Church Planting Stages

I presented the following at Delta's quarterly Family Meeting to communicate the different phases of a church plant. A pdf download of the information is available here.

Every church plant is different. Contexts are different, people are different, style is different, personalities are different, growth rates are different, and ministry development is different. But one thing that all church plants have in common is the stages that they go through, much like the stages of building a brand new home. Some stages overlap, some stages are shorter, some are longer, and everything is chaotic like an episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”. All this said to remind us of where Delta is, to encourage us, and to give us some perspective on the massive work that God is doing.


Stage 1: Location Identification and Excavation

God calls a planter and lays a location on his heart. A planter will make plans and preparations to move to the location and then relocate. Much work is done to assess and learn the culture and context. Conversations with people center on the “house” that will be built to find people who are interested in building with the planter.

Stage 2: Foundation

The true foundation of a church plant is not in a particular program, event, meeting, structure, or even people. The true foundation of a church plant is theology – the view of who God is and how God works. Only from a solid theology built on the truth of scripture can things like vision, mission, values and ministry philosophy be determined.

Stage 3: Framing

Once the foundation is set, the framing begins to go up that determines the structure of the home. The framing in a church plant are people, and at the earliest time of a church plant these people are known as the Core Team (or Launch Team). Most people who frame a church plant are leaders (elders & deacons) or workers (members). It is from these people, with the particular gifts & passions that God has formed them with, that determine what ministries and programs develop.

Stage 4: Mechanicals

Mechanicals are things like plumbing, wiring, HVAC, etc…basically, things that make the home function and livable. For a church plant, this would include things like financial systems, assimilation, communication, etc.

Stage 5: Exterior and Interior Finishes

Things like siding, rooms, doors, and the like make up this stage. This would mirror things like the development of ministries, or “expressions” of the church (groups, children & family ministries, affinity groups, etc). It is this stage in which the church becomes uniquely recognizable.

Stage 6: Decoration

As more people “move in” to the house and bring their personalities, gifting, and passions to the home, the expressions of the church become much more refined and specialized. Departments are able to form within expressions – for example, the worship gathering expression is able to more fully develop departs of the band, A/V, hospitality, etc.

Stage 7: Additions

As the family within the home grows and matures, the need for additions becomes necessary. For a church, these will take the form of moving to a larger facility, going multi-site, and aggressively church planting.

End notes:
With every stage, there is a need for a particular type of person to be involved, particular leadership gifts necessary, and the addition of more leaders & workers. Also every stage of growth is dependent on the Master Builder making it happen, as we as Christ-followers remain humble, dependant, and obedient to Christ and His Word. The church belongs to Jesus; not the pastor or the members. It is only the church’s authentic dependence on Jesus that will allow the full power of the Gospel to be unleashed.

Behind the Miracles

Just like there's a story behind every song, there's a meaning behind every miracle. In John's gospel, he records 7 miracles of Jesus. But these miralces aren't to just show off how powerful Jesus is; no, they clearly tell us what man's disposition is apart from Jesus and how only Jesus redeems that disposition. Check them out:

John 2:3 “They have no wine” tells us about man being void of Divine Joy.

John 4:46 “the nobleman’s son was sick” tells us the condition of the sinner’s soul.

John 5:7 “the paralyzed man” tells us the sinner is helpless and unable to make himself well.

John 6:5 “the multitude without food of their own” tells us the man without Christ does not have in His own possession that which gives him strength.

John 6:18 “the stormy sea” tells us the dangerous position of the sinner before Christ comes to him.

John 9:1 “the man born blind” tells us the inability of man to see their own condition and see Jesus without Jesus first opening their eyes.

John 11:14, we see that Lazarus, Jesus’ friend is dead…showing us the most frightening thing about man apart from Christ…we are dead as Ephesians 2:1 says that outside of Christ we are “dead in our trespasses and sins”. Only Jesus can breathe life into a dead soul

*Thanks to David Fairchild of Kaleo Church for some help on this.

What's Missional to Me

We're about 18 months into our church plant and one thing I'm discovering is that people need constant reminders of who we are, what we're doing, and why we're doing it. You see, we're in the Mid-West and in a fairly traditional context. Most people around Springfield have some sort of "religious memory" of being loosely connected to a church, demonimation, or religious system. When I tell people that I'm a church planter, one of the first questions I get is "what type of church is it" (meaning: denomination). This is good and bad, depending on who's asking and what type of baggage the denomination has or appears to have. But I still avoid the question like the plague, because I want them to hear and see Jesus and His Gospel first before any type of categorizing. (We are a part of good denomination, I'm not in any way ashamed of our affiliation). Additionally, most all of our membership come from some sort of denominational background; so when we hit speed bumps as a church plant and we're trying to make a significant decision or maybe chart some new waters, it's very easy for some of our people to think in terms of programs or traditional structures. Not that those things are bad in themselves (well, OK, a lot of them are!); but they are not the automatic answer on growing our church in both depth and width.

So it all comes down to what our particular philosophy of ministry is. We would call ourselves a "missional" church. Now, this contains lots of meanings for many people (and honestly doesn't mean a thing to non-Christians and most Christians in general). If you want a comprehensive answer to what "missional" is, then check out Ed Stetzer's blog here. But for my church, here is my framework for being missional:

1- God is a missionary. God was the first missionary. When Adam and Eve sinned and hid from God, he was the first to call out "where are you?". So our primary picture, method, and model come from God the Father.

