flesh is something I just can't feed

To obey is better than sacrifice
I want more than Sunday and Wednesday nights
Cause if you can't come to Me every day
Then don't bother coming at all

To obey is better than sacrifice
I want hearts of fire, not your prayers of ice
And I'm coming quickly to give back to you
According to what you have done

Something about an Arrow

So I had this dream last night. I don't know about you, but when I dream I don't tend to remember many details.

It had something to do with preparing a message for a church. I was "drawn" to a scripture about a man who shot an arrow before it was time. Now, you may be thinking like I was, "There is no scripture like that." Yup... you're right. There isn't one, but maybe there is another meaning to my crazy dream.

Could it be that had a bad piece of pizza? Possible. But more likely God was speaking subtly to me that I am wanting to start a battle I am not yet released to fight. In Ecclesiastes, and also a song by The Byrd's, it says that there is a time for everything. There are many chances in our life that we are able to do something, but the timing isn't quite right. Getting married at age 13, as I fondly remember some of the teens in our youth ministry desiring, isn't good timing. Eating ice cream for breakfast everyday, isn't the best time to eat it (although my wife and daughter might argue that fact), and going to round up the buggies in a shopping store parking lot in the middle of a lightning storm isn't the brightest idea of timing.

There might be some things in my life I am anxious for, but I need to trust that God knows best and when it comes time to shoot the arrow of beginnings, that I am equipped and ready for the battle that the arrow will instigate.

Carpe Diem

Fear is a strange thing. It can often motivate an otherwise rational person to things that could be considered, well …irrational. It can keep a person from experiencing things that are otherwise thrilling, eye opening or things that just make life a bit easier.

Consider Joe. Joe got invited to a all expense paid trip overseas, but he afraid to fly. Now he could take a boat, but he is afraid of those. Swimming is out of the question - sharks. Not to mention Joe can't even get to the airport anyways because he is afraid to drive. He might be able to walk except he is afraid of getting sunburn. Joe would order sunscreen online, but he is afraid of identity theft. He could have his wife order it, if he hadn't been so scared of committment that he chickened out and never got married. Heck joe never even asked her out because he was afraid of rejection. I guess Joe will have to pass on the vacation.

If we allow the fear of anything to dominate our thinking, we will never experience the freedom, beauty and life that God intended for us. We will always stay where it is comfortable. We will never see breathtaking views from an airplane. We will never travel anywhere new. We might not even drive. We might never ask someone to marry us. We possibly will never have kids. We probably will never pour out our hearts to someone we love. We will never take risks. We will never commit to anything. We will never really live life to the fullest.

Jesus said in John 10:10 (NIV), “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Don't let your life be robbed by fear... trust in Jesus and seize the day!

Carpe Diem.

Sleep Disorder

I have a sleep disorder. Not really, but it feels like it.

Lately I haven’t been able to sleep well. I lay awake and toss and turn, heart pounding like I drank 5 cups of coffee before bed (sometimes guilty), and mind racing about everything I NEED to get done. Then, when it’s time to get things done… I’m tired.

There is this passage in the Scriptures that often haunts me. It reminds me of how I can get a spiritual sleep disorder in my relationship. In Luke 10:38-42 we find Jesus chill-axin at Mary and Martha’s house. Martha was cooking, cleaning, serving while her sister Mary just sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to Him teach. Martha gets fed up after awhile of doing everything by herself and says to Jesus,

“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary, Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." [ESV]

What is the necessary thing here? What was it that Martha was missing? Could it be her lack of discernment concerning the timing of service? It wasn’t that serving was wrong, but the timing might have just been off. Jesus could have very easily asked her to serve Him, at which point Martha’s efforts could have been made effective. Maybe Jesus didn’t want the 5-course dinner she was preparing, but rather a pizza. If she took the time to sit at the feet of Jesus, she would have been rested for when Jesus asked service of her. She might have even had the time to ask, “Jesus, what do you like to eat?”