2- God sent the Son. Mark 2:17 has Jesus saying that he has come to call sinners to repentance, not cater to religious. Jesus spent his ministry years training up men to be missionaries and building relationships with the lost and pointing them to what the Kingdom of God is really about.

3- The Son sent the Spirit. John 15:26 tells us that a primary job of the Holy Spirit is to testify about Jesus.

4- The Spirit (along with the Son) sends the church. John 20:21 and Acts 1:8 make it crystal clear that as a follower of Jesus, we are ones who are sent into the world to proclaim Gospel and make disicples. So the question is, how does the church do that? This is where the rubber meets the proverbial road.

I believe the marks of a missional church are as follows:

1- A missional church bases everything on a proper understanding of who God is. A missional church will hold scripture in very high regard to learn about and do what Jesus did and why he did it. Scripture is the highest authority, not a system, tradition, program, or denomination.

2- A missional church puts its stock in relationships. Building relationships with people who are disconnected and far from Jesus makes up the vast majority of the evangelistic effort. A missional church won't do bait-n-switch programs in order to trick people into getting saved. A missional chruch (and a missional person for that matter) will take the time to invest in someone who is lost and faithfully sow the seeds of the Gospel, prayerfully hoping that God will draw them to faith.

3- A missional church tangibly lives out the Gospel in deed. The book of James is in the bible for a reason! We are to put feet to our faith and do things in Jesus' name to love on the poor, the marginalized, the forgotten, and the lost in general. We are, in the spirit of Jeremiah 29:7, be involved in the life of our cities and seek their betterment.

4- A missional church contextualizes the Gospel. First, this does not mean that the Gospel gets compromised or watered-down (that would go against point #1). It does mean that a missional Christian will use the culture that God has placed one in to appropriately communicate the Gospel. This translates into meeting places, times of meetings, illustrations used in teaching, vernacular, dress, recreation activities, etc.

5- A missional church is flexible. Most programs a missional church will try will typically have a short life span, and that's OK. Just because something gets done once, doesn't mean that it has to continue. Also, there's not much that is sacred (outside of scripture). For example, our church is cancelling our worship gathering twice this summer to mobilize our people to do service projects in the city (a la Jeremiah 29:7). Our Sunday worship gathering doesn't define us, but living out the Gospel does.

So how does this get practically communicated? Depending on whom I'm talking to that varies. To an "in the know" Christian, I would probably use the term "missional" and just clarify some points. To the nonChristian, say something like us being a church who really wants to live like Jesus did - loving and serving people.

Being missional means that things are a bit messy - but that's OK. Last time I checked, people are messy and life is very messy, and if we're to bring the Gospel to the people who really need, we're going to have to get our hands dirty.

If you'd like a good book to read that does a great job on describing a missional church, check out "Total Church" by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis.

Bibles for All Ages

I'm easing back into regular blogging by providing a pretty practical resource. Seeing as how we have a zoo of children around our house, I thought some age-appropriate bible suggestions would be good. So here you go:

For infants & early toddlers, we've liked the First Step Bible. It's simple, has some repetative words for easy memory, and has big colorful pictures.

For toddlers to preK, we like The Beginner's Bible. Stories get a little longer, and it makes good bedtime reading.

For kindergarten through grade school, we are in love with The Jesus Storybook Bible. Extremely well written, beautiful artwork, and most importantly, every story points to Jesus. Can't recommend this enough.

For elementary age school kids, we've found the NIrV Adventure Bible to be a good resource. There's good book intros, key word/phrase/passage blurbs, and a good glossary in the back.

For middle school students, high school students, college students, and adults in general, you can't go wrong with the English Standard Version (ESV). There's all kinds of sizes, covers, and types too choose from. This fall Crossway is releasing the ESV Study Bible, which will be a study bible on steroids. The top theological minds around have contributed to this bible. This is the official preaching & teaching bible at Delta Church. What makes it so good is that it is a word-for-word translation with exceptional readability.

Hopefully this is helpful to you. Especially for you parents, you have to be intentional with instilling a love for the Word with your kids; and using the right bible during their formative years is essential.

Lydia Faith Mobley

My new daughter arrived today, June 13 at 4:12pm. She is 8lbs 12oz and 20.5 inches long. Lydia and Dawn and doing great!

Quick Update

No, I haven't stopped blogging here...things have been a little crazy lately. My wife Dawn is due to give birth to our 5th child any day now, so we're in a holding pattern.

I'm making some notes on what will be a short 3-4 part series of blogs dealing with the topics of being a Conformer, a Reformer, and a Transformer (but not like the robots!). Should be starting those later this month.

Pray for my wife! Thanks.

Jesus Questions

From my last sermon on Jesus' deity, I received just a couple questions that I'll do my best to answer:

Q: Since Jesus is 100% God and 100% man, could he have sinned or chosen to use his power in a sinful way? Could he have chosen to not die?

A: Sin is passed down through the seed of the man (Romans 5:12), which is why the virgin birth is so important. Jesus was born with no sin nature, no inherent sin. So could he have sinned by omission or comission? No. By also being 100% God, in whom there is no sin, impurity, etc.; Jesus could not and would not sin. But, this doesn't mean that he did not feel the full weight of temptation. He did in fact fully bear every temptation that we face (Hebrews 4:15), yet never caved into sin like we do. Could Jesus have chosen not to die? That was the plan from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5); plus, that was the greatest act of love that God could show us (John 15:13).

Q: When Jesus was hanging on the tree, and God the Father separated Himself from Jesus, God the Son, because He took on all our sins; did Jesus become fully man and not fully God & man for a moment?

A: This is a great question and a great mystery. This questions alludes to Jesus, in Mark 15:34, crying out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" God is so holy and pure that he cannot even look at sin (which is why the term being "clothed with Christ" is so important for us; when he looks at us Christ-followers, he sees his Son). When Jesus took on all sin (really, became sin - see 2 Corinthians 5:21), the Father had to turn away. How the Trinity was fractured is a mystery. The pain Jesus and Father & Spirit felt must have been unbearable. But, how deep the Father's love for us! How vast beyond all measure!

Q: When will Jesus come back?

A: When the time is right.

Trinitarian Life

Yesterday at Delta I preached on living a Trinitarian Life from John chapter 5. The basis for our entire Christian life is birthed in who God is; not from our preferences, traditions, or expectations from others. The reason that Jesus was in such hot water with the Jews is because he was proclaiming himself equal with God (John 5:18). The following verses go to show how God the Father and and Jesus are intimately connected, and specifically outlines two of Jesus' main roles in the Trinity, that of Savior and that of Judge.

Because God is Trinity, we find in Him the model for our lives as Christ-followers. So, a Trinitarian Life is:

Communal – specifically, family community

John 5:19 – As the God the Father and God the Son relate to each other as family, we are to do the same. We are adopted into God’s family as sons (Romans 8). Church leaders should run the church like a household (1 Timothy 3). Christ-followers should treat each other with the honor due to fathers, mothers, sisters, & brothers (1 Timothy 5).

Loving

John 5:20 – the Father loves the Son
Love is what motivates each and every relationship we have; because God is love, because He loved us first, and because he is love and has infused his love into us, we can’t help but love others. We show love by our commitment to each other, our sacrifice for each other, our accountability to each other.

Transparent

John 5:20 – The Father shows the Son all that he is doing
How transparent is your life to your community of faith? How open are you with your friends here? How open are you in your community group? If you don’t let people in, your life will not transform as God intends for it to; as life transformation happens most often through relationships.

Complementary

John 5:21-29 – Son is equal to the Father (v. 18), but has distinct roles to play
Jesus gives spiritual life & proclaims judgment; meaning eternal life is awarded to those who believe, and eternal death is awarded to those who do not believe. For us, this means that everyone stands equal before God – titles, position, or gender do not make us closer to God – but within that equality, we each have a distinct roles to play in life, marriage and in the church. Paul used the image of a body in 1 Corinthians 12 to illustrate this.

Worship

John 5:23 – we are to live lives that honor Jesus; our speech, actions, thoughts, attitudes, choices, relationships, finances, everything is to honor Jesus. Worship is so much more than singing…it encompasses your entire life. Our worship lifestyle is solely for God’s glory – the very heart of Jesus’ lifestyle of worship (John 17:1).

Eternal

John 5:24-29 – to say that being a Christ-follower is a “personal relationship” is only saying a half-truth…it’s also a “communal relationship”. The Trinity is eternal…the Father, the Son, & the Spirit have always been and they always will be. When we place our faith and trust in Jesus, we enter into an eternal relationship not only with God, but also with other Christ-followers. Revelation 7:9-12 gives us a picture of this. If you have issues with other Christ-followers, especially with others in this room, you better get over it real quick, because eternity’s a long time to not get along!

Sabbath

This past Sunday I preached on "Sabbath" at Delta, taking a topical look at John 5:9-17. It was chock full o' information; so here's a summary of the what, why, when, & how of biblical Sabbath. Enjoy!



Biblical rest is called Sabbath. Its origin comes from Genesis 2:1-3. God rested from his work of creation (not his work of maintaining & sustaining or else we’d cease to exist; see Colossians 1:17 and Hebrews 1:4). He did this to model and to create for us a rhythm for us to live our lives by. Jesus said in Mark 2:27 “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” It’s a gift that God has given us.

An official definition for Sabbath is: Entering into God’s rest by enjoying the fruit of His labor and the fruit of your labor.

Just as God created everything “very good” and then sat back and enjoyed his creative work…we are to do the same.

The phrase “entering God’s rest” comes from Hebrews 4:9-10. There are three phases of entering God rest:

1.Receive the Gospel – Deuteronomy 5:15
You remember God’s deliverance when you Sabbath (Jesus delivered us from the bondage of our sin).

2.Obey – Exodus 20:8-11
Observing a Sabbath is commanded; disobeying is sin. God had to make it a commandment, for if left to ourselves, we will work rest right out of our lives!

3.Rest in His Word – John 1:3
A proper Sabbath involves worshipping Jesus.

You will not be able to fully rest well, to truly Sabbath, unless you love and follow Jesus…you can’t appreciate the beauty of this world without a heart-knowledge of its Creator.

In speaking of “rest”; there are 2 main type of rest for us to do:

1.Physical rest. Exodus 23:12. We are to rest from the work of natural life (your job, housework, yard work, etc.)