It’s important we learn to rest in God and not worry about how WE are going to get everything done ourselves. God will show us. God will teach us.

Maybe my Jesus is saying to me, “Don’t worry… get some rest. Tomorrow you will wake up refreshed for service, but for now just rest in me.”

…now I just need to lay off the coffee (after 9pm at least).

Mature Energy

Mature Energy

"...To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me." Colossians 1:28-29 *Message Remix

What a bundle of scriptural gems found here. Let's unpack it... shall we?

+MATURE+
adj 1: fully considered and perfected; 2: having reached full natural growth or development; 3: develop and work out fully in one's mind; "I need to mature my thoughts"

+BASIC+
adj 1: reduced to the simplest and most significant form possible without loss of generality; 2: of primary importance; "basic truths"

Sometimes our tendency is to make our Christianity so hard and complex. Being a Christian shouldn't be tricky or feel like you are jumping through hoops. True Christianity is simple. Basic. It's a relationship with Christ.

We work so hard and spend so much energy making our lives so complex, but Jesus calls us to live simple. Care. Have compassion. Show kindness. Be humble.

"...WEAR LOVE, it's your basic, all purpose garment. never be without it." Colossians 3:14 *Remix - I like that.

Being a Christian is all about relationship. With God... & with one another. What else really matters?

Today, why not try allowing God to give you the energy you don't really have anyway and spend it on just loving Jesus and his people. Relax and enjoy what God has done, is doing and will do in your life.

Hole vs Whole

Sadley, babies are sometimes born with a hole in their heart. This is a difficult thing for most parents because they love their children so much and wish they could help them. I'm sure any loving parent would switch hearts with their child if they could.

Spiritually we are all born with a hole in our heart. Often we try to fill it with relationships, drugs, alcohol, sex, sports, money and/or anything else we can get our hands on. Why do we feel this lack? This unfulfilled emptiness that we think the next "thing" will be the answer for, but when it's over we feel just as empty as when we started.

When Jesus died on the cross, God switched hearts with us. Jesus took our "hole in the heart" and gave us His heart. His heart is whole. His heart is good. His heart is love.

When we trust in Jesus and allow God's heart to guide us, suddenly we find we don't need to search to fill the empty hole in our hearts anymore, because we become whole and complete in Christ.

So, what is the status of your heart today? Hole or whole?

Think about it.

< Letting Go of Church >

I've decided to let go of church...

My mind drifts to Jonah, who ran from God because he feared telling the people about God's judgement less they repent and and God relents his anger. Jonah's pride would have been hurt. So he ran. God is so cool though, because after getting Jonah's attention (through a whale of a story) the very thing Jonah thought would happen... happened.

Jonah declared, "The judgement!" > the people repented > God relented > Jonah gets mad and pouts up on a hill. God then turns the tables on Jonah and sends a plant that covers Jonah.

Jonah 4:5-11...But Jonah just left. He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk. He put together a makeshift shelter of leafy branches and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city. 6God arranged for a broad-leafed tree to spring up. It grew over Jonah to cool him off and get him out of his angry sulk. Jonah was pleased and enjoyed the shade. Life was looking up. 7-8But then God sent a worm. By dawn of the next day, the worm had bored into the shade tree and it withered away. The sun came up and God sent a hot, blistering wind from the east. The sun beat down on Jonah's head and he started to faint. He prayed to die: "I'm better off dead!" 9Then God said to Jonah, "What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?" Jonah said, "Plenty of right. It's made me angry enough to die!" 10-11God said, "What's this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planted nor watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can't I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don't yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?" (The Message)

Why do I think about this? Because for me, maybe you too, there is plenty of opportunity to get mad at God or despair because things don't "go my way" or even the "way that seems right" in church planting.

Trusting in the love of God releases me from building the church upon myself and allows it to really be His. If it is really HIS, He can open or close any door He chooses.