2.Spiritual rest. Leviticus 23:3. A “holy convocation” literally means a set apart assembly of people. Gathering to worship is spiritual rest and renewal!

Taking a regular Sabbath has practical benefits, spiritual benefits, and missional benefits.

Practical Benefit: Relaxation

You get to relax your mind, heart, & body from the daily grind. When you relax, you actually get better sleep, more energy, your body is more healthy (increased immunity), you are more efficient, and you more emotionally stable.

Spiritual Benefit: Increased trust

Exodus 34:21. God has commanded us to rest even in the midst of our busiest work seasons! Too many of us honestly believe that we either have a red cape flapping behind us like Superman or sport bullet-deflecting bracelets like Wonder Woman. We think the whole world rests on our shoulders and if we don’t work ourselves to death, that our businesses or homes will crumble to the ground.

We need to understand that over-working is an idolatry issue. Either we’re looking to work to get our justification or we put own selves in the place of Savior for our businesses, bosses, or clients.

By taking a regular, weekly Sabbath you are practically placing your trust in Jesus to meet every need you have – including the needs of income, production, advancement, etc.

Missional Benefit: Witness

Exodus 31:17. By taking a regular Sabbath, enjoying God’s rest both physically and spiritually, you become a witness to the world. In our workaholic culture, taking a Sabbath is a very counter-cultural way to live the Gospel and model God’s Kingdom.

Our Sabbath is to modeled after God work of creation and his day of rest…6 & 1…work 6, Sabbath 1.

Does it have to be on Saturday or Sunday? What if you work in foodservice, and Sunday breakfast & lunch are your busy times? Does it have to be a certain day?

This is the issue Paul dealt with in Romans 14:5ff. Since the Sabbath was made for man and we have freedom in Jesus and conviction from the Holy Spirit…we get to pick whatever day works best for us. The point is to enter God’s rest properly.

There are 3 primary ways on how to Sabbath:

1.It starts in your heart
Matthew 12:1-8 (*v. 7). The Pharisees (the religious legalists) were just concerned about the outward acts of religion…the sacrifices that showed how spiritual they supposedly were. Jesus says it’s a mercy issue – a heart issue.

2.Unplug
The big drawback for us in the 21st Century is electricity…we no longer live by natural rhythms (up at sunrise, sleep at sunset). We have 24 hr email, internet, TV, grocery, gyms, and fast food; one of the most popular TV shows today is “24”! When you Sabbath, turn off your phone, shut down the computer…if you watch TV, do it with your friends & family so it’s an act of community at least…but get out in God’s creation and get in touch with the Creator.

3.Enjoy
Do stuff you like to do, with people you love, for God’s glory. Take a nap, take a walk, play a game, go to a ball game, whatever. But whatever you do, do it for God’s glory - 1 Corinthians 10:31.

What are you to do now? Most of us need to repent because we don’t Sabbath, at least we don’t Sabbath well.

If you work all the time, repent of your idolatry. You take control of your life’s schedule, don’t let it take control of you. Ask yourself: How is my trust practically playing out?

If you rest all the time, repent of being a sluggard. If life is slow for you right now, find something to do like look for a job, volunteer, serve in ministry, or any number of things that would contribute to the needs of others or that would bless your city.

Glorifying God & the Economic Stimulus

The first round of auto-deposits for the electronic stimulus went out today. What are we to do with this "free" money? Buy a TV? Put a down payment on a car? Get some new furniture?

Here's my challenge to you all: think first of how you can glorify God, help others, and then see what's left for yourself.

We are given physical resources like money to be stewards of. Everything belongs to God...everything. So the stuff we have is really His, and we're just to manage it well...for His glory, not ours. Here are some suggestions for your "economic stimulus":

1. Tithe off of it. Give God the firstfruits. Since this is not regular income from you job, really make a point to give at least 10%.

2. Help someone in need. There are some in the body of Delta who have been without work, and some going on short-term mission trips this summer...think of how you could bless somebody! There are also many needs in our city in regards to the poor, abused, marginalized, etc.

3. Pay down some of your debt. It's real tempting to go and buy something new, but if you're sitting on some consumer debt that is preventing you from being a better steward, use this opportunity to pay the debt down or eliminate it if possible.

4. Save some. Don't blow all of it! Put some away or invest it. By doing this you'll be able to weather a rough time that may be in your future, or you'll be able to bless somebody when they really need it.

5. Have a little fun with it. There's no harm in using some of this to bless your family, friends, or others with a nice meal out, some small gifts for the kids, or beautifying your home a little. I would encourage you to not just spend it on yourself, though. Whatever fun you may have, include others so it becomes an act of love to build community.

Let's keep our eye on the ball of God's glory and look for ways to be a blessing.

Authentic Worship

Over the last couple weeks at Delta, we've looked at John 4 and Jesus' interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well. The overall theme to the passage is the idea of "authentic worship". The first half (verses 1-26) speaks of what authentic worship is. The second half (verses 27-42) speaks of what authentic worship does. A summary of this entire passage could be stated as: "Authentic worship leads to spiritual transformation in us and others." I've broken this down into 6 action points for authentic worshippers:

1. Authentic worshippers see value in all people. All outward appearances (looks, race, culture, gender, socio-economic status, etc.) take a back seat to the status of a person's heart.

2. Authentic worshippers speak truth without judgment and condemnation. Sin isn't to be sugar-coated; but it is to be dealth with truthfully, undergirded with a spirit of love.

3. Authentic worshippers share their story. Everyone has a story, and our stories will help draw people into relationship with Jesus. We need to see our stories as part of God's Grand Story.

4. Authentic worshippers find satisfaction and fulfillment in joining God in His work. We need to fight against laziness and apathy, and limiting our "work" to clocking time in a specific ministry. We join God in His work as we engage the lost and share the Gospel.

5. Authentic worshippers create margin in their lives to see spiritual needs and meet them. If our schedules, our emotions, and our checkbooks are constantly maxed out, we have nothing to give to others when opportunities arise. We need to create space in our lives to give us room to love others.

6. Authentic worshippers seek to dismantle barriers between the disconnected and the Gospel through living lives of love. Prejudices, sinful backgrounds, culture, worldview, activities, relationships, attitudes, etc. can all be in the way of a person and the Gospel. We need to work hard at helping people overcome those barriers.

May we all become authentic worshippers.

Springfield is officially Nineveh!

http://sj-r.com/News/stories/28691.asp

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=jonah+4%3A11

We may not have much cattle, but we sure do have corn.

Things have changed

The family and I are in Memphis doing a little vacationing/homeschool learning adventure. We arrived today and our first stop was the National Civil Rights Museum. The NCRM located at The Lorrain Hotel where Dr. Martin Luther King was shot 25 years ago. The museum was an amazing journey through the history of slavery, segregation, integration and equal rights. I was thinking how the difficulties with integration was a factor in my family moving from South Carolina to Chicago in 1974, as my older brothers during their school years dealt with the difficult reality of segregation & integration in the South during that time. And honestly, I hate to say this, but having many family members still in the "old South", there is still a wide gap between blacks and whites.

But there is hope, and things have changed, thanks much to modern-day heroes like Rosa Parks and Dr. MLK.

Today, as we were in the Civil Rights museum, my 2 year old son Aiden got my attention and said "Daddy, look! There's a baby...I'm going to go kiss her." (This is not uncommon, since Aiden has a 1 year old baby sister). But Aiden walked over to a beautiful little black girl, who was around 1 or so like his sister, bent down, and gently kissed her on her cheek. I looked at the little girl's parents and smiled, and they did the same.

Being in Memphis, on the spot where Dr. King was shot, and seeing my very white son treat a little black girl just like he would his sister, brought Dr. King's vision of a day when his children wouldn't get judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Things have changed...for the better. Thanks, Dr.

Red? Blue? What's a Christian to do?

Have you ever seen a presidential race like the one we're in? Never before has religion, race, gender, war, and economy been such hot issues...and we're talking about the candidates themselves! So, how is a Christ-follower to vote? What is the proper criteria?

I have a couple thoughts, and they're not very conservative by traditional standards. For the first time in my life, I'm really trying to ignore candidates positions on issues like abortion & homosexuality. Now, let me clarify: I have strong positions on these issues. I believe in the sanctity of life from the point of conception and I believe that homosexuality and same-sex marriage is not God's design, and practicing them is sin. But I do not think that those are "make-or-break" issues for the leader of our country.

I firmly believe that government is powerless to legislate morality & issues of the heart. Making a law against abortion will not stop abortion, for example. I believe when it comes to our government leaders, we need to strongly look at leadership in the economic, military, education, social welfare, and foreign diplomacy realms. The issues of morality are beyond the lawmakers. Instead, I think that Christians and the Church in general need to step up more and actually begin living out the Gospel with their fellow man. Because the Church has failed to engage and influence society as God intended, people are now looking to government to lead them morally, and that's not their place.

So this is really a call for Christians to actually live like it and bring the Gospel to people, allowing Jesus to change a person's heart when it comes to issues like love, mercy, protecting life, and living out our relationships as God has designed. This may all sound too idealistic, but it sure feels like what Jesus had in mind. We do not live in a Christian nation, and the only way to live in a Christian nation is to make more Christians; not trying to pass laws influenced by Christianity.

Here's a good blog that gives a good outline on how to engage in politics as a Christ-follower without selling your soul out to any particular political party: http://www.smartchristian.com/?p=5535

How to go to church

A couple weeks ago I preached on John 2:12-25, where Jesus whips some lazy worshippers and extortionists into shape and cleans up the Temple. I took some time at the end of that sermon to show how you can best prepare yourself to come to a worship gathering.

Don’t blow it off – Hebrew 10:24-25
Scripture tells us to be intentional about gathering for worship so we can encourage each other and motivate each other to live lives that actively love others. As a Christ-follower, it is a sin to not regularly participate in a local body. We are created as inter-dependant beings who need each other (cf. Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4).

Right motivation – Psalm 122:1
Come not out of guilt or selfish gain, but come expecting to meet God and to worship Him with your community of faith. Coming together to worship is a joyful occasion…you should look forward to it and you should be glad about it. If you are not glad about coming together to worship, you need to examine your heart, repent of sin, or reconcile a relationship.

Come hungry – Matthew 5:6
Come needing to be filled up with Jesus’ righteousness. All of our so-called “righteousness” are nothing but filthy rags to God. We need to come before him, both personally and corporately, hungry and thirsty for Jesus. If we don’t come hungry, we will become critical, judgmental, and unteachable; preventing ourselves from being blessed by God and by our community (much less blessing anybody else).