It's not my job to open the door, but to turn the handle and see if it is open. This is faithfulness. This is trust.

Sometimes it's easy to imagine what's behind "door #1" and think of all the prizes that await, but if the door is locked by God, then maybe it isn't all that great and glorious.

Maybe it isn't a trip to Bermuda... or a new car... or a new crockpot. Maybe it's destruction.

The Bible says, "there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is destruction". (Proverbs 14:12 & Proverbs 16:25 BAM-double whammy)

So, I've decieded to let go of church. It's God's anyways, not mine. Besides, the church God is building is not a building... the church He is building is a PEOPLE.

[ zack ]

__________________________________________

"The man invited to pray is asked to open his tightly clenched fists and to give up his last coin. But who wants to do that? A first prayer, therefore, is often a painful prayer, because you discover you don't want to let go. You hold fast to what is familiar, even if you aren't proud of it. You find yourself saying :"that's just how it is with me. I would like it to be different, but it can't be now. That's just the way it is and that's the way I'll have to leave it." once you talk like that you've already given up the believe that your life might be otherwise, you've already let the hope for a new life float by. Since you wouldn't dare to put a question mark behind a bit of your own experience with all it's attachments, you have wrapped yourself up in the destiny of the facts. You feel it is safer to cling to a sorry past than to trust in a new future. So you fill your hands with small clammy coins which you don't want to surrender."

~Henri Nouwen "With Open Hands"

400 Years

So I was reading yesterday in the Bible and this one instance jumped out at me. I was reading in Luke 1 where Zacharias the Priest is doing his duties. As he enters the Holy place, an angel of God named Gabriel encounters him. Now what struck me as why this might be a powerful moment was not just the fact that angels don't typically appear to people and talk (unless of course you are a regular on daytime talk shows,) but that it had been four hundred years since God even spoke at all to his people.

400 YEARS! Now after that you might say that God has gone mute, or silent or just gave up on humanity... but in that moment God again steps on the scene right where he left off in the book of Malachi -full of power, love and faithfulness.

He was not mad. He wasn't holding a grudge. He actually was closer than ever as He was about to put on some dust and dwell among us. His love was full and oozing on humanity at that moment.

In our life, sometimes we find that God is silent.
"What have we done wrong?"
"Why does God reject me?"

But maybe, just maybe if we believe in the bleakest moment when it seems like 400 years have gone by and NOTHING... GOD will charge the space around us with His oozing love and say,
"I AM... HERE."

Knockin' on Heaven's Door

I have been reading a book of late entitled, "The Gospel of Moses: What my Jewish Friends Taught Me About Jesus" by Athol Dickson. Wow... the author joins what is called the Chever Torah (Bible Study for Jews.) As a Christian, the author writes about how he was challenged to delve deep into his Christianity which is actually strengthened by his experiences in the study.

One common question that arises out of these classes is the question of "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Why is it that people who seemingly have intense faith at times die of disease or ruthlessly murdered? Why is it that things like 9/11 and the holocaust took place and countless number of innocent lives were lost? Why is it that God seemily sits by idle and watches the destruction of the human race?

The Jewish people believe that "God loves an honest question." With this in mind, we can search into the depths of God's very character and find truth in the layers of his scriptures. It's when we walk away without searching for the answer that we miss out on the true answer God has for us. It says, "knock and it will be opened to you ... seek and you will find."

Church should be a place of where doubt is engaged. It should be a place of questions, where we can honestly look to God, through the Bible itself and find that the love of God really invites us to come. As God spoke to Moses... "Come up here" on the mountain, our doubt is the very springboard that launches us into the reality of a loving God and should never be usesd as some 'pat' answer of a sceptic that has never even checked the facts or searched for truth.

Let's learn something as Christians from our fellow Jewish brothers and sisiters and begin to truly seek instead of brush God off with our lame excuses.