Bring your best gifts – 2 Corinthians 9:6-7
Come prepared to give to Jesus sacrificially and cheerfully. Every local church is dependant on the financial giving of her members and regular attenders to accomplish the vision and mission of ministry that God has given to that church. Ultimately, we give to God…and God deserves and demands our best gifts, not our leftovers. But our giving is a response to the great love that God has shown us through Jesus, so we are to give sacrificially (like Jesus sacrificed for us) and we are to give cheerfully (because we love Jesus so much).

Manage your time well – Numbers 9:2
Come well rested, unhurried, and prepared. Each worship gathering happens at an ‘appointed time’. You know when it’s coming, so we should prepare our selves not just spiritually, but also physically. If we go to a morning gathering, we need to make sure that we get proper sleep the night before (especially the kids!). Our mornings also need to begin early enough to where we aren’t rushed and getting to church 10 minutes late while we’re arguing with our spouse and dragging the kids behind. If you are serving in a ministry during a worship gathering (band, children, greeter, etc), make sure that you have reviewed, rehearsed, and prepared yourself to serve with the right attitude and spirit.

Use your talents – 1 Corinthians 12:7
Come ready to bless your community of faith with the talents, gifts, and abilities that God has given you. The whole point of our abilities, talents, and spiritual gifts are for the ‘common good’ – that is, to bless and minister to the entire body. Withholding your gifts does not honor God or your church; in fact, withholding your gifts hurts the body.

Engage the lost & disconnected – Luke 7:34
Come with a friend or ready to befriend someone who is spiritually disconnected and needing Jesus. Jesus was known as a friend of sinners. The reason Jesus came was to connect the disconnected and heal the “spiritually sick” (Mark 2:17). As we join Jesus’ mission, we actively befriend the lost and include them in our community of faith, praying that they would come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord. The lost and disconnected are a vital part of the church, for they are the reason that the church exists.

Easy Bible Reading Plan for Dudes

So I was talking with a guy from church the other day about reading the Bible. He was very honest about not being a big reader and would rather be out hanging with friends. I totally get that this is where many guys are at. So, to not just excuse any spiritual laziness, here's a suggestion to help guys read their Bibles more:

Read in the bathroom.

Seriously. A guy's "bathroom schedule" is relatively predictable, and most guys read in the john...usually a magazine like ESPN, Car & Driver, or some porno. So guys, engage your brain and turn down the hormone-o-meter. Keep a Bible in your bathroom (but not the one you would bring to church, that's just nasty) and read the following:

1. Genesis 1-2. It's where everything begins, plus Adam's living in a Garden with a naked chick.

2. Genesis 19. Good ol' wrath of God stuff destroying Sodom & Gomorrah.

3. Genesis 29. How to win a woman's heart (hint: you have to work a long time for it).

4. Genesis 39. How to remain sexually pure and not sleep with every chick that comes on to you.

5. Exodus 14. Great story on the power of God (plus God wipes out an army).

6. Judges. Yes, the whole book. But it's story after story about war and battles.

7. 1 Samuel 17. The underdog wins big! (and the giant's head gets cut off, which is the best part of the story)

8. 2 Samuel 11 & 12. Learn the consequences of sexual sin.

9. 1 Kings 18. The One True God beats up on a false god.

10. Nehemiah. Learn how to lead with vision, and carry out that vision.

11. Psalm 1. Basic comparision of the godly and the ungodly.

12. Psalm 119. This shows the worth of scripture.

13. Proverbs. Practical wisdom for young men.

14. Daniel 3 & 6. How to show faith in God and have courage.

15. Luke. You gotta read about Jesus! Plus, good stuff on John the Baptizer, who Jesus said was the greatest man ever born.

16. Acts. How the church got started.

17. Mark. The shortest Gospel; you could read this in one bathroom visit.

18. 1 Corithians. Paul answers questions that the church in Corinth had about living the Christian life.

19. 1 & 2 Timothy & Titus. An older guy mentoring a young leader.

20. James. This is how to actually live out the faith of a Christ-follower.

So, there you have it. The Bathroom Guy's Bible Reading List. The next step is to maybe print all this on a roll of toilet paper....hmmmmm...

Bunch of Bible Questions Part 3

Here are our next round of Bible questions. Today's grouping has to do with the Bible and the writings of other belief systems.

Q- How do we know the bible is the standard (the only authoritative Scripture) and not other writings (e.g., Qur'an, Hindu scriptures, etc.)? How should we look at things like the Book of Mormon that claim to be in alignment with the Bible and subsequent 'revelations from God'?

A- This is a classical postmodern, pluralistic question. We live in a time when the only real sin, according to our culture, is to stake your claim in one Truth. With so many other belief systems out there, especially some major ones like Islam, how can Christianity say that our scripture is the True Scripture?

It basically comes down to the issue that there are major contradictions between all of these holy books. Contradictions cannot be true on major belief points. It's like one person saying that George Washington was the first president of the U.S., and someone else saying that Thomas Jefferson was the first. Somebody's wrong here!

Norman Geisler, a leading Christian apologist and editor of "Who Made God?", writes the following:

"If the Bible declares that Jesus died on the cross and rose bodily from the dead three days later (1 Corinthians 15:1-6), and the Qur'an teaches that he did not (Sura 4:157), both cannot be true on such a crucial teaching. If the writings of Joseph Smith teach that there are many gods (in his Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible as well as the Mormon books of Moses and Abraham), and the bible declares that there is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:4), then both of these writings cannot be true."

Other belief systems may indeed teach things are true (for example, the "Golden Rule" is found in some form in nearly every belief system), but where they differ from the bible, then they are false.

The bottom line is truly found in the fact that the Bible continually gets affirmed in its teachings throughout history, that it does indeed transform people's lives, and that it implores people to live selfless lives of love, not seeking their own glory, but only the glory of God.

Q- How can I help my friends (who are Jehovah's Witnesses) to understand that Jesus is God? They have a hard time understanding that Jesus can be the "Son of God" and God at the same time.

A- This isn't so much a bible question, but an important one about how we help build bridges with people of other belief systems. Honestly, trying to understand the Trinity is like a high school guy trying to understand why girls go to the bathroom in packs. Thinking on it too much makes your brain hurt!

Jesus said that he was God (John 10:30) and his claim to be God was the blasphemy that we was accused of by the Jewish High Priest in Matthew 27:63-65. Also, Jesus made many "I am" statements about himself (John 8:58) that equated himself with God. Jesus also forgave sins (Mark 2), something reserved for God. Jesus also allowed his disciples to worship him as God (John 20:28; Matthew 16:15-17).

The great theologian and church father Augustine makes the argument that for God to be perfect, he has to exist in community. Since God is love (1 John 4), and love has to be shared; it is an action. And since God is self-sufficient, he must be able to share that love within Himself. Therefore, God must exist in community so he can express the love that is inherent to Him. Again, Norman Geisler say that with love, there must be a love (God the Father), and loved one (God the Son), and a spirit of love (God the Holy Spirit).

The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are not separate entities...they are three persons yet one essence. Visually, you can think of God like a triangle - three distinct corners, but one shape. You can also picture God mathmatically in the equation: 1x1x1=1 (as opposed to 1+1+1=3; this would be polytheism). But in the end, every illustration breaks down; for this is one of the greatest mysteries of our faith.

A Bunch of Bible Questions part 2

OK, here's the next round of questions about the Bible that we'll tackle this week. Remember, these are real, honest questions from the peopel at Delta Church.

Q- Did only the disciples write the Bible?

The Bible was written by solely by Prophets. Prophets were basically mouthpieces for God; speaking to people on behalf of the Lord. Some writers were prophets by office (e.g., Moses, Samuel, Jonah, etc.); and some writers were prophets by gifting (e.g., David & Daniel). In the New Testament, the writers were Apostles (Matthew, Paul, Peter) or a disciple of an Apostle (Luke, Mark).

Q- Was the Bible written in different languages?

The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.

Q- How can we take literally a translation (the Bible wasn't written in English, and surely the cultural and linguistic context of Scripture are important to its interpretation)?

Generally, there are 2 categories of Bible translations. The first is word-for-word, where the original language is translated, remaining true to the original sentence structure. Examples of this type of translation is the KJV, NASB, and the ESV (which Delta uses). The difficulty with these sometimes is that they can be more difficult to understand due to sentence structure from the Greek to English can be tricky, and honestly, the reading level is higher than the typical American adult. The average reading level for an adult is around 8th grade, but 1 out of 5 adults have a reading level below 5th grade; and 2 out of 5 older Americans and minorities read below a 5th grade level.

The other category of Bible translation is thought-for-thought. This is where the tranlation team will look at the idea of the original language, and interpret the idea into English. Examples of this type of translation are the NIV, RSV, NLT, and the CEV. Sadly, important theological terms often get substituted. A common word that is substituted is "propitiation"; which means that the wrath of God toward sin was satisfied with Jesus' death on the cross. But thought-for-thought translations will use the words "sacrifice", "atonement", or "expiation" which do not carry the weight that God intended with using "propitiation."

A last category would be a paraphrase. Popular paraphrases are the Living Bible, The Message, or Philips. These Bibles "update" the language into common language, but their starting point is a translation and not the original text. They are fine for personal reading (along with a good translation), but are insufficient for teaching and preaching.

For a more in-depth look into this question, specifically of why Delta has chosen the ESV as our preferred translation, please read this article.

Lastly, it is important to understand the context of the text. To understand why it was such a big deal that Jesus made friends with tax collectors like Matthew and Zaccheus, you need to understand the cultural implications of being a tax collector during those times (tax collectors basically were traitors to their own people (the Jews) and worked for the oppressive Roman government who ruled at the time, over-taxing in the process to make themselves rich). Same principle goes for Paul's oft-misunderstood teaching regarding women (not be allowed to speak, not wearing jewelry or make-up, etc). Knowing the cultural context allows us to see the eternal truths and translate them into our own day (e.g., modesty and living out our God-given Biblical roles are the principles that Paul talks about).

Q- Are all the stories in the Old and New Testament actually (literally) true or an analogy for teaching?

Everything is the Bible is true. The flood, Jonah and the big fish, Daniel in the lion's den; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the firey furnace; the Virgin Birth of Jesus, and Jesus' resurrection are all true. With that said, since God chose to inspire human writers to record his truth, he did use their personalities, situations, and different literary forms to communicate his truth. So, in the Bible you will find historical narrative (Samuel), poetry (Psalms), parable (much of Jesus' teaching in the Gospels), metaphor (John 15:1-8), allegory (Galatians 4:21-5:1), and even hyperbole (Matthew 5:29; Luke 14:26). So, read the literal parts literally, and read the metaphorial parts metaphorically.

That's good for now. We'll tackle some more questions next week in regards to the Bible and other religious writings.

Tragedy at NIU

A horrible thing happened yesterday. A gunman stormed the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. 21 were shot. 6 were killed (including the gunman, who shot himself). Lives will forever be changed.

Sin has a devestating effect on the world and on individual lives. I pray for those who are wounded and for the families and friends who have undergone a terrible loss.

Many questions will be put forth in regards to God, suffering, and justice. The questions can really wait a couple days, for now is the time to grieve. But to help you process the relevant issue of pain and suffering in the world, and where the Gospel fits into all of it, I encourage you to listen (or watch) Dr. John Piper from his message during the Gospel Coalition back in May 2007: http://thegospelcoalition.org/plenary_downloads.php

I'll continue the mini-series on "A Bunch of Bible Questions" later today, or perhaps on Monday.

Grace+Peace to all...

A Bunch of Bible Questions

This past Sunday I began preaching through the Gospel of John. I began the series in a very introductory manner, emphasizing the reliability of Scripture and Jesus as the center of the entire Bible. Now, teaching a subject like that brings up a myriad of questions, so I gave Delta the opportunity to write down some questions about the Bible that I would categorize and answer here on the blog. There are some great questions, and I will be posting answers over the next couple weeks. But to get us started off, one question (which really isn't a question, but more of a positional statement) jumped to the front:

"There is no absolute truth. I don't believe the Bible, so any response that finds its foundation in the Bible I reject. Christians are narrow-minded thinking there is only one way, their way."

Now, I have no idea who wrote this, so I'm not going to worry about offending anyone in my answer.

The first statement, "there is no absolute truth", ironically is an absolute statement. He (the handwriting looked like a guys, so we'll go with that) absolutely said there is no absolute truth. Right off the bat he is condraticting himself. So in the attempt to pull his gun out of the holster, it went off and shot himself in the foot.

The second statement about rejecting any internal biblical evidence is a very fair one. The only problem here is that making a statement, or assumption, like this completely denies any historical accuracy of the bible. Doing so is simply ignoring nearly 4000 years (going back to the Old Testament) of biblical steadfastness. But there's a question to be asked here, what about the bible don't you believe? If you say you don't believe the bible, then you're saying that you don't believe obvious historical facts of something as obvious as the nation of Israel existing. So, I'm guessing that what is meant is that any truth claims the bible makes is what's being rejected, specifically revolving around the person of Jesus Christ. Now, there are extra-biblical sources that speak to the existence of Jesus Christ and the influence of Christianity. Writings by the Jewish historian Josephus and Roman historians Cornelius Tacitus and Pliny the Younger are the most popular. You can read their writings for yourself here and here.

The last statement about Christians being narrow-minded is both true and very ignorant. Jesus himself said in John 14:6 "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one come to the Father except through me." And in Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus says, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." So Christians are narrow-minded because that's what Jesus himself taught. The problem isn't with Christians, it's with Jesus.

But this is narrow view is not limited to Christians. Any devout follower of any religion would believe the same thing about their religion. Author and theologian Ravi Zacharias says, "All religions are not the same. All religions to not point to God. All religions do not say that all religions are the same. At the heart of every religion is an uncompromising commitment to a particular way of defining who God is or is not and accordingly, of defining life’s purpose. Anyone who claims that all religions are the same betrays not only an ignorance of all religions but also a caricatured view of even the best-known ones. Every religion at its core is exclusive.”

I would argue that the same would be said of those who are pluralists or even atheists. To be accepting of all ways, or not accepting any way, is being narrow minded as well. And trying to convince others of your position (or should we call it a belief) is doing the work of what we Christians call an "evangelist"...or what secular people refer to as proselytizing - an effort to convert someone to your way of thinking or believing. So, the rules that a pluralist, or a Religious Reletivist (as Tim Keller puts it), makes about being narrow minded are broken as soon as they are made. As soon as you say that all religions are subjective, that is that the "path to god" is completely personal and that is the position you try to get others to accept, suddenly the pluralist is just as narrow as the monotheist. So that is a useless argument and position.

So, either Jesus is THE way, or there's NO way. Jesus is the only major religious leader to claim that sort of exclusivity. Jesus is the only major religious leader who claimed to come down from heaven, as opposed to 'ascending' to heaven or a god-like position. When it comes down it, in the midst of a myriad of religions and belief-systems, you have to ask yourself, "which of these religions leads me best in the path of love and service to my fellow man?" At the heart of Christianity is a God who became a man and sacrificed himself for the beings that he created. The heart of Christianity is the highest form of love: sacrificing yourself for another, especially one who is undeserving and by all rights deserves punishment, not love and grace and mercy. Following Jesus is about living a life of love, service, and reconciliation. There have been many who have gone to war, have acted tremendously selfish, and have oppressed their fellow man in the name of Jesus. These people have missed the whole point of the Bible and the life that Jesus lived. But they have illustrated the darkness of the heart of man, and why we need a Savior so desperately. And that is exactly why Jesus came to earth, lived, died, and rose again.